The Detroit Red Wings host the Vancouver Canucks this evening at Little Caesars Arena (7 PM EDT start on BSD/Sportsnet West/97.1 FM).
Vancouver is coming off a 5-4 shootout win last night in Philadelphia; the Red Wings were going to be without Dylan Larkin’s services, suspension or no suspension, and they hit the ice at LCA just after 10:30 for their morning skate:
Vancouver tonight. #VANvsDET #LGRW
?: https://t.co/a1ZFiGyALB pic.twitter.com/VVBbRjF6n7— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 16, 2021
And The Athletic’s Max Bultman reported the following:
Thomas Greiss is the first goalie off the ice today for the Red Wings— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) October 16, 2021
The Canucks are not holding a morning skate given that they arrived from Philadelphia after midnight:
Correction: No morning skate today in Detroit. Coach Green and a player (TBD) will be available between 4:30pm -5pm Eastern. 1:30pm -2pm Pacific.
— Canucks PR (@CanucksPR) October 16, 2021
Also: The Canucks’ website posted a game preview around 9 AM this morning….
MATCH-UP INFO
Tonight marks the first of two meetings between the Canucks and Red Wings this season: Oct. 16 (road), Mar. 17 (home).
Vancouver is 5-2-3 in their last 10 games vs Detroit (3-1-1 in their last 5).
The Canucks have a 66-83-18-9 all-time record in 176 games against the Red Wings. Vancouver owns a 27-49-8-4 record on the road in Detroit.
Among active Canucks skaters, Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads the team in career points vs Detroit with 14 points (3-11-14) in 23 games.
Thatcher Demko has faced the Red Wings once in his career (1-0-0), owning a .963 SV% and 1.00 GAA.
Jaroslav Halak has faced the Red Wings 17 times in his career (7-7-2) and has a .874 SV% and 3.62 GAA.
As did the Vancouver Province’s Patrick Johnston…
THREE THINGS
… about the Canucks
How tired will the Canucks be feeling? At least this year they had a pre-season to help them find their feet. But three games in four nights is a hard way to properly start your season, especially with Friday night’s 5-4 shootout win in Philly being a high-octane thriller.
Jaro Halák, a veteran of 15 NHL seasons, seems likely to get the start Saturday after backing up Thatcher Demko in the first two games of the season. In 17 career appearances against the Red Wings, he’s 7-7-2 with a .874 save percentage.
Brock Boeser, Luke Schenn and Brad Hunt all skated hard after Friday’s pre-game skate. Schenn and Hunt were healthy scratches in Philadelphia, while the injured Boeser is close to a return, head coach Travis Green said.
And DetroitRedWings.com’s Ethan Sears added this note regarding tonight’s match-up in his daily morning notebook:
The Canucks also opened their season with a point, taking a 3-2 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers after goals from Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Quinn Hughes.
The Red Wings have not played Vancouver since Oct. 22, 2019, a 5-2 loss, due to the league’s pandemic scheduling last season.
“They’re a little different than a Tampa team who kinda goes right on top all over the ice,” Blashill said. “Probably closer to the way we play where we try to be on top of the opponent. They tend to keep their D a little more inside, use the forwards to forecheck more. They’ve got a really, really good power play. Elite-type power play, and so that’s something we gotta be very smart about.
“… They’re gonna be a good defensive team and we’re gonna have to play good hockey.”
