Canucks vs Blackhawks Game Day Preview The Vancouver Canucks (21-15-4) reach the midway mark of their 2019-20 National Hockey League schedule tonight when they host the Chicago Blackhawks (18-17-6) at Rogers Arena

Last year the club was 19-18-4 at the halfway point.

The Canucks are looking for the first franchise’s first six game win streak since December 28, 2016-January 6, 2017. On this current run, they have defeated Vegas, Pittsburgh, Edmonton, Los Angeles and most recently posted a 5-2 win in Calgary on Sunday at the Saddledome. Tyler Myers and Tanner Pearson each scored twice while Jake Virtanen added the other goal. Thatcher Demko made 23 saves in his first game action in three weeks after missing time with a concussion.

Pearson leads the Canucks in scoring over the past 22 games (9+12=21). Virtanen has scored in back to back games and has three goals in his last four outings and 3+3=6 in his last five. Brock Boeser carries a five game point streak into action tonight with 1+5=6 in that span.

Jacob Markstrom gets the start in goal tonight. He made a career-high 49 saves in a 3-2 win over Los Angeles last Saturday in his most recent outing. Markstrom has won four straight with a 2.24 GAA and a 94.1% save percentage during the team win streak. Goaltending is the only positional change the Canucks will make tonight otherwise they will roll with the same 18 skaters they have used over the past three games.

With the win over the Kings last Saturday in their first game out of the holiday break, the Canucks have won four straight at Rogers Arena and improved to 7-2 in their last nine games on home ice.

The Hawks are here after a 5-3 win in Calgary on New Year’s Eve. They’ve won three straight and five of their last six games. They’ve also won four straight on the road.

On Tuesday, Patrick Kane had two goals and two assists to lead the Chicago attack. Olli Maatta, Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome had the team’s other goals. Robin Lehner made 41 saves as he recorded his sixth straight victory in goal.

Kane, who led the NHL with 802 points over the recently concluded decade and sits ninth in league scoring this season, tops the Hawks with 22 goals and 51 points. No one else on the team has more than 11 goals or 29 points.

No team in the NHL surrenders more shots per game than the Blackhawks (36.3). They have outshot only nine of their first 41 opponents have been outshot in 30 games and the shots have been tied twice. Chicago has killed off 16 straight penalties over the team’s last seven games and has allowed just one PPG in 24 opportunities in the last 10 games.

The Hawks are dealing with a number of significant injuries. Tsawwassen’s Brent Seabrook has been shutdown for the season and needs surgery on his shoulder and both hips. Fellow blueliner Calvin de Haan also requires shoulder surgery and has been shut down for the season. Brandon Saad is dealing with an ankle injury and is expected to miss three weeks of action. Andrew Shaw has been placed on LTIR as he recovers from a head injury.

Chicago assistant coach – and former Canucks head coach – Marc Crawford is eligible to return to his bench duties today after serving a league suspension for past transgressions. Crawford was placed on leave by the team on December 2nd and was suspended by the league on December 16th.

​ Chicago beat the Canucks 5-2 at United Center on November 7th in their first meeting of the season. The Hawks scored a pair of power play goals and later added a couple of empty netters. JT Miller and Jake Virtanen scored the Vancouver goals. The Hawks will return to town on February 12th – the night the Canucks will honour Daniel and Henrik Sedin by raising their jerseys to the Rogers Arena rafters.

POSSIBLE CANUCKS LINE-UP

Miller-Pettersson-Boeser

Pearson-Horvat-Eriksson

Roussel-Gaudette-Virtanen

Schaller-Beagle-Motte

Hughes-Tanev

Edler-Stecher

Fantenberg-Myers

Markstrom

POSSIBLE BLACKHAWKS LINE-UP

Carpenter-Toews-Kane

DeBrincat-Dach-Strome

Kubalik-Kampf-Quenneville

Sikura-Smith-Highmore



Keith-Boqvist

Gustafsson-Murphy

Maatta-Gilbert

Lehner