Last-Minute Changes, News, Reports before Canucks vs Sharks

24 days. That's how long the Vancouver Canucks went in between wins. Then on Tuesday, they were down 5-2 versus the Anaheim Ducks with about 7 minutes left, and they still won that game. Jonathan Lekromacki scored with 2 goals in 49 seconds, with the goalie pulled, and Philip Ronick won it in overtime on the power play. So tonight in San Jose, the Canucks look to do something they haven't done all season, and that's winning 2 games in a row. And a lot has changed over the last 24 hours, including who will be in the lineup. The first piece of news is that Matty Malhotra is not changing a thing. After Morning Skate, it's the exact same lineup that won them the game on Tuesday. Line 1 is Jake Dabrowski, Pedersen, and Brock Besser. And Pedersen is riding a 5 game point streak, with 2 goals and 4 assists in that stretch. He leads the team with 15 points. That's 4 goals and 11 assists in the 14 games. The third line is Liam Ogren, Marco Rossi, and Carlson. And the fourth line is Paul Cotter, Max Sasson, and Arshdie Baines. Carlson has three goals and six assists, and he's at nine points on the season. Ogren scored Tuesday's first Canucks goal in the second period to make it 1-1. On defense, Pedersen plays with Filip Ronic on the top pair, Jamie Oletziak and Tom Villander on the second, and Zee Boyum playing with Victor Mancini. Horonic is sitting on 49 career goals and 248 career assists, so one more puts him at 50. And when looking at defense, notice who's playing together. Boyum and Villander are two very young Canucks players. Of course, the three-build is leaning on them, and with Villander next to Oletziak and Boyum working it with Mancini. The top notable healthy scratches on the game are Luke Shen and Brendan Gallagher, plus others. In goal, it looks like another mirror-lining game for the third straight start. Sportsnet Dan Murphy said he believes mirror-lining starts, and they're just waiting on Malhotra to confirm. He has two of the Canucks' three wins this season, with a 900 save percentage and a 3.35 goals against average. Kevin Lankanen is the backup again, and he's 1-7 this season. Thatcher Demko is still out with his injury, and the target return date is December 21st. So why keep it the same, you ask? Because that comeback did something to that Canucks locker room. Here's what Malhalter had to say after Tuesday's win. When you string together as many losses as we have, it bleeds into the room. And then the moral obviously takes a hit. That's what an 0-9-1 stretch does. Nine regulation losses and one in overtime. And not one of the wins from October 4th to Tuesday night. And then he said a win like that gives them something to build on. Not just getting a win, but a big comeback from behind win in the third is obviously something we can build off. Brock Besser, who is the longest tenured Canuck, said the same thing. We played a lot better hockey the last two games, and in spurts, and we understand how we need to play. And then I'm hoping this turns the corner for us. Brock has scored in back-to-back games. On Tuesday, he had one goal and two assists, with six shots in 21 minutes and 45 seconds of ice time. Even the new and big defenseman got it going. Jamie Letziak made it 5-3 early in the third, 31 seconds after Anaheim made it 5-2. And the play that actually saved the night was a coaching one. Down two goals with under four minutes left. Mahal Tripul Merilainen for the extra attacker. 49 seconds later, it was 5-5, and Lekromacki had both goals. His coach said, he's an elite in terms of the ability to get it off and pick corners. Then Hronik finished it in overtime, his first goal of the season, with an assist from Brock Besser and Lekromacki. Both of them got a point on the night's biggest goal. Lekromacki played a career-high 19 minutes and 55 seconds that night. That's a long way from a kid fighting for a spot. Marillinen wasn't perfect, he stopped 18 of 23 shots, but with the 33 shots at the other end, he only needed to be good enough. The Canucks also set a season high with 33 shots on Tuesday, and held Anaheim to the season low 23. That's a formula Mahaltra wants to keep going into tonight. San Jose has problems on its own. They're 6-6-1, and they lost two straight, and they were shut out 2-0 by Buffalo on Tuesday. They've been outshot in five straight games. Here's coach Ryan Warsofsky. We're not generating, but we also give up 40 shots and a lot of chances again. And then, that's the biggest issue. Tonight starts a four-game homestand for the Sharks, and they're going to want to get it after two straight losses. Captain Macklin Celebrini said, I'm not happy, but I'm not worried. Celebrini is the guy to watch. He's from Vancouver and leads the Sharks with 5 goals and 15 points, and he's always played well against his hometown team. And next to him tonight is Ivor Stenberg, the second overall pick in June. He has 3 goals and 6 assists, and tonight it's his first NHL game versus the Canucks. This is what San Jose has been building. The Sharks have 4 top 5 picks from the last 4 drafts. Will Smith went 4th, Celebrini won. Michael Meese at 2, and now Stenberg at 2. Then there's a debut. Phillip Bison, a 2022 first round pick, gets called up from the AHL and is expected to play his first NHL game at center between none other than Kiefer Sherwood and Tyler Toffoli. And you definitely know those two names. Sherwood and Toffoli both played for the Canucks. Sherwood leads the league with 73 hits, something Canucks fans know. Pickup Truba is an alternate captain on the back end with two goals and six assists, so eight points, and he's on the first pair with Sam Dickinson. San Jose is also thin. Alex Wenberg and Igor Chernyshov both win on injury reserves on Wednesday, and Asgrove starts the net after dropping 38 of 39 shots in Buffalo's loss. Without Wenberg, their best possession driver is Dmitry Orlov at 52.1% in shot attempts for, and he's on the third pair tonight with Michael Kesselin. Askarov's record is 3-5, so he hasn't had much help from the Sharks. The Canucks scored 6 goals on Tuesday, and the Sharks scored 0. Their backup goaltender is 3-1-1, so if Askarov has an off night, San Jose has a real option. So how did the Canucks come out with a win? I got three keys for you. And the setup is simple. This is a tale of two rebuilds, and the Sharks are 6 points ahead of the Canucks right now. Key one is volume. San Jose has allowed more than 40 shots in two of its last three games. The Canucks just had 33 shots against Anaheim at season high. They need to keep shooting. Key two is a clean start. On Tuesday, the Canucks trailed 4-1 going into the third. And against the Sharks team that can't score, a fast start gets them out of that hole before it can ever open. Key three is the power play. Kronik won Tuesday's game on the power play, and is on the top unit tonight with Jacob Ross, Pedersen, Besser, Leckermackie. Kronik has one goal and nine assists this season. If he can get more power play opportunities, San Jose has to be ready. And on the other side for the Canucks' penalty kill, the Sharks' first power play is Marchment, Smith, Celebrini, Stenberg, and Orlov, so the Canucks can't give them chances either. And there's one more thing hanging over tonight's game, and that's even more trade noise. I'll have a full video on this, but the fourth period reports that Vancouver's open to moving veterans for young players and that Jake Dabrowski is one of the four names who could become available. Chris Johnson said this team is positioned to sell. And Vancouver has been linked and interested in a Washington winger who's just 22. But if you want to stay up to date with even more of those trade reports, make sure to hit that free subscribe button, it means the world, and turn on the notification button so you get to stay up to date with everything to do around the Canucks, plus we're so close to our goal of 10,000 subscribers. San Jose took 3 of the 4 medians last season, and they still got 2 more against the Canucks in mid-December. And the standings are the reason it matters. The Canucks are last in the Pacific with 7 points, a rebuilding team of course, and they're 6 points behind San Jose. And when tonight starts closing that. But San Jose has lost 2 straight and can't score goals right now, and the Canucks have a lineup that just came off a huge win. And if the Canucks win, they get something they've been chasing all year, a first win streak, with the same lineup and the same goaltender. I think the Canucks are obviously going to come out with a win and get their first win streak, but I want to know your guys' thoughts. How do you think Maryland plays tonight? How do you think the Canucks fend for themselves against the Sharks? Who scores the first goal, and what do you think the final score is going to be? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments. But that's been it for this episode, I hope you guys enjoyed it, take care Canucks fans, I'll see you in the next one, if you made it this far, hit that free subscribe button, comment 3.14 down in the comments, so I know you made it right to the end.