The Vancouver Canucks are on a four-game winning streak and are one of just four teams in the league with one regulation loss or fewer. They're coming off a win where their new focus on attacking off the rush paid off with four goals in less than six minutes.
Most importantly, Elias Pettersson got off the schneid, finally scoring his first goal of the season and his first 5-on-5 goal in 39 games.
But now Pettersson and the Canucks will face a tougher opponent than some of their recent games. A win is a win, no matter how you get it and who your opponent is, but the Canucks' last three games have been against some pretty poor opponents: the bottom-of-the-Metropolitan Philadelphia Flyers, the bottom-of-the-central Chicago Blackhawks, and the only-slightly-better-than-the-Flyers-in-the-Metropolitan Pittsburgh Penguins.
Their opponent on Monday night, the Carolina Hurricanes, will be a stiffer test. They're a dominant puck possession team with the league's best corsi at 5-on-5. They're 5-2-0 to start the season and are on a three-game winning streak on their swing through the Pacific Division, defeating the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Seattle Kraken. They'll be looking to end their road trip on a high note in Vancouver.
The Canucks will also be celebrating Diwali Night at the game.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
Unsurprisingly, the Canucks are unlikely to be shaking up their lineup in the midst of a winning streak.
"Probably the same [lineup]," said Tocchet. "Maybe we're thinking of a D change, but I'm not quite sure yet."
Accordingly, the Canucks' lines at morning skate were the same lines that played together on Saturday. And here they are:
What might be the D change that Tocchet is considering? You have to wonder just how much they're willing to trust Erik Brännström, who has played quite well in the last few games in a sheltered role. After Saturday's game, Tocchet even said that they probably should have given him more minutes.
Given how much Carson Soucy has struggled to start the season, would the Canucks bump him down to the third pairing to make things a little easier for him and try giving Brännström some more difficult minutes to see how he handles them?
Alternatively, Tocchet might be looking for a chance to get Noah Juulsen back into the lineup, so might swap him in for Vincent Desharnais, who made an error on the Penguins' third goal on Saturday night.
As for the Canucks' starting goaltender, it will be Kevin Lankinen for the fifth straight game, but Tocchet said that Arturs Silovs won't be sitting on the bench too much longer.
"Lanks will play tonight, for sure. He's on a roll, he's playing really well for us," said Tocchet. "But we're getting Arty in here, whether it's next game or whatever, we've got to get him in. He deserves it."
Carolina Hurricanes projected lines
The Hurricanes are one of the best defensive teams in the NHL but their offensive firepower shouldn't be overlooked.
Martin Necas leads the team in scoring with 9 points in 7 games, while Sebastian Aho is close behind with 7 points. On the blue line, Shayne Gostisbehere leads the way with 4 goals and 6 points.
Here are the Hurricanes' projected lines, courtesy of their website:
Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Jack Roslovic
Eric Robinson - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Seth Jarvis
William Carrier - Jack Drury - Jackson Blake
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere - Sean Walker
Pyotr Kochetkov
Spencer Martin
The Hurricanes' starting goaltender will be Pyotr Kochetkov. Frederik Andersen was set to backup Kochetkov for this game but has a minor injury. The Hurricanes called up former Canuck Spencer Martin to fill in.
