Canucks Face Oilers With New-Look Lines After Boeser Injury – Hockey Writers – Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks will be without their leading scorer, Brock Boeser, tonight when they face the Edmonton Oilers in the first game of a six-game homestand. Aside from the preseason, where they played twice, it will be the first time they face their Pacific Division rival since they were eliminated in Game 7 of the 2024 Playoffs. They didn’t have Boeser at the time, as he was sidelined by a blood clot in his leg.

Related: Oilers vs Canucks Proposed Roster – 11/9/24

As a result, the Canucks will have a new line of top-six and fourth appearances when the puck drops in the 270th meeting between these two teams. Here’s our game day preview to get you set up for the combine, which should be another great one for Canucks and Oilers fans alike.

Setting the Stage – Oilers (6-7-1) vs. Canucks (7-2-3)

The Canucks are coming off their sixth straight road win after beating the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Thursday (Nov. 7). Quinn Hughes led the way with a goal and an assist while Jake DeBrusk scored his third in three games. The Oilers, meanwhile, lost 4-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday (Nov. 6) and will be looking to snap a two-game skid.

Oilers Projected Lineup

Jeff Skinner – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin – Leon Draisaitl – Viktor Arvidsson
Adam Henrique – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor Brown
Mattias Janmark – Derek Ryan – Corey Perry

Mattias Ekholm – Evan Bouchard
Darnell’s Nurse – Troy Stecher
Brett Kulak – Ty Emerson

Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard

Scratched: Travis Dermott

Injured: Nothing

Canucks Projected Lineup

Pius Suter – JT Miller – Conor Garland
Nils Hoglander – Elias Pettersson – Jake DeBrusk
Danton Heinen – Teddy Blueger – Kiefer Sherwood
Nils Aman – Aatu Raty – Arshdeep Bains

Quinn Hughes – Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy – Tyler Myers
Erik Brannstrom – Vincent Desharnais

Kevin Lankinen
Arturs Silovs

Scratched: Noah Juulsen

Injured: Brock Boeser (upper body), Derek Forbort (lower body), Thatcher Demko (lower body), Dakota Joshua (testicular cancer recovery)

Storylines To Watch

New-Look Top-6 Needs to Rise Without Boeser

Losing Boeser at any point in the season is bad, but compared to the Oilers it’s even more of a problem considering he’s dominated them throughout his career. In 31 games, he has 16 goals and 27 points – including a four-goal outing in the 2023-24 season opener. The Canucks won’t have that firepower on their roster tonight, and it will be a top six that looks to be just getting started. As of the morning skate, the top six will include the top line of Pius Suter, JT Miller and Conor Garland, and the second line of Nils Hoglander, Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk. DeBrusk returns to Pettersson’s wing riding a three-game goal streak, which fans are hoping to take away from Pettersson, who has just two goals so far. Garland should step up to the top as he sits second on the team with 11 points in 12 games.

The Canucks played a solid game without Boeser after he left Thursday’s game, but they will face a tough test against an Oilers team that, while still struggling, still has two talents in McDavid and Draisaitl. They may struggle to score without their leading scorer, but with increased depth in recent games in DeBrusk, Sherwood, and Suter, they may be able to get a win using their two-way game that they rediscovered last season. Not to mention the incredible goaltending that Lankinen has provided so far in his Canucks career.

Strong’s New Commercial Fourth Line

The fourth line will also be different from the last few games as Daniel Sprong is no longer a Canuck. He faced the Seattle Kraken on Friday for consideration, prompting the recall of Nils Aman and Abbotsford’s Arshdeep Bains. Everyone was hoping that Jonathan Lekkerimaki would be one of the names to get the call, but after some recent struggles, unfortunately he was not an option. Even today he will not play for the Abbotsford Canucks.

So, instead of seeing Lekkerimaki make his NHL debut alongside Pettersson or Miller, a new fourth line will be in action consisting of Bains, Raty and Aman. Bains and Raty have shown chemistry in the American Hockey League (AHL), so maybe they can recreate some of that magic in the NHL tonight. They probably won’t get a lot of ice time, but they should be reliable every time considering they’re all good defensively – unlike Sprong.

Players to Watch

Quinn Hughes

Hughes is always a player to watch, but he hasn’t been real over the past few games. He has six points in his last three games, and just hit 300 points in his 376th game, surpassing Paul Coffey’s 377 game feat. He is coming off another crazy game against the Kings where he double-teamed Akil Thomas and looked silly with his edge and puckhandling at the blue line. First, Thomas got confused by his fancy feet and gave DeBrusk room to feed Darcy Kuemper, then on the game-winning third, he made a line dance to trick him into a long layup. defeated 3-2. What does the captain have in store for the home fans at Rogers Arena? I personally am happy to find out.

Kevin Lankinen

Lankinen has been a revelation for the Canucks so far this season. He is still undefeated as he has recorded a record of 7-0-2 again owns a Vezina Trophy-like stat with a 2.08 goals-against average (GAA) and a .923 save percentage (SV%) along with a shutout. In other words, they didn’t miss Demko in the crease, and it gave them the luxury of allowing their star goaltender to rehab his injury without the outside pressure of a team that lost without him. With a win tonight, he will tie Kirk McLean for the longest hitting streak to start the season. Not bad for $875,000, right?

What’s Next for the Canucks?

The Canucks will continue their home game against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. They last met in their home opener on Oct. 9, when they scored the go-ahead goal to lose 6-5 in overtime. That feels like a lifetime ago, considering Lankinen didn’t start that game, and the Canucks weren’t nearly as strong defensively as they are now. Therefore, it should be a different way to compare this time around.

But, first, the Canucks have to soften up the Oilers. Puck drop is at 7 pm PT on Hockey Night in Canada when DeBrusk is featured after the game on After Hours with Scott Oake and his father Louis.