Canucks lines vs Capitals, January 25, 2025

Whenever you’ve misplaced 13 of your final 17 video games, you possibly can’t be too treasured about your lineup.

Accordingly, following Thursday’s embarrassing 6-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks shook up their strains at their morning skate heading into Saturday’s tilt with the Washington Capitals.

Pius Suter will centre a line with a few top-six linemates in Jake DeBrusk and Conor Garland. Danton Heinen will get one other probability to show himself in a top-six function with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. Elias Pettersson will centre a Sweded line with Nils Höglander and Linus Karlsson. And Teddy Blueger will get bumped to the fourth line with Phil Di Giuseppe and Max Sasson.

“Whenever you’re in a scenario the place you’re struggling, you will have a bunch of fellows which might be actually making an attempt onerous and so they’re tight or no matter, and a bunch that clearly we want some guys to get going,” stated head coach Rick Tocchet. “So we simply want each teams to get collectively right here and make somewhat little bit of a run. And I feel generally you strive various things, some chemistry.”

The shakeup goes past simply the forwards, as prospect defenceman Elias Pettersson will make his NHL debut.

D-Petey, as he’s colloquially recognized, will play on a pairing with Carson Soucy after the workforce’s current experiment with Filip Hronek on Soucy’s proper facet went poorly. Will probably be a trial by fireplace for Pettersson, because the Capitals are first place within the NHL and are third within the league in objectives. Pettersson has earned reward for his bodily defensive sport within the AHL however the bounce up in pace and physicality within the NHL might show a problem.

UPDATE: Minor change at sport time: Pettersson will skate on the third pairing with Vincent Desharnais, whereas Derek Forbort will skate with Soucy on the second pairing.

“He is performed rather well down there. Love his enthusiasm, we want that,” stated head coach Rick Tocchet. “He can skate, he is bodily, and people are precisely the attributes we want. And he can transfer the puck. So, we undoubtedly wish to give him an opportunity.”

After all, given the Canucks’ struggles with their defence corps this season, Pettersson cannot be a lot worse than what they’ve already received. 

The 20-year-old defenceman is listed at 6’3″ and 209 lbs and is thought for throwing heavy hits alongside the boards however he is additionally a easy skater who makes a very good first cross. The Canucks have loads of large defencemen who can hit; they do not have sufficient who can transfer the puck.

Pettersson has 13 factors in 36 video games with the Abbotsford Canucks this season and leads his workforce in plus/minus at plus-8.

After all, the actual enjoyable is that the Canucks can have two Elias Petterssons — or is that Eliases Pettersson? — within the lineup for the primary time, a lot to the consternation of John Shorthouse. 

Vancouver Canucks projected strains

Kiefer Sherwood did not take the morning skate after leaving Thursday’s sport within the second interval. Tocchet urged he can be a game-time resolution and the strains at morning skate “is likely to be modified in 5 hours.” We’ll assume, for the second, that Sherwood will not be within the lineup and so they’ll run with the identical strains from morning skate.

Accordingly, listed below are the Canucks’ projected strains:

The Canucks’ beginning goaltender will probably be Kevin Lankinen after 4 straight begins for Thatcher Demko. Lankinen was reportedly coping with an sickness throughout that point however the Canucks have additionally talked about eager to get Demko on a roll. Demko hasn’t began rolling but.

Washington Capitals projected strains

The Capitals are cruising proper now with a five-game profitable streak and an 8-0-3 document within the month of January. They have not misplaced in regulation since December 29.

They’re the highest workforce within the league and but have only one participant above a point-per-game tempo: Alex Ovechkin with 34 factors in 32 video games. The Capitals are getting it completed with balanced scoring, with three gamers with 20+ objectives, together with Ovechkin, and 7 gamers with 30+ factors.

Listed here are the Capitals’ projected strains:

Connor McMichael – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin
Aliaksei Protas – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Taylor Raddysh – Lars Eller – Ethen Frank
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Andrew Mangiapane

Rasmus Sandin – John Carlson
Martin Fehervary – Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun – Trevor van Riemsdyk

Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson

The Capitals’ beginning goaltender is anticipated to be Charlie Lindgren, who has been the lesser of the Capitals’ two goaltenders with a .905 save proportion in comparison with Logan Thompson’s .925 however is coming off a shutout of the Seattle Kraken.