Lightning at Canucks
Matthew Peca is taking full advantage of his first stint in the NHL this season and the 24-year-old center hopes to continue an offensive surge when the Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Peca, a 2011 seventh-round pick, owns a plus-8 rating and has won 60.6 percent of his faceoffs in five games since being recalled by the Lightning while registering two goals to go along with three assists in the last three contests.
Peca had three points in Thursday’s come-from-behind 7-4 triumph at Calgary as Tampa Bay improved to 4-2-0 in their stretch of eight consecutive road games after dropping the first encounter after the All-Star break in Winnipeg on Tuesday. The Lightning dropped both meetings last season and will get a chance exact revenge twice over the next six days against the Canucks, who have won three of their first four on a five-game homestand. Vancouver knocked off Chicago 4-2 on Thursday and has registered 14 goals in the three wins on the homestand. “I think getting all the healthy bodies back definitely helps,” Canucks forward Bo Horvat told Sportsnet after scoring for the second straight game Thursday. “Having a full team and having confidence that way is a huge key. We’ve got to keep that going.”
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), CBC (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (35-13-3): Left wing Alex Killorn snapped an 11-game goal-scoring drought with a pair of tallies Thursday while teaming with Peca and Yanni Gourde to put up nine points combined as a line. “That line drove the bus for us (Thursday),” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “If you’re going to win in this league, you need a little depth in scoring. You can’t have the same guys doing it every night.” The NHL’s leading scorer Nikita Kucherov (64 points) has not recorded a goal in nine games while captain Steven Stamkos scored Thursday and is one away from reaching 20 for the ninth time.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (21-24-6): Rookie right wing Brock Boeser has cooled off a bit with one assist in his last three contests sandwiching his MVP All-Star Game performance, but leads the team with 24 goals and 44 points - second among all rookies in the league. Veteran forward Thomas Vanek boasts four of his 36 points and a plus-3 rating in the last four games while Henrik Sedin has assists in the last two contests to improve to a team-best 32. Daniel Sedin matched Horvat with goals in consecutive games and fellow forward Sven Baertschi scored twice in the last four.
OVERTIME
1. Vancouver F Sam Gagner (seven goals, 22 points) left Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury and is questionable.
2. Tampa Bay D Daniel Girardi (lower-body) missed the victory over Calgary and his status for Saturday is uncertain.
3. Canucks F Brendan Gaunce scored two goals in the win over Chicago to double his season total.