Canucks at Jets
The Vancouver Canucks look to inch closer to a postseason berth when they conclude their four-game road trip against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon. Vancouver resides four points ahead of third-place Calgary in the Pacific Division, with Los Angeles sitting one behind the Flames while owning the tiebreaker over the Jets for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Eddie Lack finished with 35 saves as the Canucks saw their five-game road winning streak come to a halt with a 3-1 setback to Chicago on Thursday. Lack is expected to make his 19th start in 20 games for Vancouver, which has won three straight meetings and seven of the last eight with Winnipeg. The Jets will be without Dustin Byfuglien on Saturday after the burly defenseman was handed a four-game suspension by the league for his vicious crosscheck to the head of New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller. Winnipeg dropped a 3-2 decision in that contest on Tuesday for its second loss in a row and third in four games.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, NHLN, RSN Pacific (Vancouver), TSN3 (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (45-28-5): Radim Vrbata collected two goals and one assist in Vancouver's 5-2 victory over Winnipeg on March 24. The 33-year-old set up a tally in the teams' first meeting - a 3-2 victory on Feb. 3 - after being limited to just four assists in his previous 20 encounters with the current Jets' franchise. Captain Henrik Sedin recorded a goal and two assists in the most recent meeting with Winnipeg but has been kept off the scoresheet in each of his last four games.
ABOUT THE JETS (39-26-12): Defenseman Jay Harrison is expected to be inserted into the lineup to replace Byfuglien. "(Harrison) covers a lot of ice and can get in close plays quickly, which helps the style of game that we want to play," coach Paul Maurice said. Blake Wheeler saw his three-game goal-scoring streak come to an end versus the Rangers but has tallied in each of his meetings with Vancouver this season.
OVERTIME
1. Vancouver RW Derek Dorsett snapped a nine-game goalless drought with his second tally in 34 contests on Thursday.
2. Winnipeg will open a three-game homestand against Central Division foes Minnesota (Monday), St. Louis (Tuesday) and Colorado (Thursday) before concluding the regular season versus Calgary (Saturday).
3. The Canucks recalled LW Sven Baertschi from Utica of the American Hockey League on Friday.