The Vancouver Canucks hit the road once again, kicking things off in Carolina with a Friday evening matchup against the Hurricanes.
Friday will be the first game of the quick road trip that sees the Canucks play three games in four days. They will head down to Tampa Bay for a Sunday game before heading to Sunrise to face the Florida Panthers on Monday.
Head Coach Adam Foote was pleased with his team’s practice on Thursday, ahead of their schedule being sped up. He liked how his team handled a lot of movement in the offensive zone and how the young players were starting to pick up the structure and game plan for defending.
Foote is liking what he sees at five-on-five, but wants to see some minor adjustments in the defensive zone and with their penalty kill and power play units.
“We’re defending pretty good and we’re getting some offence. So, if we can clean up [and] tweak a couple of things defensively, a couple of things on our special teams, we should be in good shape and have the confidence no matter who we play,” said Foote.
“The resilience has been there, and it’s going to have to be there facing these three teams, who are experienced playoff teams. They know how to play for 60 minutes. So, we need to make sure if things go our way early, stay resilient and stay within ourselves.”
Quick Hits on the Competition
The Story: Scoring Streak for Jake
Jake DeBrusk is on a hot streak. The 29-year-old forward has picked up a goal in each of his last three games and has four goals in his previous five outings.
“There’s been lots of chances earlier [in the season], and now they’re just going in,” said DeBrusk in conversation with Rinkside Reporter Olivia McDonald. “Great passes from my teammates, and I probably could have had, you know, one or two more. But yeah, it’s nice to see a puck go in the net. We need more of it. And yeah, I want to keep it rolling.”
He has scored power play goals in back-to-back games coming into Friday, and with those two goals, DeBrusk (19) only trails Leon Draisaitl (22) in power play goals since the beginning of the 2024-25 season.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Brock Boeser: 4g-2a-6p
Quinn Hughes: 0g-6a-6p
Elias Pettersson: 0g-5a-5p
Jake DeBrusk: 4g-0a-4p
Evander Kane: 3g-1a-4p
When and Where to Watch
Friday’s game is at 4:00 p.m. PT, and you can watch the game on Sportsnet or listen to Brendan Batchelor’s radio call on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
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