The Vancouver Canucks have a scoring problem.
Don't get me wrong, it's not like the Canucks are at the bottom of the NHL in goals or anything. They're currently 12th in the league with 3.16 goals per game, which is slightly above average.
What's troubling is that their stars aren't scoring.
Elias Pettersson has been more of a playmaker than a sniper this season but he has no points in his last four games and just 1 goal in his past 10 games.
J.T. Miller has just 2 goals in his last 14 games, though he's picked up a few assists since his return to the lineup.
Brock Boeser is pointless in his last three games and has just 2 goals in his last 13 games.
Conor Garland, who has become a key player for the Canucks this season, has no goals in his last 9 games.
Even Jake DeBrusk, who was red hot for a stretch that saw him score 11 goals in 10 games, has no points in his last 3 games. As cold streaks go, that's a minor one compared to the Canucks' other star forwards.
Then there's Nils Höglander, who many hoped would take a step forward to becoming a bonafide top-six forward after 24 goals last season. He has just 2 goals and 5 points through 31 games and has no goals in his last 26 games and no assists in his last 21 games.
Fortunately for the Canucks, other players have been able to chip in some goals, like Kiefer Sherwood's hat trick to beat the Colorado Avalanche. But depending on your secondary scoring to carry the team is a losing proposition.
Sherwood and Pius Suter are currently tied for second in goals on the Canucks behind DeBrusk, with more goals than Boeser, Pettersson, Miller, and Garland. If the Canucks want to have sustained success this season, that's got to change.
Will it change against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night? That's a tough proposition in the second half of back-to-back games, particularly after going to overtime against the Utah Hockey Club.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
After falling to Utah, the Canucks could make some changes to their lineup. With no morning skate, however, it's tough to know what those changes might be until the Canucks either let us know or take the ice for warm-up.
With that in mind, here are the Canucks' projected lines, which will be updated once more information is known:
Derek Forbort could return to the lineup on Thursday night after a bout with the flu. He could replace either Erik Brännström or Vincent Desharnais; which of the two it will be could depend on how highly Rick Tocchet and Adam Foote prize having a righty and lefty on every pair against the Golden Knights.
It's possible that Linus Karlsson and/or Phil Di Giuseppe could draw into the lineup, potentially in place of the struggling Höglander. Karlsson and Di Giuseppe were in anticipation of the NHL roster freeze.
UPDATE: Sure enough, Forbort, Karlsson, and Di Giuseppe will all draw into the lineup, with Brännström, Höglander, and Max Sasson coming out.
Karlsson, who has 5 goals in 7 games in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks this season, will presumably step onto Pettersson's wing, where he played a few games last season, including in the playoffs. His excellent production in the AHL has yet to translate to the NHL, as he has no points in 6 NHL games between the regular season and playoffs.
Di Giuseppe will likewise slide right into the top-six, playing with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser — a line that Tocchet has gone to in the past. That means Conor Garland will reunite with Dakota Joshua on the third line with Pius Suter.
A healthy scratch for Höglander will have the rumour mills grinding with the NHL's roster freeze kicking in at 9:00 p.m. but, given his struggles to produce, a scratch may be the reset he needs to get back on track with the Canucks.
The Canucks' starting goaltender is expected to be Kevin Lankinen after Thatcher Demko started Wednesday's game. Lankinen has been recovering from the flu, so this will be his first start in a week. In his last start, he made 27 saves to shut out the Florida Panthers.
Vegas Golden Knights projected lines
Jack Eichel has been outstanding for the Golden Knights this season, with 42 points in 31 games. When healthy, Mark Stone has been right there with him, with 24 points in 17 games. Shutting them down will be a priority.
The Canucks will catch a bit of a break, as Ivan Barbashev, who leads the team with 15 goals, will be out of the lineup on Thursday night after an injury in their last game.
Here are the Golden Knights' projected lines:
Pavel Dorofeyev - Jack Eichel - Mark Stone
Brett Howden - William Karlsson - Victor Olofsson
Tanner Laczynski - Tomas Hertl - Alexander Holtz
Tanner Pearson - Cole Schwindt - Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin - Alex Pietrangelo
Nicolas Hague - Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Ilya Samsonov
Former Canuck Tanner Pearson will be on the fourth line for the Golden Knights. he has 5 goals and 11 points in 31 games this season.
Another former Canuck, Ben Hutton, has been on long-term injured reserve since he was injured on November 17 but returned to the ice recently in a non-contact jersey. He won't return against the Canucks, however.
The Golden Knights' starting goaltender will be Adin Hill, whose .899 save percentage is right around league average this season. He's been good enough to get wins for the high-scoring Golden Knights, as he has a 13-5-2 record.
