The Vancouver Canucks will look to conclude a short trip to the Southeastern United States with another victory when they play the Florida Panthers on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla.
Vancouver ended its three-game losing streak (0-1-2) with a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. The Canucks scored five goals in the third period. That matched their total from the final periods in their first 10 road games this season.
Defenseman Quinn Hughes missed the opening game of the trip, a 4-3 overtime loss Friday in Carolina, with an undisclosed injury, but he came back in a big way on Sunday. The 2024 Norris Trophy winner tied a career high with four assists. The team captain now has seven in his last two games, giving him a team-high 16.
Canucks coach Adam Foote said Hughes appeared to keep the puck for too long during the first period, but he eventually found his groove.
“He started to feel it, and you saw what he did with it,” Foote told reporters. “He had a couple nice plays there on some goals, so it was nice to have him back, for sure.”
While the Canucks got their superstar back, they did lose Conor Garland, who left the game early in the second period. Foote said the forward, whose 13 points (five goals, eight assists) are tied for fourth on the team, had “just a little tweak” from a first-period fight with Tampa Bay’s Darren Raddysh. Foote did not know if the injury would keep him from playing Monday.
Florida hosted the Lightning on Saturday and lost 3-1 to snap a two-game winning streak. Brad Marchand scored the only goal for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions to extend his point streak to 10 games. During that span, he has 15 of his 21 points and nine of his 12 goals, both of which lead the Panthers.
“He’s a gamer,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after Saturday’s loss. “Broken play off a faceoff. He can get his stick on it, make it up and get it off his stick real quick.”
Goals have been hard to come by for the Panthers. Their average of 2.72 per game was sixth worst entering Sunday. Injuries to Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov, neither of whom has played this season, have hurt as both were critical to the Panthers’ two runs to the Cup.
The Panthers will face a Canucks team that has allowed 69 goals, the fifth most of any NHL team. Vancouver will be without starting goalie Thatcher Demko, whom the team placed on injured reserve on Friday. The team expects him to miss a couple of weeks with a lower-body issue.
Kevin Lankinen has started the last six games in goal for the Canucks, going 2-2-2. He made 28 saves in Sunday’s win and played both ends of back-to-back home games on Nov. 8-9. The Finnish netminder is 7-3-2 in 12 career games against the Panthers with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage.
Jiri Patera, who has eight career games to his credit, is the Canucks’ backup. The 26-year-old Czech last played for Vegas in March 2024.
Sergei Bobrovsky has started in net in 13 of Florida’s 18 games this season and is 8-5-0 with a 2.63 GAA and .893 save percentage. The two-time Vezina winner is 7-8-3 in 20 games against the Canucks with a 2.89 GAA and a .905 save percentage.
