It’s a clash of Western Conference powers when the Vancouver Canucks play host to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
The Pacific Division- and conference-leading Canucks return home from a perfect three-game road trip, capped by a 3-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup-champion Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, gunning to kick off a nine-game homestand in fine fashion. Vancouver hit the road for the three-game trek with only one victory in seven games prior (1-5-1).
“We got back to our identity these last three games,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said after the Vegas victory. “All the areas we wanted to shore up, I got to give the guys credit, they shored it up. This is a tough building to play in, and we didn’t give them a lot.”
The Canucks, backstopped by goaltender Casey DeSmith at Anaheim and then by Thatcher Demko at Los Angeles and Vegas, the Canucks surrendered only one goal in each outing. Vancouver was also only short-handed three times over the course of the games, and it killed all three infractions.
“That’s what you want to see at this time of year,” Canucks forward Phil Di Giuseppe said. “The guys like scoring goals, but that’s how the playoffs are going to be. We’re learning how to lock it down, and we did a good job this trip.”
A nine-game homestand is on the lengthy side, but with only 17 games remaining in the regular season, the Canucks have an opportunity to pull away from the pack for good.
“We (want to) try and take advantage of that,” Demko said.
The Jets are tied for second in the Central Division with the Colorado Avalanche, two points back of the Dallas Stars, but Winnipeg has three games in hand on both.
Winnipeg hits Vancouver on the heels of a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Friday, which gives the Jets 10 victories in their last 13 games.
If that success is not enough to spark their championship hopes, the Jets boldly made a splash just before the Friday trade deadline, acquiring winger Tyler Toffoli and defenseman Colin Miller in a pair of deals with the New Jersey Devils. In early February, Winnipeg also acquired center Sean Monahan from the Montreal Canadiens.
Both Toffoli and Miller are expected to join the team in time for the Vancouver game.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Toffoli, who won a Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014 and was part of the Montreal Canadiens team that reached the Final in 2021. “The team is playing really well right now and it feels like we have all the pieces.
“We’ll see what happens moving forward and I’m just going to try and come in and fit in as easy as possible and do whatever I can to help everything out here.”
While Miller will add to Winnipeg’s already strong defense, Toffoli — who led the Devils with 26 goals this season — is capable of breaking open a game on offense.
“He’s got a little clutch factor in him. He scores big goals,” Winnipeg alternate captain Mark Scheifele said. “He’s got a wealth of knowledge in terms of his experiences and what he went through. Just having a guy like that is huge.”
–Field Level Media