The Vancouver Canucks will put their road winning streak on the line when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.
Thanks to Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over the Boston Bruins in the second clash of a six-game road swing, the Canucks have won eight consecutive road games.
It is an impressive run for a Vancouver squad that has a substandard 3-5-3 home record, which is why coach Rick Tocchet was not about to spend too much time picking apart his team’s win in Boston.
The Canucks were outshot 32-15 by the Bruins and benefited from a spectacular 32-save performance from goaltender Kevin Lankinen to pull off the win.
“We’re 8-1 on the road, so I’ve gotta give the guys a lot of credit grinding out some wins,” Tocchet said. “They’re not all pretty … but we’ll take it.”
Despite Lankinen’s efforts in Boston, the Canucks likely will turn to goaltender Arturs Silovs in Pittsburgh. Unlike Lankinen, who has a 10-3-2 record and has won all eight road starts this season, Silovs has one victory in five starts (1-3-1) and has allowed 20 goals in those games.
Between Silovs’ struggles and the knowledge they stole a win in Boston, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Canucks put forth a stronger game against the Penguins despite having played the previous night.
“We had the lead and played a one-goal game and were able seal it,” said forward Jake DeBrusk, who scored the winning goal in his return to Boston. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got the win, and that’s the thing that matters most.”
The Penguins are not only well rested but also are on a quest for redemption after their last outing.
The Penguins had plenty of time to digest a humbling 6-1 home loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday, one night after losing 4-1 at home to the Winnipeg Jets.
Pittsburgh has only one win in seven games (1-4-2) and is ahead of only the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference standings. In fact, the Penguins possess the only sub-.400 winning percentage in the conference, have the league’s worst goals-against mark and worst goal differential at minus-34.
“It doesn’t take a lot to play the right way, to play smart, to play with some detail,” goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said. “It doesn’t take talent, doesn’t take skill. You don’t have to be the strongest guy, the smartest guy, the most fit, whatever. All it is is just an attitude and a mindset. I think we have that at times. … I think we just need to put it together more consistently.”
The game will mark the Pittsburgh debut of forward Philip Tomasino, the 2019 first-round draft choice of the Nashville Predators who on Monday was acquired for a fourth-round pick in 2027.
Tomasino scored 11 goals in his rookie season but has only 12 in his last two seasons while tumbling down the Nashville depth chart. He practiced on Tuesday with Evgeni Malkin, which is a golden opportunity to get his career back on track.
“The last two years for me haven’t been what I wanted it to be in a perfect world,” Tomasino said. “But all I can look forward to is a future here, and I think it’s going to be really good, a really good group.”
–Field Level Media
