The Vancouver Canucks have an opportunity this weekend to potentially take control of their playoff fate.
While the Canucks have had plenty of struggles and ups and downs this season that have left them clawing for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, the same is true of their peers with whom they're competing.
After losing to the Canucks in the shootout on Wednesday, the Calgary Flames went on to lose to the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, bringing them to 2-3-2 in the month of March. Instead of pulling away from the Canucks, the Flames have stayed stagnant, giving the Canucks an opportunity to pass them in the standings on Saturday.
The teams chasing the Canucks have had struggles of their own. The St. Louis Blues and Utah Hockey Club could have each pulled even with the Canucks and Flames this week but instead lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Seattle Kraken, respectively.
That means, a couple of wins in back-to-back games this weekend could see the Canucks put themselves in a good spot for the stretch run to the playoffs. Not a comfortable spot, by any means, but a spot where you can start to believe that the Canucks might actually make the playoffs.
Saturday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks is an eminently winnable game, while Sunday's game against the Utah Hockey Club affords them an opportunity to keep Utah in their rearview mirror.
What should help their odds is that the Canucks should have their full complement of skaters on Saturday. Tyler Myers missed the Canucks' last game with an injury but was back at practice on Friday, with head coach Rick Tocchet calling him "probable" for Saturday.
Then there's Elias "Junior" Pettersson, who left Wednesday's game against the Flames after a cheap shot elbow to the head that earned Connor Zary a two-game suspension. Pettersson was at practice on Friday, with Tocchet affirming that he cleared concussion protocol and is "full go."
With the team back to full health apart from Thatcher Demko, there are few excuses left for the Canucks. The door is open; it's time for the Canucks to step on through.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
Assuming Myers is in, the Canucks will have to make a decision on defence: who comes out of the lineup? Will it be one of the rookies: Pettersson or Victor Mancini? Will veteran Derek Forbort sit for a game?
Here are the Canucks' projected lines:
UPDATE: Even though Elias "Junior" Pettersson was "full go" at practice on Friday and took the ice for warm-up on Saturday, he'll be scratched in favour of Victor Mancini, who has impressed in five games with the Canucks since he was acquired from the New York Rangers as part of the J.T. Miller trade.
Keeping Mancini in the lineup allows the Canucks to stick with the balance they like of lefties on the left and righties on the right but it comes at the expense of Pettersson, who has been steady, physical, and shown some offensive spark as he's grown more comfortable.
The Canucks like "Junior" a lot, to the point that they didn't even both papering him down to the AHL ahead of the trade deadline, making him ineligible for the Calder Cup Playoffs, because they are counting on him contributing at the NHL level through the end of the regular season and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With that in mind, look for the Canucks to potentially rotate Pettersson, Forbort, and Mancini down the stretch, assuming everyone stays healthy.
Tocchet said that the forward lines would remain the same, so presumably Conor Garland, who was "banged up" and missed Friday's practice, will be in, while Jonathan Lekkerimäki will be a healthy scratch for a second game.
The Canucks' starting goaltender will be Arturs Silovs.
"To me, it didn't matter who we played tonight. I don't think it's fair to see Kevin to play three in four nights after the workload he had. And listen, Arty played in the playoffs last year. he had a good start against Utah. He's going to have to play. He's gotta go in there with confidence.
"We've talked to him. We want him to have his shoulders out, I want him to challenge — don't sink — and just be that guy that we all have confidence in. Our team around him should rally around him."
Chicago Blackhawks projected lines
In their second season with Connor Bedard, the Chicago Blackhawks haven't progressed much. Sure, the Blackhawks will finish with more than the 52 points they managed last season but they're still likely to finish in the exact same spot: 31st in the NHL.
While the Blackhawks are in a rebuild, they already have the most important part of that rebuild in Bedard: the franchise cornerstone around which a team can be constructed. One would have expected the team to start turning the corner this season; instead they seem to have flipped a U-turn.
Here are the Blackhawks' projected lines, courtesy of Chicago Sun-Times reporter Ben Pope:
Colton Dach - Connor Bedard - Frank Nazar
Teuvo Teravainen - Ryan Donato - Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert - Jason Dickinson - Nick Foligno
Lukas Reichel - Joe Veleno- Tyler Bertuzzi
Alex Vlasic - Artyom Levshunov
Wyatt Kaiser - Connor Murphy
Alec Martinez - Louis Crevier
Arvid Soderblom
Spencer Knight
Here's something to keep an eye on: former Canuck Ilya Mikheyev is on a bit of a hot streak. He has five goals and seven points in his last eight games.
It's also worth paying attention to Artyom Levshunov. The 19-year-old defenceman was the second overall pick in the 2024 draft and is getting an opportunity to prove himself at the NHL level.
The Blackhawks' starting goaltender is expected to be Arvid Soderblom rather than Spencer Knight, who came to Chicago at the trade deadline. Soderblom has a .905 save percentage this season, which is above league average, and was sharp in his last start, with 38 saves on 41 shots against the Nashville Predators.
