The Vancouver Canucks, nearing the end of a disappointing road trip, will attempt to end a four-game skid when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
The Canucks fell to 0-1-2 on their five-game trek when they lost 2-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.
Vancouver has scored one goal over the past two games and only five over the past four contests.
The Maple Leafs also are coming off a road loss to the Hurricanes, a 6-3 defeat on Thursday that ended Toronto’s five-game winning streak.
This will be the first meeting of the season between Toronto and Vancouver.
The Maple Leafs took a 2-0 lead in the opening 7:29 at Carolina on Thursday. William Nylander scored the second goal to end an eight-game drought. He had not scored since Dec. 21.
“It would happen eventually,” Nylander said. “You have to simplify, get back to basics sometimes when you aren’t feeling the puck the way you usually are.”
Before the period ended, however, the Hurricanes tied the game with two goals in 17 seconds.
“We had breakdowns in our zone,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “I thought we left the slot open too much tonight. I thought we spent too much time in our zone in general, especially in the second period. We have to kill more plays, come up with more pucks, and we didn’t. It kind of got away from us.”
Toronto’s Auston Matthews scored a goal and Mitch Marner notched an assist, but they each recorded a minus-6 rating for the game.
“I thought we had good sequences of the game,” Matthews said, “but little breakdowns, poor execution that they obviously capitalized on. We did a good job of getting it back, but you don’t want to be in that position in the first place.”
Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll made 28 saves against the Hurricanes as he continues to be the No. 1 goaltender with Anthony Stolarz sidelined due to a knee injury.
“I’m sure he wants a couple of goals back (from Thursday), but he’s been battling for us and playing well,” Berube said. “I don’t see him getting tired. He wants the net.”
The Maple Leafs are opening a three-game homestand against the Canucks, who end their trip on Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets.
The Canucks had Elias Pettersson back in the lineup against the Hurricanes. Out since Dec. 23 because of an upper-body injury, Pettersson returned to play 20:27 on Friday with no shots on goal.
“I felt pretty good,” Pettersson said. “Maybe some puck battles — puck losses — I do want back. But overall it felt good.”
The Canucks had a season-low 14 shots on goal against the Hurricanes.
“You’ve got to hit the net,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “We had a lot of O-zone time, but we’re just missing opportunities. … I look at missed opportunities. Two-on-one, we try to pass (and) miss. These are crucial things. You’ve got to throw pucks at the net, hit the net with people going. I’m a little frustrated with the overpassing or missing the net.”
Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko stopped 18 shots after missing three games with back spasms.
“I thought we had a good first period, whether they played the night before or not,” Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers. “We did some good things, but (there are) some things to clean up. To get some more pucks to the net, some more bodies to the net, would help our group.”
–Field Level Media
