It has been over three weeks since the Vancouver Canucks last won a game on home ice.
The Canucks managed to narrowly defeat one of the worst teams in the NHL, the San Jose Sharks, in their last game before Christmas. They haven't won on home ice since.
In their defence, they've only played two home games since then. In their offence, they just lost four of five games on the road trip from which they're just returning. The team's saving grace this season has been their play on the road, where they've picked up the majority of their wins. Now they don't even have that going for them.
The Canucks desperately need to turn their season around, as they risk plummeting down the standings in the Western Conference if they continue on their current trajectory. Working in their favour is that they're finally almost entirely healthy, with Dakota Joshua the lone regular still on injured reserve.
At least, they're healthy enough to be on the ice. A few players have certainly looked like they're playing through some sort of injury, notably J.T. Miller, whose ice time was severely reduced on the Canucks' road trip.
According to head coach Rick Tocchet, however, Miller's limited ice time had nothing to do with any injury.
"He's not hurt," said Tocchet. "I think it's just the way we're made up right now. I think, for us to get back into it...we're playing more four lines and I think it's helped our team adjust — not giving the other team as many shots, trying to stay in the game. He wants to play better, he knows it."
"It's tough," he added. "Guys like that want to play on the edge. He's trying to temper it: he doesn't want to take dumb penalties, things like that. He's at his best when he's driving play."
When asked directly about whether he was playing through an injury, Miller was dismissive, saying simply, "I'm good." When asked about why his ice time had declined in recent games, Miller seemed uncertain.
"I don't know," said Miller. "I could probably play a little better. I don't know what you want me to say."
Even healthy, it won't be easy for the Canucks to arrest their downward momentum against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night. The Kings dominated the Canucks last season, winning three of their four meetings, with the Canucks' only win coming in overtime.
This season, the Kings have been one of the strongest teams in the Western Conference, with a 24-12-5 record and a plus-21 goal differential. That's primarily because they've been the stingiest team in the NHL — their 24.9 shots against per game and 2.41 goals against per game are both the lowest in the league.
That's not good news for a Canucks team that has been struggling to generate shots and goals all season but particularly over the last few weeks.
"You have to be willing to play an ugly game," said Miller. "Get inside, get crosschecked, be physical — stuff like that. If you're committed there, you'll have success."
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
After an ugly loss to the Winnipeg Jets, the Canucks shook up their lines for Thursday's morning skate.
Here are the Canucks' projected lines:
After a couple of games on the fourth line, rookie Jonathan Lekkerimäki is getting bumped up to the top line with Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson. Lekkerimäki's shot is a legitimate weapon but he's had a tough time finding the space to use it in a depth role.
Brock Boeser has been playing with Pettersson but he'll be reunited with J.T. Miller on a line with Phil Di Giuseppe. That bumps Conor Garland to the third line and Nils Höglander to the fourth line, but both lines should still see a decent amount of playing time.
On defence, Vincent Desharnais may draw back into the lineup. Noah Juulsen was absent from morning skate, with Tocchet saying he would be a game-time decision after he "tweaked something."
The Canucks' starting goaltender will be Thatcher Demko. That was likely already the plan before Kevin Lankinen, fresh off a shutout of the Toronto Maple Leafs, had a tough time against the Jets. Demko has yet to play up to his usual standard this season after coming back from a long injury rehab.
Los Angeles Kings projected lines
The Kings are a dangerous team but they do have a couple of significant players out with injuries. Drew Doughty hasn't yet to play this season after suffering an ankle injury in the preseason, while Alex Laferriere, who is third on the Kings in scoring, is out with an upper-body injury.
That complicates matters for the Kings, who have been playing with 11 forwards and seven defencemen in recent games, despite having another forward available in Akil Thomas. Presumably, Thomas will draw into the lineup for Laferriere but it's also possible that they'll dress eight defencemen instead. Since they didn't take a morning skate, we have no hints about which direction they'll go.
Here are the Kings' projected lines, though they are subject to change by game time:
Alex Turcotte - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele - Quinton Byfield - Tanner Jeannot
Trevor Moore - Phillip Danault - Kevin Fiala
Trevor Lewis - Samuel Helenius
Mikey Anderson - Vladislav Gavrikov
Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke
Jacob Moverare - Jordan Spence
Kyle Burroughs
Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich
UPDATE: Sure enough, Thomas doesn't get into the lineup. Instead, Samuel Helenius, recently recalled from the Ontario Reign in the AHL, draws into the lineup, with the Kings still going with 11 forwards and seven defencemen.
It's interesting that the Kings are sticking with seven defencemen, considering former Canuck Kyle Burroughs has barely played in recent games. Burroughs has had under five minutes in ice time in his last six games and hasn't played more than ten minutes in a game since November 5.
The Kings' starting goaltender will be Darcy Kuemper, who has been lights out for the Kings this season. Aided by the sound defence in front of him, Kuemper has posted numbers that have him in the Vezina conversation, albeit in a distant second place behind Connor Hellebuyck. Kuemper has a .923 save percentage and a 2.11 goals against average, both of which are second behind Hellebuyck among goaltenders with at least 20 starts.
The trade that brought Kuemper to the Kings has been beneficial to both teams. The Kings sent the Washington Capitals Pierre-Luc Dubois in the trade and he's third in scoring with 32 points in 44 games for a Capitals team that is currently first place in the NHL.
