It’s gameday for the Canucks Sunday afternoon as Vancouver tries to go up two games on the Predators down south.
Casey DeSmith is out with an injury; this comes after DeSmith put up a great performance in the last matchup with the Predators.
The Canucks will be starting third-string goaltender Artur Silovs.
DeSmith himself was filling in for Canucks starting goal tender Thatcher Demko, who’s expected to be sidelined for much of the playoffs.
DeSmith took a hit from Predators forward Michael McCarron, which netted McCarron a $2,000 fine for goaltender interference.
But reportedly, DeSmith’s injury isn’t related to that hit.
The Canucks lead the Preds two games to one right now and know Nashville is going to come out desperate to avoid going down three to one heading back to Rogers Arena.
“We’re desperate too, because we know that we have more to give, we got better… a win is a win at this time of year,” said Canucks defenceman Carson Soucy.
“But we know that we got more and we got better.”
Dakota Joshua and Nikita Zadorov are Vancouver’s hit leaders with 15 and 13 respectively. They all need to come out charging as usual. The power play still needs some adjustments, going just two for nine in the series’s first three games
Puck drops at 2 p.m. Tune in on Sportsnet 650.