Canucks vs Devils game day:

Article content

The list of players who have played for both the Devils and Canucks is quite a fun one, without even speculating if Quinn Hughes could still play for the Devils.

Article content

Greg Adams, Kirk McLean, Brendan Morrison, Alex Mogilny, Patrik Sundstrom, Jacob Markstrom, Ron Delorme, Don Lever to name a few.

Article content

Article content

And now there’s Paul Cotter, who started his Canucks career as fun as anyone.

“These guys know I’m coming for all of them,” he told the Canucks team website this week. “I think they expect that. They know I’m a competitor, so I’ll be shooting for all of them, but it’s going to be exciting.”

The Devils made the playoffs last season, but seem to have lost their way a bit. They present a strong test for the Canucks, even though they have been outscored 2-1 in their three games this season.

The Buzz: New Jersey has lost two straight after a season-opening win against Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers. The Canucks, as you know, lost 7-2 at Carolina on Thursday after losing at home in Vegas on Sunday. Someone shake a two-game losing streak.

History: The two teams split last season’s series, each winning in the opposition’s building: the Canucks won 2-1 in New Jersey in December and the Devils won 5-4 in Vancouver in January.

Article content

Article content

Hope: The Devils are off to a rocky start this season, having scored just six goals through three games. They also started slowly in games, but at least in the big picture, the Canucks scored in bunches? The slow-starting Devils may be just the ticket for the Canucks, who want to get better in their first period game.

The fear: As Filip Hronek said Thursday, the Canucks must not lose faith in their abilities as they struggle to rebuild their defensive structure. If they lose their focus this early, it’s going to be a long season.

The top weapons: Elias Petey Pettersson wasn’t super notable on Thursday, but he still picked up two assists, giving him eight points for the season. It took him 10 games to get to eight points last year. Jake DeBrusk got his first two goals of the season on Thursday. Brock Boeser is hitless in three games. Meanwhile, the Devils are led in goal by new acquisition Luke Evangelista, who has two goals and one assist in three games.

Article content

The injured: Canucks: Thatcher Demko, Hip Surgery Recovery (IR); Filip Chytil, shoulder (IR). Devil: Jonas Siegenthaler, unknown (day-to-day), Connor Brown, lower body, (day-to-day), Seamus Casey, knee (IR), Jonathan Kovacevic, knee (IR), Nick Bjugstad, pectoral muscle tear, (IR)

The quote: “We can’t have guys that just walk away in these situations. It shows what kind of character we have when we show the ability to push back and play our game despite the score.” – Manny Malhotra after Thursday’s game.

The projected lineup:

DeBrusk-Pettersson-Lekkerimäki
Cotter-Rossi-Boeser
Öhgren-Sasson-Karlsson
Bains-Raty-O’Connor

Buium-Hronek
Oleksiak-Willander
Pettersson-Schenn

A sailor

pjohnston@postmedia.com

Article content