Canucks Host Hurricanes Amid Skid and Injury Concerns

Vancouver returns to Rogers Arena on Tuesday night seeking to end a seven-game losing streak against Carolina, the defending Stanley Cup champion that beat the Canucks 7-2 earlier this month and enters the rematch with a 7-2-1 record, according to NHL.com, CanucksArmy, and CBS Sports.

According to CanucksArmy and The Hockey News, the Canucks are 2-7-1 and begin a three-game homestand after going 0-5-1 on a six-game trip. Carolina is 5-1 on the road and had a seven-game winning streak halted by a 3-2 loss in Calgary on Sunday, according to CBS Sports and CanucksArmy.

As reported by CanucksArmy, Leevi Merilainen is expected to start in goal for Vancouver after taking part in starters' drills at the morning skate. The Canucks have allowed 4.50 goals per game, and their penalty kill is the only one in the league below 60 percent, according to The Province.

Carolina remains short-handed up front. NHL.com, CBS Sports, and The Province reported that Seth Jarvis is still unavailable as he recovers from shoulder surgery, while Jordan Staal is out with a calf injury, Taylor Hall is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and Mark Jankowski was sent back to Carolina for evaluation of a lower-body injury.

Jarvis has traveled with the team and continues to practice, but NHL.com said he is not expected to play Tuesday. According to CanucksArmy, Juuso Valimaki could make his season debut for Carolina, while Pyotr Kochetkov was in the starter's crease at morning skate.

Vancouver will also be without Marco Rossi for a second straight game because of illness, according to NHL.com and CanucksArmy. The same reports said the Canucks are expected to use their 12 healthy forwards, with Linus Karlsson projected to skate alongside Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk.

Pettersson leads Vancouver with 10 points, according to The Hockey News and The Province. For Carolina, Sebastian Aho has 14 points in 10 games and Andrei Svechnikov has 11, while Jankowski had scored in six straight games before getting hurt, according to The Hockey News and CanucksArmy.

Tuesday's game also includes a tribute to former Canucks broadcaster John Garrett, who died earlier this year. According to The Hockey News and CanucksArmy, players wore tribute shirts before the game and Garrett's family is expected to attend a planned in-arena ceremony.

"We’ve got guys playing out of position and have lost three or four penalty killers," said Rod Brind'Amour, Hurricanes coach.

The Province reported that Brind'Amour made the remark while describing Carolina's injury issues during the trip.

"But you’ve got to figure it out. This is a no-one-feels-sorry-for-you league. You just regroup," said Rod Brind'Amour, Hurricanes coach.

CBS Sports cited the same message from Brind'Amour after the loss in Calgary, where he still pointed to Carolina's offensive creation despite defensive lapses.

"This is the no-one-feels-sorry-for-you league. We just regroup. We still created a ton of offense," said Rod Brind'Amour, Hurricanes coach.

CBS Sports said Brind'Amour followed that assessment by pointing to the volume of chances Carolina allowed.

"(The Calgary) game could have looked different, but I still would have felt the same, because we're giving up way too much," said Rod Brind'Amour, Hurricanes coach.

Jordan Martinook also addressed the Hurricanes' performance in Calgary, according to CBS Sports.

"We just probably gave up way too much," said Jordan Martinook, Hurricanes forward.

He then described how the game tilted late as Calgary simplified its approach.

"It felt like, especially in the third, (Calgary) started putting it on us a lot and they were just playing simple, like how we usually play," said Jordan Martinook, Hurricanes forward.

Vancouver coach Manny Malhotra focused on defensive execution after the Canucks' latest loss, according to CBS Sports.

"The execution of details within our game, things that we've continuously talked about that are just non-negotiable," said Manny Malhotra, Canucks coach.

CBS Sports reported that Malhotra tied those issues to net-front play, shot blocking, and faceoffs.

"We need to have them to be able to be successful. Getting in shot lanes, being tougher around our net, face-off details.

We continue to learn the lesson the hard way that when you don't do those things, pucks end up in the back of your net," said Manny Malhotra, Canucks coach.

The Province also quoted Kevin Woodley of NHL.com on Vancouver's struggling penalty kill after Carolina's power play carved up the Canucks in the first meeting.

"At times it looks like guys are trying too hard to do too much and that takes them outside of the structure they’re trying to get to. That Carolina power-play picked them apart to a degree I don’t know that I’ve seen in the National Hockey League in a long time.

… you also have to hat tip to the defending Stanley Cup Champions for being able to move it around that much but when you chase you open up the lanes that give them the ability to make those passes. The pace with which they make them is impressive, but frankly, the lack of resistance made it fairly easy: like there was no sticks in lanes, there were no bodies in lanes, the seams were so wide-open that they just tic-tac-toed it.

I’ve made this joke a couple of times but nights like that you wonder if Kay Whitmore (goaltending supervisor for the NHL) is gonna approve cigarettes and blindfolds for goaltenders as the next piece of the equipment," said Kevin Woodley, NHL.com analyst.