The Canucks play their final game before Xmas and the last game after a punishing 27 games in 53-day stretch.<\/p>\n
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. TV: <\/strong>Hockey Night in Canada. Radio:<\/strong>\u00a0Sportsnet 650<\/p>\n The buzz:\u00a0<\/strong>Andrei Kuzmenko is back. And he\u2019s with the best centre he\u2019s ever played with: Elias Pettersson.<\/p>\n The direction from Rick Tocchet is obvious: get to the net. Get on the puck. Don\u2019t be afraid to be creative with the puck \u2014 but make sure you\u2019re shooting the puck. And just more energy overall.<\/p>\n \u201cHe can\u2019t be the third forward up the ice all the time,\u201d Tocchet told the media Saturday morning.<\/p>\n Tocchet said the coaching staff had worked on some specific issues in a practice this week in Dallas and the head coach is clearly pleased with the response.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s got some juice.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s all about timing.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to get inside and you got to shoot the puck and I think if he does that, he\u2019ll get (goals). I want him to do spin-a-rama. I love that! I told him to in Dallas. I think he wants to learn so much. \u2018Hey, Coach, when can I do my stuff?\u2019 Well, you can do your stuff. You just got to be calculated. If you have no speed and you\u2019re at the blue line, probably not the right time to do a spin-a-rama, right? But you\u2019re down low and you\u2019re one on one with a guy, yeah, have a party man.\u201d \u2022 No team has given up more goals this season than San Jose. No team has scored more goals this season than Vancouver. The Canucks have played a game every other day since Halloween. They\u2019re prone to fatigue mistakes. The Sharks have been busy too, playing four games over the past week ahead of this contest. They lost all four.<\/p>\n The Canucks have scored 3.6 goals per game over their last 10 games. San Jose has given up 3.7 goals per game in that stretch. This game could see goals aplenty.<\/p>\n \u2022 Busy busy days.<\/p>\n Brock Boeser said he\u2019d never been through a stretch like the Canucks have been on since Hallowe\u2019en, playing more games than any team in the NHL.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it kind of feels like it\u2019s kind of that stretch at the end of the season where you\u2019re, you know, it\u2019s game, what 70 to 82 or whatever. I think our schedule has been pretty crazy so far. But I think we\u2019ve made the most of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got back on track these last six games \u2026 We\u2019re playing the right way. Playing hard.\u201d<\/p>\n The history:\u00a0<\/strong>The Canucks throttled the Sharks in their first two meetings of the year, 10-1 and 3-1. But the last time these teams faced each other, right after U.S. Thanksgiving, the resurgent-at-the-time Sharks pulled off a 4-3 upset.<\/p>\n The hope: <\/strong>Vancouver\u2019s offence has carried them of late, but their goaltending has been stout as well. The Canucks remain hot, even if they have hit the energy wall. There is plenty of reason to think they\u2019ll be their usual powerful selves on Saturday.<\/p>\n The fear:\u00a0<\/strong>The Canucks finally will get some respite over the next week \u2014 they\u2019re unlikely to let themselves look ahead, but you never know.<\/p>\n #Canucks<\/a> Quinn Hughes has 2+6=8 in three games against San Jose this season. Nux PP is 6\/12 in those games. Will those trends hold true again tonight?<\/p>\n The top guns:\u00a0<\/strong>Three Canucks remain in the top-10 of NHL scoring: J.T. Miller is third with 46 points, Quinn Hughes has 42 points and is tied for seventh, while Elias Pettersson is 10th with 41 points. Brock Boeser has 24 goals, second-best in the league. Tomas Hertl leads the Sharks with 26 points. Jacob MacDonald has scored four goals over the past 10 games.<\/p>\n The wounded:<\/strong> Canucks: Carson Soucy (leg fracture, LTIR) and Guillaume Brisebois (concussion, LTIR). Sharks: Ryan Carpenter (undisclosed, day-to-day), Logan Couture (lower body, week-to-week), Matt Benning (lower body, indifeinite), Ty Emberson (lower body, week-to-week), Nico Sturm (hand, indefinite), Calen Addison (lower body, day-to-day), Mitchell Russell (undisclosed, indefinite).<\/p>\n The quote:<\/strong> \u201cWe play a system that rewards hard work.\u201d \u2014 Conor Garland, keeping it simple about how he and his teammates have found success.<\/p>\n The lineup:<\/strong><\/p>\n Forwards<\/em><\/p>\n Mikheyev-Pettersson-Kuzmenko<\/p>\n H\u00f6glander-Miller-Boeser<\/p>\n Joshua-Blueger-Garland<\/p>\n \u00c5man-Suter-Lafferty<\/p>\n Defence<\/em><\/p>\n Hughes-Hronek<\/p>\n Cole-Juulsen<\/p>\n Zadorov-Myers<\/p>\n Goalie<\/em><\/p>\n Thatcher Demko<\/p>\n The prediction:<\/strong> This is going to be a wild one, with the tired Sharks more likely to be thinking about getting home and set for Christmas. The high-flying Canucks will have their way in a 5-1 win.<\/p>\n FAN FORUM: <\/strong>Do you have a specific question for a player? Pass it along to @provincesports<\/a> and we\u2019ll get it in a future edition.<\/p>\n pjohnston@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n twitter.com\/risingaction<\/a><\/p>\n Bookmark our website and support our journalism: <\/strong><\/em>Don\u2019t miss the news you need to know \u2014 add VancouverSun.com<\/a> and TheProvince.com<\/a> to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited, ad-lite access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun<\/a> | The Province<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. 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When and where:<\/strong> Saturday, 7 p.m., Rogers Arena<\/p>\n
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