Music: {allcanada} CANUCKS (23-15-3) at FLYERS (17-20-7)

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

{allcanada} CANUCKS (23-15-3) at FLYERS (17-20-7)

Thursday, January 15, 2015

7:00 PM ET

CANUCKS (23-15-3) at FLYERS (17-20-7)

TV: SNP, CSN-PH

Season series: The Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia Flyers split two games last season, with each winning on the road. Claude Giroux had three points (one goal) for the Flyers. Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Dan Hamhuis and Chris Higgins each had two points for the Canucks.

Canucks team scope: Vancouver has scored two goals during a three-game slide that includes a 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. "Nobody likes to lose. It's just such a bad feeling when you lose," coach Willie Desjardins told the Canucks website following practice Wednesday. "I thought we played pretty hard last night. I went through the tape, and I thought we came out a little bit slow. … We've got to get better." Desjardins said center Nick Bonino and defenseman Christopher Tanev will likely play after each sat out practice. Ryan Miller, who missed the past two games because of flu-like symptoms, expects to be back in goal. "Definitely, I feel like I got around the better side of this now," he said. The Canucks occupy the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Calgary Flames. They enter 10-6-1 against Eastern Conference opponents, including 7-1-0 against the Metropolitan Division.

Flyers team scope: Rookie center Scott Laughton sustained an upper-body injury on an open-ice hit by Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen late in the second period of a 1-0 loss Wednesday. He did not return to the game. General manager Ron Hextall did not say whether Laughton, who has six points (two goals) in 27 games, will be able to play Thursday. Rob Zepp made 25 saves in the loss in Washington. "We pressured pretty hard at the end to [try] and get that tying goal," Giroux said. "I think we did a good job of getting our chances, but at the end we need to make sure it goes in the net." It was Zepp's second consecutive start since he was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Sunday. Ray Emery will start against the Canucks. Philadelphia has lost two of three and is 3-4-0 in January. The Flyers, who have been shut out five times, are 7-5-3 against Western Conference teams and 3-2-2 against Pacific Division opponents.

Team Stats