Music: {allcanada} DUCKS (15-15-6) at CANUCKS (14-15-9)

Friday, January 1, 2016

{allcanada} DUCKS (15-15-6) at CANUCKS (14-15-9)

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Friday, January 1, 2016

10:00 PM ET

DUCKS (15-15-6) at CANUCKS (14-15-9)

TV: PRIME, FS-SD, SNP

Season series: The Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks have split two games at Honda Center this season. The Canucks won 2-1 in a shootout on Oct. 12, and John Gibson made 25 saves in the Ducks' 4-0 win on Nov. 30.

Ducks team scope: Anaheim will try for a sweep of its three-game trip through Western Canada before returning to Honda Center for eight straight games. Coach Bruce Boudreau will have to decide whether to give Frederik Andersen his first start since Dec. 21 on the second night of a back-to-back or stick with John Gibson, who shut out the Calgary Flames in a 1-0 win on Thursday, two nights after he did the same thing at the Edmonton Oilers. "We're playing well defensively right now and we don't need that many goals," Gibson said. "We kind of adapted that, and hopefully, we can keep it going. We won three in a row, and this is a big trip for us; each game is really big, and hopefully we can finish it off [Friday]."

Canucks team scope: Defenseman Christopher Tanev skated at practice Thursday and said he hopes to be able to play. "I feel practice went well, so as long as today and [Friday] progress OK, I hope to play," he told the Canucks website. Coach Willie Desjardins said Tanev was "able to move fine" at practice and hopes to have him in the lineup. Vancouver could use him; the Canucks are coming off a 5-0 home loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday. Goalie Jacob Markstrom is expected to start again. It's the first trip to Rogers Arena as a visiting player for Anaheim defenseman Kevin Bieksa, who was traded to the Ducks last summer. "It's exciting for him to return here I'm sure," forward Radim Vrbata said. "We want to spoil it for him; we want those two points. Big game."

Team Stats