Canucks lines vs. Bruins, December 14, 2024

Just two days after being left out against the Florida Panthers, Kevin Lankinen won’t even be on the Vancouver Canucks roster.

But there is no need to panic. Lankinen isn’t injured, just sick. Both Lankinen and Derek Forbort, who had a truly unfortunate start to the season, were not on the ice for the Canucks during Saturday morning’s skate because the team was struck by the flu.

In Lankinen’s place, the Canucks emergency called up Arturs Silovs from the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL to serve as backup behind Thatcher Demko on Saturday night against the Boston Bruins.

The media was informed by Canucks staff on Thursday that Vincent Desharnais missed that day’s morning run due to illness. If Lankinen and Forbort have the same illness, they shouldn’t miss much time as Desharnais was back on the ice Saturday morning.

The remaining Canucks face a Bruins team that has been reeling after some big losses this week: an 8-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets and a 5-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken.

To be fair, those two losses were followed by four straight wins, albeit against some of the worst teams in the NHL. To be clear, the Bruins have been underwhelming this season, ranking 28th with a minus-23 goal differential and a 15-13-3 record that currently has them outside the Eastern Conference playoff standings in percentage terms leaves lying.

Part of the problem is the disappointing performance of two former Canadiens who return to Vancouver on Saturday night. Elias Lindholm has only 3 goals and 13 points in 31 games, while Nikita Zadorov has 2 goals and 8 points in 31 games.

The Bruins hoped for more when they signed Lindholm and Zadorov to long-term, high-paying contracts. Lindholm is the Bruins’ second-highest paid forward with a cap hit of $7.75 million for seven years, while Zadorov is paid $5 million per year for six years.

But Lindholm and Zadorov might be a little more motivated facing their former team, especially after the Canucks beat the Bruins 2-0 in Boston three weeks ago. The two have had a lot of success in this building in the playoffs and will look to find similar success on Saturday night.

Vancouver Canucks projected lines

Aside from Erik Brännström coming into the lineup for Derek Forbort, the Canucks’ lineup won’t change since Thursday’s win.

Mark Friedman has looked good in a few games and it will be interesting to see how he harmonizes with Brännström in the third pairing. Brännström struggled in recent games before he was a healthy substitute, but Friedman should be a better partner for his style of play than Vincent Desharnais.

The Canucks’ starting goaltender will be Thatcher Demko, making his second start of the season after injuring the back of his knee.

Boston Bruins projected lines

Despite the two lopsided losses early in their road trip, the Bruins are keeping their top two forward lines together and making only minor adjustments to their bottom six. However, they are making a significant adjustment on defense.

Here are the Bruins’ projected lines, courtesy of Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic:

Morgan Geekie – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand – Elias Lindholm – Justin Brazeau
Trent Frederic – Charlie Coyle – Mark Kastelic
Cole Koepke – John Beecher – Marc McLaughlin

Nikita Zadorov-Charlie McAvoy
Jordan Oesterle – Brandon Carlo
Mason Lohrei – Andrew Peeke

Jeremy Swayman
Joonas Korpisalo

Zadorov will join Charlie McAvoy as the Bruins’ top duo in his first game in Vancouver since signing with the Bruins. This moves Jordan Oesterle to the second team, while Mason Lohrei will replace Parker Wotherspoon in the lineup.

The Bruins’ starting goaltender will be Jeremy Swayman, who has an ugly .885 save percentage this season, made worse by the eight goals he allowed in his last start against the Winnipeg Jets.

Entering this season, Swayman had a career .919 save percentage, which earned him his eight-year, $8.25 million per year contract. He has significant problems in the first year of this contract.