In the second back-to-back game, the Canucks will face the Golden Knights in Vegas

The Vancouver Canucks continue their short two-game road trip and are back in action on Thursday night with an in-division matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights.

After a 3-2 overtime loss to Utah, the Canucks are looking to bounce back after a cross-state trip. Thursday’s game will be the first of four meetings this season between the Canucks and Golden Knights. The two Pacific Division teams split their season series last season, with each club picking up two wins.

Dakota Joshua scored his second goal of the season on Wednesday and his head coach Rick Tocchet called Joshua’s play a step in the right direction. The 28-year-old striker has now scored two goals in his last five games and is starting to get back on his feet after missing the first month and a half of the season due to surgery following a cancer diagnosis.

The Canucks travel with Linus Karlsson and Phil Di Giuseppe on the roster for the first time this season. Both Karlsson and Di Giuseppe struggled with injuries earlier in the year but were impressive in their play with the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL.

The Golden Knights lead the Pacific Division with a record of 20-8-3. They have won five of their last six games and begin a three-game home stretch with Thursday’s game.

Quick hits to the competition

• Jack Eichel leads Vegas with nine goals and 33 assists for 42 points in 31 games played. Eichel ranks second in the league with 33 assists. He has received 12 of his assists on the power play this season and was involved in nine of Ivan Barbashev’s team-leading 15 goals this season.

• Barbashev plays up front with Eichel and Mark Stone, but Barbashev missed practice Wednesday and Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy called him daily.

• Pavel Dorofeyev (12) and Brett Howden (11) join Barbashev as the only double-digit scorers for Vegas this season.

• Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore average 22.5 minutes per night on defense, and they will see plenty of minutes at five-on-five and on both special teams units.

• Noah Hanifin and Brayden McNabb round out Vegas’ top four.

• Theodore leads the Vegas defense with four goals and 22 assists for 26 points in 30 games.

• Adin Hill has started 20 times this season and has a save percentage of .899%, a goals-against average of 2.78 and two shutouts.

The story: Thatcher Demko is getting back into the swing of things

Thatcher Demko has shown strong goalkeeping skills in his last two starts and looks like he is finding his rhythm in the goal crease. He has stopped 58 of the 62 shots he has faced in his last two starts and allowed four goals while his expected goals against percentage is 6.83.

Demko picked up his first win of the season against the Avalanche on Monday when he stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced.

Kevin Lankinen is expected to start on Thursday, followed by Demko on Wednesday. Lankinen battled the flu last week but was able to recover on Wednesday in Utah.

Lankinen is tied for the lead with three shutouts this season.

The Canucks’ top performers in the last five games

Quinn Hughes: 0g-5a-5p
Pine Sherwood: 3g-0a-3p
Danton Heinen: 2g-1a-3p
Max Sasson: 1g-2a-3p
Brock Boeser: 1g-2a-3p

When and where to see

Thursday night’s game begins at 7:00 pm PT and you can watch it on Sportsnet or listen to the radio talk with Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.