Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Vancouver Canucks (6-4-1) and New Jersey Devils (1-5-3) duke it out live from the Prudential Center in New Jersey. The game can be live streamed here. Vancouver fans can hear all the action on Team Radio 1040 while New Jersey fans can do the same on 101.9 FM WFAN
Vancouver enters the game in fourth place in the Pacific Division with 13 points, four shy of the division-leading San Jose Sharks, while the Devils have had early season struggles and are sixth in the Metropolitan Division, 12 points behind the first place Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canucks are entering their sixth game of a seven game road trip and are 3-1-1 thus far on the swing.
This is the second of two meetings between these two teams, with Vancouver winning the first one at home 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 9.
Defenseman Kevin Bieksa has thrived under new coach John Tortorella's system thus far, as he notched another assist and was on the ice for Vancouver's last three goals when the Canucks came back from a 2-0 deficit and won 5-4 in overtime Tuesday against the New York Islanders.
"I just think he is a warrior," Tortorella told The Vancouver Sun. "We all know what he brings. I think we need more of that strut within our team. At times he gets sloppy, but in these types of situations he is the type of guy you want on the ice."
New Jersey earned its first win of the season Saturday when it hosted and shutout the rival New York Rangers 4-0, but then the team lost its seventh road game in a row Tuesday in a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets after allowing four unanswered goals.
"It's not where we wanted to go," goalie Cory Schneider told The Bergen Record. "We could have jumped these guys in the standings in our division and, again, we had a good start to the game and got the first goal and just weren't able to finish it off."
Schneider, who the Canucks traded to the Devils during this year's NHL draft, is 1-3-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage for New Jersey this season while Martin Brodeur is still in search of his first win with an 0-2-2 record to go along with a 3.40 GAA and a .865 save percentage.
Meanwhile, Roberto Luongo mans the crease for the Canucks and has gone 5-3-1 with a 2.63 GAA and a .906 save percentage.
Vancouver has been led by Henrik Sedin, who has three goals and 10 assists for 13 points while his twin brother Daniel Sedin has three tallies and seven helpers for 10 points. Jason Garrison has contributed two goals and seven assists for nine points.
For the Devils, points have come at a premium as defenseman Marek Zidlickiy has paved the way with seven points all on assists while Jaromir Jagr has lit the lamp twice and added four assists for six points.
Vancouver will look to continue its solid road streak while a Devils team in desperate need of points tries to fight its way back into the Metropolitan Division standings when these teams go face-to-face tonight.
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