Canucks aim to fly away with a victory against the Ducks

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The Canucks and Ducks are set for battle at Rogers Arena. Vancouver has lost five straight games on home ice and it won’t get an easier tonight. Anaheim has been the hottest team in the NHL since Christmas.

The Ducks were near the basement of the NHL standings just a few months ago and are now within striking distance of the Kings for first in the Pacific Division. Canucks Coach Willie Desjardins says he knew the Ducks were too good to stay out of the playoff picture.

“They did have a surprisingly slow start when you looked at it. They have some guys that can score and for whatever reason they weren’t scoring. You look at their history and they have always been one of the teams that are near the top of the standings.”

The Ducks have been surging up the standings and the Canucks are heading in the opposite direction. There has been accusations Vancouver isn’t coming prepared for the games, especially after horrendous efforts against Minnesota and Toronto. Bo Horvat says the Canucks need to rectify their mistakes immediately.

“If we can’t get up for this one, we shouldn’t be playing. They have been playing very well as of late. We haven’t been at our best and we have to prove that to the league and to ourselves that we are right there and we can make a playoff push.”

The Ducks are one of the bigger teams in the league and rookie Jake Virtanen says he loves playing against the bruising teams.

“They have a big team over there. We have to be physical against them. We know we have to keep it simple and get pucks in deep and be hard on their defence. We are ready to do that and it will be good.”

There will be a couple of line-up changes for Vancouver. Emerson Etem and Adam Cracknell return to the ice, while Jared McCann and Alex Friesen will watch from the press box. Ryan Miller gets the start in net.

The Ducks have had the Canucks number over the last few years, with just one regulation loss in their last 14 meetings. Vancouver has looked impressive against Anaheim this season with a 2-0-1 record.

The puck drops at 7 p.m. and you can watch the game on Sportsnet.

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