By: Brayden Fengler / February 9, 2024 Yes, the Vancouver Canucks might be world-beaters and looking to be on a rocket ship headed straight for the moon. But unfortunately, take off isn’t until April when the playoffs start and, there are still a few months of regular season play left to transpire.
Although the Canucks are in a solid spot leading the NHL, that doesn’t mean that every game until they reach Lord Stanley’s race is going to be rainbows and butterflies. There are still tough games ahead, and exciting ones too.
We’ve put together a top-five list of the Canucks’ remaining 31 games. These are games that will hold the highest stakes and the most entertainment value as Canucks nation awaits the spring.
Vs the Boston Bruins at Home – Feb 24th
| comp stats as of (2.9.2024) | GP | W | L | OT | PTS | GF | GA |
| Bruins | 51 | 32 | 10 | 9 | 73 | 178 | 132 |
| Canucks | 51 | 34 | 12 | 5 | 73 | 189 | 133 |
The Canucks just took on Boston for the first time this season only yesterday, but the more entertaining of the two match-ups will likely be when Boston plays in Vancouver towards the end of the month.
One reason this game is more notable than their early February game is that the Feb 8th game was Elias Lindholm’s second game as a Canuck. Even though Lindholm had a great first game in Carolina, with two key tip-ins to help them win that contest, Lindholm has not had a lot of playing time under his belt as a Canuck. Come the end of this month, Lindholm will have 10 games played as a Canuck. By then he will be much more integrated into the Canucks systems. As Boston is currently the second-best team in the league behind Vancouver, it will be a better test to see how they stack up against the B’s once their new asset in Lindholm has had even more time to gel with Vancouver’s systems.
It’s unfortunate for Vancouver that their first meeting with the B’s this season did not go as planned, having lost 4-0 after generating only 17 shots on net during the game. Regardless of how their first contest went this year, this Feb 24th game will be the first and only time Vancouver faces off against Boston at home. The 2011 storybook does not need to be opened too wide to know that anytime Boston visits, it’s a “hospitable” environment inside Roger’s arena that often bleeds out through the TV for those watching at home.
Vs the LA Kings at Home – Feb 29th
| comp stats as of (2.9.2024) | GP | W | L | OT | PTS | GF | GA |
| Kings | 48 | 23 | 15 | 10 | 56 | 178 | 132 |
| Canucks | 51 | 34 | 12 | 5 | 73 | 152 | 132 |
Vancouver has not yet played the LA Kings at all this year. Feb 29th will surprisingly be the first meeting that the divisional rivals will have left on the season. Vancouver has undergone a massive transformation year over year and LA is one of the few “Kings” of the league that this new Canucks team has not tested themselves against on the ice.
Also, there is a real chance that LA could be Vancouver’s first playoff match-up should Vancouver stay in first and LA drop from the first to the second wild-card spot. Playoff preview games in the regular season are always fun, but when those two teams essentially have a full season series still to go, towards the end of the regular season, well that’s even better.
The last time Vancouver will play the Kings this year will be on April 6th, just six games before the end of the season. This Feb 29th game could be the starting point of something wonderful, as LA will likely already be playing with playoff intensity as they battle to keep their wild-card spot. This game could very well be the start of high-speed, high-stakes hockey that carries right into the postseason.
Vs the Colorado Avalanche at Home – March 13th
| comp stats as of (2.9.2024) | GP | W | L | OT | PTS | GF | GA |
| Avalanche | 52 | 32 | 16 | 4 | 68 | 196 | 165 |
| Canucks | 51 | 34 | 12 | 5 | 73 | 189 | 133 |
The Canucks face off against the Avalanche once more before the March 13th match-up, with that game taking place on Feb 20th. But the March 13th game will be the final game in the two team’s three-game season series.
Vancouver lost 5-2 to Colorado earlier in the season. Colorado sits at the top of the Central Division and has the real possibility of being a late-round playoff opponent against the Canucks. If the Canucks can win their second meeting with the Avalanche in Colorado on Feb 20th, then their meeting on March 13th at Rogers Arena could be a winner-takes-all stakes game to be enjoyed by Vancouver fans.
Heading into the playoffs, it’s always a strong motivator for teams to know that they’ve gotten the upper hand against their playoff opponents the majority of the time during the regular season. While this game likely won’t be a deciding factor in either team’s playoff appearance this year, it’s never boring hockey when two of the best teams in the conference face off.
Vs the Vegas Golden Knights at Home – April 8th
| comp stats as of (2.9.2024) | GP | W | L | OT | PTS | GF | GA |
| Golden Knights | 52 | 31 | 15 | 6 | 68 | 169 | 141 |
| Canucks | 51 | 34 | 12 | 5 | 73 | 189 | 133 |
Similarly to LA, Vancouver has four games with the Golden Knights this year, and in Vegas’ case, three remain, with the last of them taking place on April 8th in Vancouver.
The Canuck’s only contest with Vegas so far this season ended in a 1-4 loss for the Canucks. Like with Colorado, they would like to have that result back and take a stab at altering the leaderboard with regards to their four match-ups on the year.
Vancouver needs to show they can beat Vegas at least once this year, preferably three more times. Vegas sits second in the Pacific Division trailing Vancouver and like many teams on this list could be a playoff competitor in the near future.
Vancouver’s last playoff appearance in the bubble ended with a Vegas defeat in the second round. More so than anything to do with Boston, beating this Vegas team would be a milestone for many of the players on this Canucks team who were on the 2021 team that lost to Vegas in the playoffs.
Vegas has been consistent over recent weeks, winning the lion’s share of their games. There was however, a time towards the end of last year when Vegas lost 7 out of 10 games, and since that occurrence, have not gone on a winning streak of more than three games.
Vs the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton – April 13th
| comp stats as of (2.9.2024) | GP | W | L | OT | PTS | GF | GA |
| Oilers | 46 | 29 | 16 | 1 | 59 | 161 | 127 |
| Canucks | 51 | 34 | 12 | 5 | 73 | 189 | 133 |
Last but not least, the Edmonton Oilers, a team that looked out of the playoff picture by Christmas, have undergone an amazing bounce-back story in their own right.
The Canucks played the Oilers three times at the start of the season, with the Canucks first game of the year at home being against the Oilers and ending in an 8-1 victory for Vancouver. That was then followed up by a 4-3 win a few nights later and a 6-2 win in November.
Vancouver plays Edmonton one final time this year, in April. By the time this game comes around it will have been 190 days since the two teams last faced off, that’s just over half a calendar year. Since their last match-up Edmonton has been reborn.
Shortly after the Canucks’ beat Edmonton, the Oilers fired their then-head coach Jay Woodcroft and hired a new coach Kris Knoblauch. Canucks fan’s know all too well what magic a new coach can bring to an organization at the right time. Most importantly, the Oilers have up until recently been on a winning streak like no other. Their loss to Vegas this past Tuesday Feb 6th, marks their first loss of the calendar year, as the team won 16 games in a row after their loss to the Islanders on December 19th.
The Canucks vs Oilers game on April 13th could very easily be the Canucks completing their series sweep of Edmonton. Or it could be the Oilers striking new fear into the hearts of the Canucks, who they could very easily meet in the playoffs.