HE REVEALED: “We got back to our identity these last three games,”

The Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets will square off in a Western Conference showdown on Saturday.

With a 3-1 victory over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, the Pacific Division and conference-leading Canucks wrapped up a flawless three-game road trip and successfully began a nine-game homestand. With only one win in their previous seven games (1-5-1) heading into the three-game trip, Vancouver was in poor shape.

“We got back to our identity these last three games,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said after the Vegas victory. “All the areas we wanted to shore up, I got to give the guys credit, they shored it up. This is a tough building to play in, and we didn’t give them a lot.”

The Canucks, backstopped by goaltender Casey DeSmith at Anaheim and then by Thatcher Demko at Los Angeles and Vegas, the Canucks surrendered only one goal in each outing. Vancouver was also only short-handed three times over the course of the games, and it killed all three infractions.

Forward Phil Di Giuseppe of the Canucks stated, “At this time of year, that’s what you want to see.” “The guys enjoy scoring goals, but that’s just the way the playoffs work. We performed admirably on this trip, and we’re still learning how to lock it down.”

With just 17 games left in the regular season, the Canucks have a chance to take a significant lead over the opposition despite their lengthy nine-game homestand.
“We (want to) try and take advantage of that,” Demko stated.
Winnipeg has three games in hand on both the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche, who are two points ahead of the Jets in the Central Division.

After defeating the Seattle Kraken 3-0 on Friday, Winnipeg takes on Vancouver, looking to make it 10 wins out of the previous 13 games.

The Jets boldly made an impact just before the Friday trade deadline, acquiring defender Colin Miller and winger Tyler Toffoli in two transactions with the New Jersey Devils, in case that success isn’t enough to ignite their dreams for a title. Winnipeg also acquired center Sean Monahan from the Montreal Canadiens at the beginning of February.

Miller and Toffoli are anticipated to join the squad in time for the Vancouver match.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” stated Toffoli, who played with the Montreal Canadiens that advanced to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final and won a Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014. “It feels like we have all the components right now since the team is performing so well.

“We’ll see what happens moving forward and I’m just going to try and come in and fit in as easy as possible and do whatever I can to help everything out here.”

Although Miller will strengthen Winnipeg’s already formidable defense, Toffoli, who led the Devils with 26 goals this season, has the offensive ability to turn a game around.

“He possesses a small amount of clutch factor. Mark Scheifele, the alternate captain for Winnipeg, stated, “He scores big goals.” In terms of his experiences and what he went through, he is a storehouse of knowledge. It’s enormous to have a guy like that.”