Saturday November 19 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks - 7 p.m. - CBC

Vancouver Canucks: 18 GP, 7-10-1, 15 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Chicago Blackhawks: 18 GP, 12-4-2, 26 pts, first in Central Division

It's a tough opponent tonight, but the Vancouver Canucks have a chance to wrap up their current homestand with a 3-1 record if they can find a way to beat the Western Conference's best team, the Chicago Blackhawks.

After a 3-2 win over the Flames in Calgary last night, the surging Blackhawks are now 9-1-1 in their last 11 games and have opened up a five-point lead at the top of the West.

We haven't heard much yet this season about last year's Art Ross and Hart Trophy winner, Patrick Kane, but he has quietly been piling up the points. Kane currently leads the Blackhawks with 19 points in 18 games, three points back of the league's current scoring leaders, Mark Scheifele and Nikita Kucherov.

Since they played last night, the Blackhawks are not holding a morning skate today. Here's how Joel Quenneville deployed his lines last night in Calgary.

#Blackhawks lines: Panik-Toews-Kane, Panarin-Anisimov-Hossa, Rasmussen-Kruger-Hartman, Desjardins-Schmaltz-Tootoo/Hinostroza.

— Tracey Myers (@TramyersCSN) November 18, 2016

Vinnie Hinostroza was cleared to play on Friday after he left Tuesday's game against Winnipeg following a heavy hit near the boards. There's a chance that the 22-year-old rookie will get back into the lineup tonight.

Tonight will also mark the first visit to Rogers Arena for former Canucks draft pick Gustav Forsling. Chosen in the fifth round by Jim Benning's regime in the 2014 draft, the lithe Swede was dealt to the Blackhawks in January of 2015 in exchange for immediate—and, as it turned out, temporary blue line help, in the form of Adam Clendening.

Forsling has appeared in 16 games for the Blackhawks so far this season, primarily on the team's third defensive pairing with Niklas Hjalmarsson. He has one goal and four points, is a plus-one, and is averaging 16:09 of ice time per game.

Twenty-year-old Forsling stood out as a power-play specialist with Team Sweden during his appearances in the World Junior Championship. He's averaging 1:34 of power-play time per game with the Blackhawks, who have the league's 12th-best power play with a 19.4 percent success rate. Forsling has just one assist so far with the man advantage.

Corey Crawford faced 25 shots in Calgary last night to improve his record to 9-4-2. Though he hasn't played much this year, there's a chance that the Canucks might see backup Scott Darling tonight. Though Darling has put up a 2.98 goals-against average and .907 save percentage in his five appearances this season, his win/loss record stands at 3-0-0.

As for the Canucks, it'll be Jacob Markstrom back between the pipes for the third straight game. Ryan Miller has recovered enough from his bout of the flu to be the backup tonight, which means Michael Garteig was re-assigned to the ECHL's Alaska Aces on Friday.

Here's a snapshot of how Garteig's first official NHL experience went down on Thursday.

Up at 3 am. Flight at 5 am. Landed at 12:15 pm. Rink arrival at 1:15 pm.@michaelgarteig needs a nap. 😴 pic.twitter.com/MFGnGf5hYO

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 17, 2016

And one more fun fact...

#Canucks Michael Garteig will be only 2nd Prince George born goalie to dress for NHL game. The other? @Razor5Hole

— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) November 18, 2016

Here's how the Canucks lines will look tonight:

D.Sedin-H.Sedin-Sutter
Granlund-Chaput-Eriksson
Baertschi-Horvat-Burrows
Skille-Gaunce-Megna

Edler-Stecher
Hutton-Gudbranson
Sbisa-Tryamkin

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 19, 2016

Derek Dorsett remains out of the lineup after leaving Thursday's game against Arizona with what's suspected to be a shoulder injury. Nothing definite yet on his timeline; it's said that he's being re-evaluated.

I thought the Granlund-Chaput-Eriksson combination showed a bit of a spark when they played together in the third period on Thursday. Let's see if that carries over tonight in a tough matchup against—most likely—Pararin, Anisimov and a rejuvenated Marian Hossa, who scored the game-winner last night for his 10th goal and 16th point of the year.

As expected, Jayson Megna draws back in on the fourth line after missing 10 games with a shoulder injury. Megna was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but grew up in Northbrook, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, so he's pumped about tonight's matchup.

"It's very special facing these guys. I remember going to their games as a kid, it's a good time for me to return." - Megna

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 19, 2016

Here's a positive spin for Canucks fans:

#Canucks have won 2/3 vs #Hawks on home ice in last 2 seasons. Hansen/DSedin had hat-tricks in those wins #CanucksOn1040

— Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) November 19, 2016

Remember last November 21, when no one threw any hats for poor Daniel?

Right now, Daniel is leading the Canucks in goals (6) and points (12) and is riding a seven-game point streak—which began with that goal he scored as he took the big hit from Nazem Kadri against Toronto two weeks ago. Keep an eye on him again tonight!

One final note—if you missed it yesterday, it sounds like Bob McKenzie was asked to officially put the Evander Kane-to-Vancouver trade rumour to bed.

Quick update, FWIW, my understanding is whatever dialogue VAN/BUF had on Evander Kane, and there was talk, it's no longer being pursued.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) November 18, 2016

Enjoy the game!

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