Canucks Gear Up for a High-Energy Showdown with the Stars
So, tonight’s Canucks–Stars matchup comes with plenty of storylines, history, and momentum shifts, and it’s one of those games that already feels charged before the puck even drops. This is the second meeting of the season between these two teams — the first one back on October 16 turned into a 5–3 Vancouver win on the road, and that comeback still stands out. Dallas had jumped out to an early 2–0 lead, and then the Canucks absolutely flipped the game with a four-goal second period. Hughes sealed it with an empty-netter, and Demko made 28 saves. It was one of those nights where Vancouver’s offence simply refused to stay quiet.
That energy is something the Canucks are hoping to channel again tonight, especially because the matchup trends have been pretty favourable recently. Vancouver is 6-3-1 in their last 10 meetings with Dallas, even though the Stars remain a tricky team to handle. Individual stats also add a fun layer: Conor Garland seems to come alive against Dallas, with 18 points in 17 career games, and Pettersson, Boeser, and Kane all have strong histories against the Stars as well.
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And speaking of players on fire, Quinn Hughes is basically rewriting record books at this point. He’s coming into this game with 10 assists in his last three outings — the most by any Canuck in a three-game span, ever. He’s even tied legends like Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey for the second-most assists by a defenseman in a three-game stretch in NHL history. On top of that, he’s strung together three straight games with at least three assists, which only four other defensemen in NHL history have done. The numbers sound wild when said out loud, but that’s exactly the level Hughes has been playing at.
Elias Pettersson is on a heater too, with eight points in his last four games and a pile of milestone climbs on the franchise leaderboards. Jake DeBrusk has been deadly on the power play, scoring four goals in his last five games and ranking among the league’s best in power-play production since last season. So even though the Canucks are coming off an 8–5 loss to the Panthers — a chaotic game where they clawed back from a big deficit before things slipped again — the offence is definitely not the issue.
Where Vancouver has struggled is keeping the puck out of their own net. Their goals-against ranking sits near the bottom of the league, and inconsistent defending has forced them into track-meet games more often than they’d like. With goaltending still shuffling — Patera getting reps while Demko remains out — every save feels like currency.
Dallas, meanwhile, brings one of the league’s best power plays, so staying disciplined will be crucial. Vancouver’s penalty kill has been the weakest part of their season so far, so avoiding the box might genuinely be half the battle.
All of this sets the stage for a matchup that could swing either way — fast, tense, and filled with players riding major hot streaks. If the Canucks can tap into the same spark they showed in that first meeting, especially at home, this could easily turn into another statement game.
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