CANUCKS (39-17-7) at KINGS (31-19-10)

10:30 p.m. ET; BSW, SNP

Have things changed that much since the Canucks last played the Kings? Yes, they signed one of their best players to a long term contract, and yes, they beat a bottom-dwelling team, pretty unconvincingly. So, I guess no? One thing that has changed for tonight is the return of Carson Soucy. He has had quite the first season injuries and I think i speak for all of us when I ask the Injury Faeries to fuck right off and leave him alone.

The playoffs are coming up pretty fast and this team is going to have to look at these divisional games as preparation for it. Past of prepping is finding out what doesn't work against certain teams and the Canucks found lots of areas against the Kings in their first meeting, so Coach Taco put the challenge out to the players to just play better.

Canucks projected lineup

Ilya Mikheyev -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Nils Hoglander -- Elias Pettersson -- Pius Suter

Vasily Podkolzin -- Elias Lindholm -- Conor Garland

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Teddy Blueger -- Sam Lafferty

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Carson Soucy -- Ian Cole

Nikita Zadorov -- Noah Juulsen

Thatcher Demko

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Mark Friedman, Nils Aman

Injured: Tyler Myers (lower body), Dakota Joshua (upper body)

Kings projected lineup

Alex Turcotte -- Anze Kopitar -- Quinton Byfield

Trevor Moore -- Phillip Danault -- Kevin Fiala

Jaret Anderson-Dolan -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Alex Laferriere

Trevor Lewis -- Blake Lizotte

Jacob Moverare -- Drew Doughty

Vladislav Gavrikov -- Matt Roy

Andreas Englund -- Jordan Spence

Brandt Clarke

Cam Talbot

David Rittich

Scratched: Arthur Kaliyev

Injured: Adrian Kempe (upper body), Mikey Anderson (upper body), Viktor Arvidsson (lower body), Carl Grundstrom (lower body)

Status report

Soucy will return after missing 17 games because of a fractured knuckle sustained against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 20. … Talbot was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate and is expected to start for the fourth straight game. … The Kings could use 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the third straight game.

Game Day Battle Hymn

Anyone know how to get a speedy Russian named Miky going? Well I hope this Zepp songs is what is needed. I have a feeling once Miky gets one, he will get several. That levee has to break soon

Go Canucks Go!