The Canucks acquitted themselves well against the NHL's top squad, showing zero quit against the Avs, and could have won that game if not for a fortunate bounce for Colorado. No time rest on that though, as they face another tough test to close out this homestand, with the Winnipeg Jets in town.

Vancouver Canucks (8-8-1) vs. Winnipeg Jets (9-6-0)

Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC

7:00 pm PST; 10:00 pm EST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, TSN 3

Radio: Sportsnet 650

For a game that could have been as laughable as the one the Avs played the evening before in Edmonton, that was entertaining as hell and far more worthy of the hype that preceded the 9-1 Colorado victory over the Oilers. The Canucks went toe to toe with the Avs, refusing to back down after an early 2-0 lead, and again got big games out of their best players to get a well deserved OT point.

The Canucks are a strange case, because when you look at their record, being a .500 hockey team, they appear to be exactly that. Yet when you look at the division standings, they have more wins than every team in front of them, save for the division leading Anaheim Ducks (yes, it's weird). The Ducks and Canucks are the only ones with less than two loser points, so maybe it's still to early to determine if things are a wash just yet? There's a hell of a log jam in the Pacific (and the West in general) and if they can string three or four wins together, that might give them a chance at staying above the playoff cutoff line. They're not world beaters by any stretch, but these last few games showed a team that's ready to battle, at least.

Tonight, another team that isn't where people thought they would be heading into the season, but sitting just a point up on the Canucks for that Wild Card slot, a regulation win for Vancouver will bump the Jets down, and the Utah Mammoth would be on the outside looking in thanks to the ROWs the Jets have so far this season. This game is a dangerous one, with the Jets, who got off to a tremendous start but are now losers of three straight, and while they are once again getting good goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck, they've got to get more scoring from the rest of their team. 18 of their 47 goals come from Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. If they can get more scoring from the rest of their lineup, they could contend again this year in what should continue to be a real dog fight in the Central.

LINEUPS

From the nhl dot com thing, here's tonight's probable rosters:

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Gabriel Vilardi

Vladislav Namestnikov -- Jonathan Toews -- Cole Perfetti

Nino Niederreiter -- Adam Lowry -- Alex Iafallo

Tanner Pearson -- Parker Ford -- Nikita Chibrikov

Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo

Logan Stanley -- Neal Pionk

Haydn Fleury -- Luke Schenn

Connor Hellebuyck

Eric Comrie

Scratched: Brad Lambert, Colin Miller

Injured: Dylan Samberg (wrist), Gustav Nyquist (lower body), Morgan Barron (undisclosed), Cole Koepke (undisclosed)

Canucks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Elias Pettersson -- Conor Garland

Brock Boeser -- Lukas Reichel -- Kiefer Sherwood

Drew O'Connor -- Aatu Raty -- Jake DeBrusk

Arshdeep Bains -- Max Sasson -- Linus Karlsson

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Marcus Pettersson -- Tyler Myers

Elias Nils Pettersson -- Tom Willander

Thatcher Demko

Kevin Lankinen

Scratched: P.O. Joseph, Mackenzie MacEachern

Injured: Victor Mancini (undisclosed), Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Jonathan Lekkerimaki (upper body), Teddy Blueger (lower body), Nils Hoglander (lower body), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)

So, Demko is back after getting the weekend off. This is good, but the Canucks need to learn how to better communicate that they're taking him out of the lineup because of soreness that is managing his health with the best interests of team and player in mind. That way, we all know, instead of going into the dread spiral at the thought of another long term injury. No other changes, it would appear, though Mancini, Lekkerimaki and Blueger are all getting close to returning.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Bavarian thrashers DUST BOLT dropped a new single this past weekend, and should be releasing a new full length album in the new year. It's pretty solid melodic thrash, and if you haven't checked these guys out before, they're definitely a good stepping stone band to start exploring modern thrash.