News and notes
1. Buffalo practiced with the same forward lines seen Wednesday against Minnesota, while the defensemen cycled through various pairings amidst Dahlin’s absence.
2. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen practiced in the starter’s net Thursday. He’s allowed two or fewer goals in seven of his last eight starts and has stopped 73 of 76 shots in three starts since returning from injury – good for a .961 save percentage.
One of those three goals allowed came from Kirill Kaprizov on Minnesota’s first-period, 4-on-1 rush. After that, with the Wild building offensive pressure, Luukkonen made several excellent saves to keep the game within reach.
3. Another excellent road team rolls into KeyBank Center on Friday. The Canucks are 8-2 on the road, with Wednesday’s loss in Pittsburgh snapping an eight-game road winning streak.
Expected starting goalie Kevin Lankinen has led the charge away from Rogers Arena, going 8-0-0 on the road with a .941 save percentage and 1.62 goals-against average.
“They’ve really been going well on the road,” Ruff said of the Canucks. “I think they’re a lot like us – some mobile defenseman, they’ve got a little bit of depth in their scoring and they defend hard. A [coach Rick] Tocchet team defends hard, and he’s done a good job with that team.”
