Jake DeBrusk shares in the team lead in goalscoring with Brock Boeser but, when I talked to him earlier in March, he lamented that he wasn't getting many assists.
"That's one thing that's actually been weird is that I haven't had a lot of assists this year," said DeBrusk. "I'm not saying I'm making amazing passes all the time but other than a couple lucky ones here and there, there hasn't really been a lot."
It was clear that DeBrusk wasn't satisfied with his season and wanted to bring more to the table. In the last five games, at least, the assists have started to come. He's got four assists in his last five games, including a tip that led to the game-tying goal against the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
In overtime in New Jersey, he set up a glorious chance for Jonathan Lekkerimäki with just a few seconds left, only for Lekkerimäki to fire it just wide. No matter: DeBrusk scored a confident goal in the shootout, then Lekkerimäki used what he saw from goaltender Jacob Markstrom on his overtime chance — a tendency to cheat to his glove side — and used it to seal the win for the Canucks.
The Canucks will need another win on Wednesday against the New York Islanders, as their playoff hopes are teetering on the edge of oblivion. They're once again five points back of the St. Louis Blues for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, albeit with two games in hand.
With Elias Pettersson, Filip Chytil, and Nils Höglander all out with injuries, they'll be relying on the likes of DeBrusk and Lekkerimäki to step up and provide offence.
As much as DeBrusk has been picking up assists in recent games, his goalscoring has hit a cold stretch, with just one goal in his last ten games. Some of that is just bad luck, as he piled up eight shots on goal against the New York Rangers but couldn't find the back of the net. Perhaps his shootout goal in New Jersey will boost his confidence.
The Canucks will be facing a similarly desperate Islanders team. Bo Horvat's Islanders are currently one point behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, so expect a playoff-like atmosphere in Long Island.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
The Canucks made some minor adjustments to their lines, putting together three forwards from the Abbbotsford Canucks in the AHL: Linus Karlsson, Nils Åman, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki.
Here are the Canucks' projected lines:
The Canucks' starting goaltender will be Thatcher Demko. Kevin Lankinen didn't even back up Demko on Monday, as he isn't at 100 per cent. According to Rick Tocchet, Lankinen played through injury against the Rangers. We'll see if he's back on the bench as backup on Wednesday.
New York Islanders projected lines
The Islanders are a very similar team to the Canucks in a lot of ways. They don't score a lot of goals but defend well. The big difference is the Canucks have Quinn Hughes and the Islanders, well, don't.
Bo Horvat leads the Islanders in scoring with 49 points in 69 games, with Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri close behind with 48 and 45 points. They're badly missing Mathew Barzal, who hasn't played since February 1 and may not return this season after what was supposed to be a minor procedure on his knee.
Here are the Islanders' projected lines, courtesy of Russ Macias of NYI Hockey Now:
Simon Holmstrom - Bo Horvat - Kyle Palmieri
Anders Lee - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Anthony Duclair
Pierre Engvall - Casey Cizikas - Hudson Fasching
Maxim Tsyplakov - Kyle MacLean - Marc Gatcomb
Alexander Romanov - Tony DeAngelo
Adam Pelech - Noah Dobson
Mike Reilly - Ryan Pulock
Ilya Sorokin
Marcus Hogberg
The Islanders' starting goaltender will be Ilya Sorokin, who has a .907 save percentage this season. He's been mediocre against the Canucks in his career, with a 2-2-1 record and .890 save percentage.
