Canucks: Ilya Mikheyev to make his return vs. Florida Panthers

When/where: Saturday, 4 p.m., Amerant Bank Arena

TV: Hockey Night in Canada. Radio: Sportsnet 650

The buzz: The Canucks played 2/3rds of a solid road game on Thursday in Tampa. The trouble was their second period was a disaster and they made brutal errors at crucial moments. Florida is limping a little, but remains a potent force. The Canucks have lost two straight, and you can bet they don’t want to lose a third in a row. Florida went 28-17-5 at home last season. It was no accident they were Stanley Cup finalists last June.

Ilya Mikheyev is set to make his season debut Saturday. He hasn’t played since late January because of surgery to repair a partially torn ACL in his right knee.

Mikheyev is obviously ready to go from a physical standpoint, but figured his timing might take a little time to get running at NHL speed again.

“When you practice it’s one side, but when it’s a game, you need thinking more fast and the game is fast,” he said.

“Forecheck. He’s going to help petey, we’ve got to get a guy on there who can get in there and win some puck battles,” head coach Rick Tocchet said of putting Mikheyev right on to a line with Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko.

“Last year they played together I know they had really good success,” he added about Kuzmenko, who has just one goal on the season and only two shots in his last three games.

“I think he’s struggled. He’s confused on certain things. The biggest thing for him is if he moves his feet and stays close to his teammates…I know Petey talks to him about that all the time, ‘stay close to me.'”

Pettersson often draws double coverage and so Kuzmenko being a tighter support player will give him more chances on the puck, Tocchet implied.

The history: The Panthers beat up on the Canucks last December, 5-1, a game where Thatcher Demko hurt his groin. He was on the shelf for two months. In the rematch in Florida in January, the Canucks played well enough but still lost 4-3. That was one of Bruce Boudreau’s last games in charge. With Rick Tocchet in charge, the Canucks were a much better defensive group and they have shown glimpses of good defending this season, but remain a work in progress.

The hope: The Canucks were brutal on Tuesday. They were better on Thursday. They want to get back in the winning column on Saturday.

The fear: The positives they have shown amount to nothing and they remain stuck in neutral, struggling to control the game the way they need to.

The top guns: Elias Pettersson is tied for the league lead in points with 8. Brock Boeser has five goals. J.T. Miller has six points. Quinn Hughes is averaging three shots per game. Florida is led in scoring by Sam Reinhart with six points, while new signing Evan Rodrigues has five. But neither Matthew Tkachuk nor Sacha Barkov have scored a goal yet this season, so look out.

The wounded: Canucks: Teddy Blueger (ankle), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion, LTIR). Panthers: Brandon Montour (Shoulder LTIR), Aaron Ekblad (Shoulder, LTIR), Sam Bennett (lower-body)

The quote: “There’s pressures, there’s moment, you’ve got to make sure you’re in the right spots.” — Rick Tocchet, after Thursday’s 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay. That’s a familiar refrain from the coach. Mistakes happen, but don’t keep making the same ones.

The lineup:

Tocchet changed all his lines other than the Miller line.

“I’ve got to get some other guys going,” he said of swapping. “You got to win puck battles. You’ve got to have the puck.”

Forwards

• Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Mikheyev

• Di Giuseppe-Miller-Boeser

• Garland-Studnicka-Beauvillier

• Joshua-Suter-Lafferty

Defence

• Hughes-Hronek

• Cole-Myers

• Soucy-Friedman.

The prediction: After losing their first two games of the season, the Panthers come into this one having won two straight. The Canucks are the exact opposite run.

The Canucks played well enough on Thursday to say they have a chance in this one, but it will be a nail-biter, a 4-3 win for Vancouver.

(FAN FORUM: Do you have a specific question for a player? Pass it along to @provincesports and we’ll get it in a future edition).

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