Vancouver Canucks fans will have to wait a little bit longer for Thatcher Demko's first start in nearly eight months.
According to head coach Rick Tocchet, the Canucks' starting goaltender will once again be Kevin Lankinen, with Demko the backup on the bench.
That's probably for the best. Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning features an unusual start time of 1:00 p.m., with the Canucks skipping the usual morning skate. An early start time throws off all sorts of routines for a professional hockey player and the Canucks probably want Demko's return to the lineup to be as routine as possible.
Fortunately, Lankinen has been excellent for the Canucks, which has made it a lot easier for Demko to take all the time he needs to get healthy and ready. There hasn't been any pressure on Demko to return early.
You have to wonder if teams are starting to get a bit of a book on Lankinen, however. In the Canucks last game, the Columbus Blue Jackets looked like they were trying to take advantage of Lankinen's aggressive tendencies with a lot of cross-seam passes and backdoor plays that left the Finnish goaltender scrambling back to his net.
The Blue Jackets weren't able to take advantage of these opportunities, thanks to some good defence from the Canucks and a few pucks that skipped over sticks but a more talented team might have better luck with the same approach. It won't be too much of a concern until it starts working for opposing teams but it's something to keep an eye on.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
With Lankinen staying in net, don't expect any changes to the lineup for Sunday afternoon's game.
Here are the projected lines:
The Canucks will be looking for a much stronger start after getting outshot 17-to-2 by the Blue Jackets in Friday's first period, so look for a motivated Canucks team to come out flying in the first.
Jake DeBrusk has 9 goals in his last 7 games, while Elias Pettersson is on a 5-game point streak with 9 points in those 5 games.
Tampa Bay Lightning projected lines
The Lightning won the Jake Guentzel sweepstakes and seem to be getting their money's worth, as the winger has 11 goals and 24 points in 24 games. He's one of six point-per-game players on the Lightning, who are led by Nikita Kucherov with 12 goals and 34 points in 22 games.
The Lightning are second in the NHL in goals per game and shutting down their top lines will be a significant challenge for the Canucks. They also boast a top-ten power play, sitting just ahead of the Canucks at 24.7%.
Here are the Lightning's projected lines:
Jake Guentzel - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel - Anthony Cirelli - Nick Paul
Gage Goncalves - Conor Geekie - Cam Atkinson
Zemgus Girgensons - Luke Glendening - Mikey Eyssimont
Victor Hedman - J.J. Moser
Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg - Nick Perbix
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
The challenge with the Lightning is that their second line is nearly as good as their first, giving them a one-two punch that is a nightmare to match-up against. Brandon Hagel is on pace for a career year with 12 goals and 31 points in 24 games, taking advantage of the easier match-ups that come from playing behind Guentzel, Brayden Point, and Kucherov.
The Lightning's starting goaltender is expected to be Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is once gain having a strong campaign. He has a .909 save percentage and a 2.42 goals against average, both of which are much better than league average.
