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Oilers-Canucks Preview

Dec 25, 2015 - 8:14 PM Henrik and Daniel Sedin have been Vancouver's top two scorers every season since 2006-07, remaining constants despite plenty of changes around them through the years.

Canucks coach Willie Desjardins sure is glad they're on his side.

After the twins sent Vancouver into the break on a high note, the club looks to win a third straight at Rogers Arena when it begins a seven-game homestand against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

The Canucks (13-14-9) have been inconsistent through the first portion of their schedule and are coming off a 2-3-1 trip. They ended that swing with a 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay, though, with Daniel Sedin scoring midway through the third period off a feed from Henrik, who missed the previous two because of a lower-body injury.

Daniel's 16 goals lead the team, while Henrik's 23 assists are a team high.

"They're remarkable," Desjardins said. "They're always in the game. You can be getting nothing and those two can create."

Vancouver has appeared to regress a bit from last season, when it finished second in the Pacific Division with 101 points before being ousted by Calgary in six games in the first round of the playoffs.

Henrik's 32 points are 12 more than third-leading scorer Jannik Hansen.

"I think we battled hard and we showed on the (penalty kill) we were there," Henrik said after the Canucks killed nine of 10 power plays against Tampa. "Our game is not perfect, but at least I think we understand what it takes to win. We have different guys contributing now, which is good."

Edmonton (15-18-2) has been forced to dig into its depth with plenty of injuries, including the broken collarbone of star rookie Connor McDavid. The Oilers had been outscored 13-3 during a three-game losing streak before heading into the break with Monday's 3-1 win over Winnipeg.

Teddy Purcell scored twice in the first period before Justin Schultz added a goal in the second. However, the Oilers were outshot 45-21, leaving coach Todd McLellan displeased despite the victory.

"I'm disappointed," McLellan said. "It's great that we got the points in the bank and we went into the break feeling good, but I think we're such a better team than we just performed. We got away with one."

Cam Talbot's performance in goal sure helped. He gave up four goals in four of his previous five starts, but he's faced at least 37 shots in each of his last three.

"I don't think it was the best game for us, but Cam played great, I'm really happy for him," forward Taylor Hall said. "The last three starts for him have been really strong and it's a good sign for our team."

Talbot, though, is 2-6-1 with a 3.15 goals-against average in nine road starts, and the Oilers have gone 5-13-1 away from home to tie for the second-fewest road victories in the league.

The Canucks are 5-6-3 at home but have won back-to-back games at Rogers Arena. They've earned at least a point in 10 of the last 11 home meetings with Edmonton, which won 2-1 at Vancouver on Oct. 18 on Lauri Korpikoski's overtime goal.

Ryan Miller won his first 12 starts against the Oilers with a 2.23 GAA before taking the loss in that contest. It's unclear if he'll be able to go in this meeting, though.

Miller missed Tuesday's win after suffering cramps during the shootout of a loss to Florida on Sunday. Jacob Markstrom would make his second straight start if Miller isn't ready.