Scouting the playoff race: Vancouver Canucks

A potential first-round match-up for the Vegas Golden Knights, the Vancouver Canucks might be more challenging than one might think.

Anaheim Ducks  v Vancouver Canucks
Anaheim Ducks v Vancouver Canucks | Ethan Cairns/GettyImages
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1. The case for the Vancouver Canucks

Alex Pietrangelo, Conor Garland
Vancouver Canucks v Vegas Golden Knights | Candice Ward/GettyImages

Having home-ice advantage is always huge for a playoff team and the Vancouver Canucks are no exception. The Canucks are 25-9-4 at the Rogers Arena this season, making British Columbia a tough place to play.

Everyone knows about how good the Canucks are offensively. But they're also great defensively. Vancouver's allowed 2.64 goals a game this season, the fifth-fewest in the NHL. Quinn Hughes gets a lot of love for being good offensively. But the defenseman does his job well, leading Vancouver's incredible blue line.

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