Devils-Canucks Preview

While the New Jersey Devils have come back to earth on their current road trip, the Vancouver Canucks finally got off the ground in their long-awaited return home.

The Devils will try to avoid a winless three-game trip Sunday night while the Canucks hope to win two straight for the first time in nearly three weeks.

New Jersey (10-8-1) was one of the league's hottest teams with a 10-3-0 stretch from Oct. 18-Nov. 14.

The Devils' roll came to a halt, though, with consecutive losses to open their trip - 3-2 at Calgary on Tuesday and 5-1 at Edmonton on Friday. They were New Jersey's first back-to-back defeats since opening the season with four straight.

The Oilers handed the Devils their worst loss of the season with four goals against backup goaltender Keith Kinkaid and an empty-netter for good measure.

''We didn't play to our capabilities and the result was what it was," coach John Hynes said. "We didn't really play well enough in any facet of the game to find a way to win.''

New Jersey will attempt to get back on track at a place it hasn't won often. The Devils are 4-13-1 at Vancouver all-time and 1-5-1 there since March 4, 2000.

They have won the last two games of this series, but the Canucks won the previous six - including three at Rogers Arena.

Cory Schneider will be back in net for the Devils to face his former team. Schneider, who spent his first five seasons with Vancouver, is 1-1-2 with a 2.21 goals-against average in four games against his the Canucks.

Vancouver (8-7-6) went 1-4-2 on a recent road trip before returning home Saturday with a 6-3 victory over Chicago. Daniel Sedin recorded his sixth career hat trick and twin brother Henrik Sedin had a goal and four assists.

Daniel Sedin scored two goals two minutes apart late in the third period and added an assist. He has goals in three straight games and points in four in a row. Henrik Sedin has points in 10 of his last 12 games, and his five against the Blackhawks were a career high.

''When you really need your leadership is when you're going through a tough time,'' Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins said. ''We needed it and they stepped up.''

Daniel has four goals and seven assists in his last 12 games against New Jersey, while Henrik has a pair of goals and 13 points in that same span.

''Halfway through that road trip I think we started to play a little bit better,'' Daniel Sedin said. ''We didn't see any results, but we stuck with it and tonight we showed how good we can be if we play the right way.''

Ryan Miller surrendered all four goals in a 4-3 loss at New Jersey on Nov. 8, but he had won his previous three starts against the Devils with a .963 save percentage. Backup Jacob Markstrom allowed six goals in his last start against New Jersey on April 20, 2013, while with Florida. It is unclear who will earn the start.

Vancouver's power play has been very productive lately, going 3 for 4 on Saturday and 8 for 21 over the past five games.

The Canucks have won three of four at home after opening the season with five straight losses at Rogers Arena, three in overtime.