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Canucks doubly motivated to beat undefeated Habs

Red Wings Canucks Hockey

Detroit Red Wings’ Gustav Nyquist (14), of Sweden, celebrates his game-winning goal against Vancouver Canucks’ goalie Ryan Miller, right, as Yannick Weber, of Switzerland, watches during the overtime period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

AP

Tonight in Vancouver, the Montreal Canadiens can join the 1993-94 Maple Leafs and 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres by starting the season with 10 straight victories.

The Canucks would like to stop them, for two good reasons.

“You don’t want to go in the record books on the other side, so I think there always is motivation,” said coach Willie Desjardins.

“It’s our chance, too. We haven’t won at home. It gives us a chance to turn our season around a little bit as well.”

The Canucks (3-2-3) blew another third-period lead Saturday versus Detroit, eventually falling 3-2 in overtime. It was the third time in the young season that they’d led after two and failed to hold on for a victory.

On the bright side, Vancouver’s only lost twice in regulation.

At any rate, expect the Canucks’ individual ice time to once again be monitored closely tonight. Desjardins conceded this morning that the Sedins’ workload has been a bit more than he’d like.

As such, the so-called “kid” line of Bo Horvat centering Jake Virtanen and Sven Baertschi has been broken up. Every forward combination against the Habs will include at least one veteran.

“I like playing four lines,” said Desjardins. “I’ve always liked to. That’s something I want to do. I’m hoping that tonight, with the lines the way they are, I expect to play all the lines and gives guys a chance to show what they can do.”

Related: Desjardins defends benching of Canucks kids