Thursday November 17 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Arizona Coyotes - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Vancouver
Vancouver Canucks: 17 GP, 6-10-1, 13 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
Arizona Coyotes: 15 GP, 5-9-1, 11 pts, seventh in Pacific Division
The battle for the bottom spot in the NHL standings takes place on Thursday night at Rogers Arena.
The Arizona Coyotes are currently the only team ranked below Vancouver—two points behind the Canucks in the Pacific Division. The Coyotes have also played two fewer games, so a win tonight by the Desert Dogs would push Vancouver into 30th place in the league.
(And speaking of last place, the Canucks are currently on pace for 59 points this season. Right now, the projection of 65 looks like it was on the generous side...)
Jacob Markstrom will get a chance to bounce back from his sub-par performance against the New York Rangers on Tuesday. Ryan Miller's sidelined with the flu, so Markstrom will make his second straight start.
According to Google Maps, Anchorage is about 3,500 kms from Vancouver, based on the shortest driving route, while Utica is 4,600 kms away. But the organization has a plan in place today to get Michael Garteig down here by game time, rather than having to rely on the backup emergency goalie from UBC like the team did earlier in the season.
The Alaska Aces are scheduled to play three games in three nights against the Wichita Fuel this weekend, starting Friday night—so it looks like Garteig is being re-routed to Vancouver while the rest of his team heads to Kansas.
Garteig's pro career has started off pretty well. He's 5-1-0 in six games with the ECHL's Aces, with a 2.52 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. Alaska currently sits fourth in the Mountain Division with a 6-3-0-1 record in 10 games, good for 13 points.
On top of everything else that the Canucks are dealing with, there's talk that the flu is going around the room. Here's a note from yesterday on Philip Larsen, who has been all-but-forgotten with Troy Stecher playing in five of the team's last six games since his recall.
Today's morning skate was optional, so we won't get any other insight about possible lineup changes until game time.
While we're on the topic of Miller, he made an appearance on TSN1040 on Wednesday—and certainly sounded like he knows the possibility of a trade could be on the table before he reaches unrestricted free agency at the end of the year—especially if Vancouver continues to struggle.
Now, let's check in with the Coyotes, who are coming into Vancouver on the second half of a back-to-back after dropping a 2-1 decision in overtime to Calgary last night.
Tonight's game will mark the return to Rogers Arena of Radim Vrbata, who's currently Arizona's leading scorer with six goals and 11 points. Both those numbers are higher than any Canuck.
Arizona's averaging 2.53 goals per game (17th), compared to 2.00 for the Canucks (29th). But the Coyotes are surrendering an average of 3.40 goals per game (29th), while Vancouver is now at 3.18 (25th).
Mike Smith returned to the lineup for the Coyotes on Tuesday against the Flames after missing 12 games with a lower-body injury, so I expect we'll see Louis Domingue in net tonight. Center Martin Hanzal, who has been the subject of recent trade rumours, also returned to the Coyotes' lineup on Wednesday after missing five games with a lower-body injury of his own.
Defensemen Connor Murphy and 2016 draft pick Jakob Chychrun were both healthy scratches on Wednesday, but are expected to draw into the lineup tonight. The team's first-rounder from 2015, Dylan Strome, has been healthy-scratched for the last three games and is likely to sit again tonight.
Finally—I was waiting for Elliotte Friedman's
30 Thoughts to come out this week, to see if he would elaborate at all on the rumour that Trevor Linden might be considering stepping down as president of the Canucks.
His piece was posted as I was putting the finishing touches on yesterday's blog. Here's his report on Linden:
18. “I knew what I was getting into when I took the job,” Trevor Linden said last weekend, “and I’m not going to run away from it.” That was his response when asked about rumours he was considering stepping away from his job as President of Hockey Operations and Alternate Governor of the Canucks. “I knew two-and-a-half years ago there would be challenges. I realized where we were as an organization and the changes that were coming. I understand the scrutiny and criticism that comes with the territory.”
Elliotte also addresses the Evander Kane trade rumour (doesn't think the Canucks have offered enough to get a deal done) and throws out the possibility that Brandon Saad could be available from Columbus, with the Blue Jackets looking for cap relief if they were to make a deal.
Friedman also weighed in on Jake Virtanen's situation:
To steal a line from Dennis Miller, I don’t want to go off on a rant here, but it is not a negative for a 20-year-old, second-year pro to go to the American League. Somehow people have it in their heads that this is a failure for a young player. It’s not. Not even close. Not everyone is ready right away, not everyone can dominate so quickly. There is a long, long list of players who benefitted from being there. I don’t get this line of thinking and never will.
As the NHL skews younger, we're seeing players all around the league battling for ice time and to earn their coaches' trust long term. See Dylan Strome for the Coyotes and last year's Calder Trophy runner-up, Shayne Gostisbehere, who's healthy scratched tonight in Philadelphia.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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