Monday October 28 – Vancouver Canucks vs. Florida Panthers – 7 p.m. – Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 10 GP, 6-3-1, 12 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
Florida Panthers: 11 GP, 5-2-4, 14 pts, third in Atlantic Division
The Vancouver Canucks will be looking to put the memories of last Friday’s collapse against the Washington Capital behind them when they host the Florida Panthers on Monday night at Rogers Arena.
The scene set is similar, but the Panthers have a slightly easier setup. The Caps came into Vancouver on the second half of a back-to-back, after a 4-3 overtime loss in Edmonton one night earlier. The Panthers’ Sunday game against the Oilers was an afternoon affair and one that they controlled from the second period on — going up 4-0 on their way to an easy 6-2 win.
Like the Caps, Joel Quenneville’s team has been on a roll. Washington came into Vancouver with a 4-0-1 record in its last five games; Florida hasn’t logged a regulation loss since October 8. Since that time, the Panthers have gone 4-0-4.
Monday's game will be the third of Florida's current four-game road trip. They'll finish off in Colorado on Wednesday.
As for the Canucks, Monday's game will wrap up the brief two-game homestand that started with their 6-5 shootout loss to Washington on Friday. Over the weekend, they had their traditional Halloween gathering, where a group of the young guns leaned into Brock Boeser's 'Prince Charming' persona with an outstanding group costume.
By the way, that's Petey as Donkey, with Jake as the Gingerbread Man and Chris Tanev as Shrek (Thanks, Northy!).
At practice on Sunday, Tyler Motte was absent — injured after blocking a shot against the Caps on Friday. For now, he's officially day-to-day, but he's expected to miss another week or two of action, after having missed the first four games of the season with an upper-body injury.
The Canucks are taking an optional morning skate before Monday's game, so here's how the lines rolled on Sunday.
Just three days after he was re-assigned to Utica, Adam Gaudette has been recalled by the Canucks. After more than a week of healthy scratches with the Canucks, Gaudette got into both of the Comets' weekend games, scoring his first AHL goal of the year against Hershey on Saturday.
Gaudette's goal was the only one in regulation for the Comets on Saturday. Mikey DiPietro made 38 saves to earn first-star honours and Reid Boucher tallied the winner in the shootout to take Utica's record to a perfect 7-0-0-0 on the season so far, following a more typical 5-1 win over Binghamton at home on Friday night.
The Comets are now the only team in the AHL with a perfect record, but they've played fewer games than many of the other teams in the league. They'll make up a bit of that difference this week thanks to a three-game homestand that will see them face Binghamton again on Wednesday, followed by the Providence Bruins on Friday and the Rochester Americans on Saturday.
After probably spending a good part of Sunday on planes and in airports, Gaudette is on the ice for Monday's game-day skate, but it sounds like Loui Eriksson will draw in for his first game action since opening night.
Looks like Loui has also been getting a head start on his Movember game.
One other lineup change of note: after Jacob Markstrom's first real sub-par start of the season, Travis Green is going back to Thatcher Demko.
Sergei Bobrovsky got the win for Florida in Edmonton on Sunday, so the Panthers will probably go with Sam Montembeault, the 22-year-old who played 11 games for the Panthers last season.
So far this year, he's been terrific. His record is 1-0-1 but he has given up just five goals in his three appearances, for a 1.79 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. Overall, though, the Panthers are winning despite giving up an average of 3.45 goals per game — seventh-highest in the league. That means they're also scoring a lot — tied for fourth with 3.64 goals per game even though their power play ranks three spots behind Vancouver in 20th, at 18.2 percent.
With veteran Brian Boyle signed as a free agent by Florida last week to add depth down the middle, here's how Joel Quenneville set up the Panthers lines in Edmonton on Sunday.
Like last year, the big line of Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and Evgenii Dadonov is carrying a big part of the offensive load — although Barkov has yet to score his first goal of the year. Aaron Ekblad is carrying Florida's defense on his broad shoulders, averaging nearly four minutes more than any of his teammates at 25:09 per game. That ranks eighth in the league, two seconds behind the Canucks' own defensive workhorse, who also happens to share the same initials — Alex Edler.
As for me — the Heritage Classic was awesome, but I'm happy to be home.
In the end, the wind wasn't a factor for Saturday's outdoor game, which saw Winnipeg come back to win 2-1 in overtime. A light snow fell steadily through the first two-and-a-bit periods, which messed with the ice conditions a bit but ultimately added to the atmosphere. After the game, it was pretty cool to see the sparkle in the eyes of the players and coaches alike — all of whom seemed to genuinely enjoy the game experience.
The snow and wind continued in Regina on Sunday, which deterred me from going back to Mosaic Stadium to check out the Prairie Classic between the WHL Regina Pats and Calgary Hitmen. As it turned out, my first flight home was delayed because it was also snowing in Edmonton. If I'd gone, I could have stayed till the end, and seen Canucks prospect and Regina native Carson Focht score in overtime to give the Hitmen the 5-4 win over the home team.
After breaking out offensively with 64 points in 68 games last season, Focht has taken another step forward this year. His nine goals in 10 games lead the Hitmen, and his 15 points tie him for first on his team with 6'4" undrafted Russian defenseman Egor Zamula.
Soft west-coaster that I am, I was thrilled to inhale that first lungful of Pacific Ocean air and leave the snow and wind behind when I stepped off my flight at YVR on Sunday night. Sunshine and 11 degrees sounds like a good recipe to sneak out for a seawall run this afternoon!
With that, you're up to date. Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»