Tuesday December 10 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 30 GP, 15-11-4, 34 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Toronto Maple Leafs: 31 GP, 14-13-4, 32 pts, fifth in Atlantic Division
For the second-straight year, the Toronto Maple Leafs' annual sojourn out west does not include a 4 p.m. Saturday start on Hockey Night in Canada against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.
Last March, the teams squared off on Wednesday, March 6 — with a 6 p.m. start time on the national Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey broadcast. Alex Edler's overtime goal gave the Canucks the 3-2 win after they'd been hammered 5-0 in Toronto in January 5.
Tuesday's game has a standard 7 p.m. start time and is a regional broadcast only. It's the second game of a four-game road trip for the Leafs, which kicked off with an impressive 5-2 win over the Stanley Cup champions in St. Louis last Saturday and will continue on to Calgary on Thursday before wrapping up in Edmonton on Saturday — yes, in the early slot.
As I'm sure you've heard, it's been a tumultuous year so far for the Toronto team that some had pegged to be a Stanley Cup contender this season. Injuries to key players have been an issue. Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott both started the season late due to summer surgeries, then captain John Tavares missed seven games earlier in the season with a broken finger, Mitch Marner is just back from an 11-game absence due to an ankle injury, and Andreas Johnsson has now gone on LTIR after suffering a leg injury last week.
That leaves Auston Matthews as the team's leading scorer so far this season, with 33 points in 31 games, and William Nylander in second place with 23 points. Nylander's currently on pace for 61 points this year — the exact number he recorded in the two seasons before his notorious contract holdout last year. Scoring at better a point a game, Matthews should also easily eclipse his previous career high of 73 points from last season and he's also on track for 48 goals — well above the 40 that he scored in his rookie year.
So why is all the news around the Leafs such doom and gloom? Mostly, it has to do with the fact that the team has been outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture for a good chunk of the year — and the disconnect between players and coach (and, probably, general manager and coach) led to Mike Babcock's firing on November 20 — after the team's sixth loss in a row.
After Kyle Dubas promoted his protege Sheldon Keefe from the Toronto Marlies, the Leafs reeled off three wins in a row, but they'd lost three of four — and bled goals on some nights — before their impressive effort against the Blues last Saturday, where they scored four early goals to chase Jordan Binnington for the first time in his NHL career.
Here's how the Toronto lines rolled at practice on Monday.
Lots of B.C. connections in that lineup. West Vancouver's Morgan Rielly and Alexander Kerfoot, Victoria's Tyson Barrie and Delta's Nic Petan are all expected to suit up on Tuesday night.
All told, the Leafs are 5-3-1 since Sheldon Keefe took over on November 20. Over that same time frame, the Canucks are 5-3-0, so there isn't much to choose between the two squads in terms of recent performance.
The Canucks will be a little more rested, since they played Saturday morning and haven't had to travel, but they're coming off a bit more of an inconsistent effort in that 6-5 overtime win over Buffalo.
Here's how the Canucks practiced on Monday.
Jordie Benn is on the ice for Tuesday's pre-game skate, so it looks like he was granted an extra day off as he carries a big load while Alex Edler's out with injury. Benn's averaging 17:13 of ice time with the Canucks this season, which is below his overall career average of 18:00, but that average has been rising since Edler was injured on November 30. He played 21:26 last Sunday against Edmonton, 20:31 on Tuesday against Ottawa and 19:16 against Buffalo.
Ben Kuzma reports that Benn missed Monday's practice due to illness.
Though Brandon Sutter took a regular rotation at practice on Monday, he's in a white jersey at Tuesday's optional morning skate while all the other forwards are wearing blue, which suggests he's still not quite ready for game action.
Looks like the Ferland-Beagle-Schaller trio may get a chance to redeem itself after some defensive challenges against Buffalo on Saturday.
Jacob Markstrom practiced on Monday but did not skate Tuesday. He'll get the start against the Leafs. Michael DiPietro was re-assigned to Utica on Monday.
Josh Leivo's playing arguably the best hockey of his career right now, just in time for his revenge game against the Leafs team that always seemed to have a hard time finding a spot for him in their lineup.
Leivo scored the third-period power-play goal that eventually forced overtime the first time he faced the Leafs from the other side, last March.
After practice on Monday, the Canucks headed off to BC Childrens' Hospital for their annual holiday visit.
Speaking of Utica, the Comets played a rare Monday game this week, coming from behind to earn a 6-3 win on the road against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Brogan Rafferty led the way with a goal and three assists, which now puts him at 20 points in 25 games — one point behind Derrick Pouliot for the scoring lead among all AHL defensemen.
Reid Boucher picked up two assists on Monday and now has seven goals and nine assists in 11 games since returning from injury. Despite having missed five games in November, Boucher's now up to a league-leading 17 goals on the year, three ahead of second-place Yakov Trenin, and is two points behind Drake Batherson for the overall AHL scoring lead.
Monday's win was the first in four games for the Comets, but they're still sitting comfortably in third place in the AHL's North Division, with an overall record of 14-8-1. A team that has traditionally struggled to score, their 89 goals so far this season ranks them fourth overall in the league, while their 72 goals against are just above the median, in 13th place.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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