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Hughes & Myers are game-time decisions as Canucks open homestand vs Coyotes |
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Wednesday February 4 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Arizona Coyotes - 7:30 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 65 GP, 34-25-6, 74 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
Arizona Coyotes: 67 GP, 32-27-8, 72 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
The Vancouver Canucks' roster mysteries continue as the team prepares to open a crucial homestand against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night.
The morning skate is optional.
No Hughes or Beagle, but Utica call-ups Jalen Chatfield and Guillaume Brisebois are present and accounted for.
Quinn Hughes did skate on his own after practice on Monday. Travis Green has said that both he and Tyler Myers are game-time decisions.
Quinn's a very determined person, so I'm as hopeful as Murph. But maybe that's wishful thinking.
Other things we know so far: Jordie Benn is in. Jay Beagle is out. Thatcher Demko starts in goal.
If Hughes does play, will Oscar Fantenberg come out on the left side? Or can Benn play on the right for Myers?
It's all very mysterious.
The Canucks come into Wednesday's game riding a three-game losing streak after their road losses to Ottawa, Toronto and Columbus last week.
They've lost three in a row three other times this season.
Nov 7-10: on the road to Chicago and Winnipeg, then at home to New Jersey
Their next game was a 5-3 win over Nashville, but they went 0-2-1 after that in a month of November where they finished up 5-7-3.
Dec 14-17: on the road against San Jose and Vegas, then at home to Montreal
Their next game was the thrilling overtime win against Vegas which kicked off that seven-game winning streak over the Christmas holidays.
Feb 4-8: on the road against Boston and Minnesota, then at home to Calgary
They bounced back with those wins against Nashville and Chicago during Sedin Week before falling to Anaheim.
So — this is the first time they're coming home after losing three road games in a row. And the previous streaks carry an unnerving similarity — each time, the Canucks have lost their first home game before finding their legs again.
The good news is that those three losing streaks are the Canucks' biggest swoons this season — and that's a significant improvement from past years. Now, they're digging themselves out before the force of the downward spiral gets too strong.
The bad news is that if they lose tonight, they'll find themselves in their worst slump of the year — at precisely the wrong time.
Only one team in the Western Conference has a worse record over its last 10 games than Vancouver's 4-5-1. That's Anaheim, at 3-6-1. Everyone else has either gained ground or pulled away.
Tuesday's schedule went about as badly as possible for both the Canucks and the Coyotes. Minnesota, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vegas all won — even Chicago.
So the Canucks are still currently clinging to the first wild-card spot with 74 points, but they have a lot more immediate company now. And the Coyotes got leap-frogged by a bunch of teams. While the Canucks are seventh in the conference with 74 points, Arizona comes into Wednesday's game in 11th, even though they're just two points back. And Chicago sits 12th, four points behind at 68.
The Coyotes are kicking off a three-game Canadian road trip against the Canucks, which continues with crucial games in Calgary on Friday, then in Winnipeg next Monday. They've been idle since Saturday, when they wrapped up a 2-1-0 homestand that saw them beat Buffalo and Tampa Bay, and lose to Florida.
Normally somewhat offensively challenged, ranked 23rd with an average of 2.72 goals per game, the Coyotes were finding the net last week. Conor Garland led the way with his 21st and 22nd of the season when Arizona beat Tampa Bay 7-3, and Clayton Keller had a two-goal night in the 5-2 win over Buffalo.
After missing more than two months with a lower-body injury, Darcy Kuemper returned to the Arizona lineup last week, but didn't get the same run support when his team dropped a 2-1 decision to Florida.
Kuemper will get the start against Vancouver tonight. He was having a Vezina-worthy season before he went down, and has a 15-9-2 record with a 2.17 goals-against average and .929 save percentage for the year.
The Coyotes still have one of the larger bubbles on the Man Games Lost chart, which indicates the importance of the players who have been missing from the lineup this season.
The Canucks have lost nearly 100 more games than the Coyotes this season, but Arizona's injuries — so far — have been much more significant. Vancouver's bubble is definitely going to grow over the coming weeks while Markstrom and Boeser are sidelined. Never mind any of these in-between issues with defensemen...
Now that Kuemper's back, the only player missing from the Arizona lineup is defenseman Jakob Chychrun. He has been out since Feb. 20 with a lower-body injury and didn't travel north with the team. There's a chance he'll fly in and practice at some point during this road trip, but he's not expected to play.
That sets the stage for tonight — and once again, note the 7:30 p.m. local start time.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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