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It's a battle of the backups as Halak, Canucks host Martin Jones, Flyers |
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Thursday October 28 - Philadelphia Flyers at Vancouver Canucks - 7 p.m.
After celebrating their home opener and the return of a full house at Rogers Arena, the Vancouver Canucks will be looking to light an offensive spark as they continue their homestand with a visit from the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
Though we're only at Game 8, this will be the final meeting of the season for the two teams, after the Canucks eked out a shootout win in Philly on October 15.
That game was Elias Pettersson's best of the season to date, his only multi-point game of the year so far. He was named first star thanks to a power-play goal, an even-strength assist and the shootout winner.
Will the sight of the Flyers' orange-and-black jerseys fire him up again on Thursday? I liked his work on the power play against the Wild on Tuesday night, which resulted in the primary assist on Alex Chiasson's goal, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.
After a day off following the 3-2 loss to the Wild on Tuesday, Travis Green has tweaked his bottom six a bit at Thursday's morning skate, putting Justin Bailey with Pettersson and Nils Hoglander while moving Matthew Highmore down to the fourth line.
One other follow-up note from Brendan Batchelor: Bailey is skating on left wing with Pettersson, while Hoglander is on the right side.
And while I don't love seeing Pettersson in the bottom six, some of this is by necessity, with both Justin Dowling and Jason Dickinson absent for the second-straight game.
As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm in the "give him time" camp when it comes to Pettersson. But I also have great respect for Ray Ferraro's player assessments, so I took note when he mentioned on this week's 'Ray and Dregs Podcast' that while he believes that Pettersson thinks he's giving his best effort, he's not showing the same tenacity as he did during his successful rookie season, when he was like a dog on a bone as he went after loose pucks and scoring chances.
Ferraro worked the Canucks/Kraken game last Saturday in Seattle. So he's speaking off a recent first-hand viewing, on a night when Green moved Pettersson down the lineup as the game went on.
I will be at the arena tonight, so I'm eager to get a first-hand look myself. I haven't seen Pettersson play live since the Edmonton playoff bubble, and he was buzzing then!
On the back end, Tucker Poolman started the skate in his usual spot, but Thomas Drance is reporting that he left the ice early. So he may not be able to go on Thursday night.
Based on these pairings, I'd say that Travis Green is looking to slot in Luke Schenn after Jack Rathbone struggled against the Wild, but Poolman's status may cause further shuffling at game time.
There is some potentially good news on the defense front, though. The Canucks announced on Tuesday that Travis Hamonic has now arrived in B.C. Per Patrick Johnson of The Province, the blueliner skated on his own in Abbotsford on Wednesday. He's practicing with the Baby Canucks on Thursday.
It's expected that Hamonic will need some time to get game-ready before drawing into a lineup, either in Abbotsford or Vancouver. The farm team plays back-to-back games against the Ontario Reign this Friday and Saturday, then hits the road for a pair of games in Stockton next week.
It's set to be a battle of the backups on Thursday night, as Jaroslav Halak looks to make his Rogers Arena debut while Martin Jones takes the crease for the Flyers.
Sherwood Park native Carter Hart got the 5-3 win for the Flyers in Edmonton in the first game of their back-to-back set on Wednesday, handing the Oilers their first defeat of the year. Before that, the Canucks had been the only team to take a point off Edmonton, in their season-opening shootout loss.
And since the Canucks spoiled Philadelphia's home opener, the Flyers' season has been rolling along pretty well. With a light early-season schedule, the club is now 3-1-1, with the only regulation loss coming against the juggernaut Florida Panthers.
Averaging 4.6 goals a game, the Flyers are currently second only to the St. Louis Blues in offense. Eight players are at a point a game or better, and new addition Cam Atkinson is leading the way with six goals after a two-goal outing in Edmonton, which included the game winner.
As you might expect from those numbers, the Flyers' power play is also clicking nicely, at 30.8%.
The Canucks head into Thursday's action sitting 20th in scoring, with 2.71 goals per game, and 15th on the power play at 23.1%. What's more troubling is a couple of their fancystat numbers. According to Natural Stat Trick, Vancouver currently has the lowest expected goals percentage in the entire league, at 5-on-5, and the lowest rate of generating high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes. If it seems like they're not generating many of those 'draw you out of your seat' moments in the early going, the stats back that up.
Now, back to the Flyers.
In his fourth-line role, former Canuck Zack MacEwen has made a positive first impression in Philly with his size and his willingness to engage physically, although he was penalized for a dangerous boarding play in Edmonton on Wednesday night. The Flyers also picked up depth forward Patrick Brown on waivers from Vegas just before the season began. He has yet to suit up for his new team after getting stuck in Covid protocol, but has joined the Flyers for this road trip, so there's a chance he could debut on Thursday.
Acquired by trade from Nashville during the offseason, defenseman Ryan Ellis is also on the trip, but has missed the last two games due to injury. The Flyers aren't taking a morning skate in Vancouver, so we won't find out whether or not he's drawing in until closer to game time. Ellis had four points in the Flyers' first three games, but Justin Braun has played well as he has been bumped up the lineup, paired with Ivan Provorov.
That should set you up for tonight. It's another dreary day in Vancouver - perfect hockey weather.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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