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Vancouver Canucks Game Day: January 13 at Los Angeles Kings |
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Vancouver Canucks at Los Angeles Kings - Monday January 13 - 7:30 pm - Sportsnet Pacific, Fox Sports West
Vancouver Canucks 24-13-9 57 points fourth in Pacific Division
Los Angeles Kings 27-14-5 59 points third in Pacific Division
The Vancouver Canucks will take their fourth opportunity to the year to try to beat the Los Angeles Kings when the two teams face off at Staples Center on Monday night.
The Kings have been one of Vancouver's most frustrating opponents this season, dominating their two games in Los Angeles with 5-1 and 3-1 wins and stealing a 3-2 overtime victory at Rogers Arena in late November. It's not just the losses against a close divisional rival that sting—it's the continuing sense that the Canucks aren't even close to being able to compete at the Kings' level.
Going into Monday's contest, the Canucks sit just two points behind L.A. in the standings, so the gap between the two teams shouldn't seem so dramatic. Yet it feels like little has changed since eighth-place Los Angeles beat the Presidents' Trophy winners in five games in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, then rode their underdog momentum all the way to the Stanley Cup.
L.A.'s physical game always seems to put the Canucks back on their heels, and the Kings threw another dagger when Dustin Brown bowled over Roberto Luongo and knocked him out of the lineup last week. Luongo has joined the team for the road trip, but my guess is that we'll see Eddie Lack make his fourth straight start tonight. Lack had a very solid game in the win against St. Louis on Friday night, making some key saves in the dying minutes as the Blues tried to wage their comeback.
Luongo's not the only injured player who will soon be getting back in the game. Alex Edler took a full practice on Sunday and is expected to play Monday night. The minutes he can contribute should have a positive trickle-down effect on the rest of the defense, who have all been carrying heavy workloads for the past month.
With Edler's return, Frank Corrado has been re-assigned back to Utica. The 20-year-old was pointless and a plus-1 during his six-game stint here in Vancouver, averaging 8:45 a night. He had four shots, three hits, five blocks and one giveaway—he didn't hurt the team, but he didn't stand out much, either.
Ryan Stanton is back skating after spraining his ankle in mid-December, though he's still a little ways away from playing. And we won't see Alex Burrows quite yet, either.
As far as the players who are in the lineup, Zac Dalpe will continue his audition on the right wing with the Sedins after generating some offense and energy when he was moved up on Friday against St. Louis. After avoiding the face-off circle entirely against Pittsburgh, Henrik did take some draws on Friday night, ultimately going 7-2 in the circle. But it probably doesn't hurt to have Dalpe on the his wing, who can also take draws. He was a solid 6-3 on Friday.
Should we be worried about Mike Santorelli? Yeah, he got the winning goal against the Blues, but that was after being dropped to fourth-line detail, where he played just 11:22, his lowest ice-time all season. Santorelli was also the only Canuck to struggle in the face-off circle against the Blues, going 2-for-6 on Friday night.
He was pointless in the five games before Friday and, even more troubling, a minus-six during the stretch. Is he running out of gas, or nursing a secret injury?
Santorelli practised on the fourth line again on Sunday, but I doubt we'll see him getting the healthy-scratch treatment on Monday night. He'll get a chance to redeem himself and try to work his way back up the roster.
Torts said David Booth missed the Super Skills competition on Saturday because he was "banged up," but Iain MacIntyre reported that he looked fine when practising with the team on Sunday. I'll be curious to see whether or not he'll draw back into the lineup. Against the bruisers on the Kings, I think Darren Archibald probably has the more effective style.
It'd be nice to see a big game from Tom Sestito tonight. He raised a bit of a stir when he brushed Jonathan Quick shortly after Dustin Brown took Luongo out last week. I don't want to see the Canucks start doing dumb things and taking unnecessary penalties, but I'd definitely like to see some sandpaper in their game tonight. Fight back against Los Angeles!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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