Vancouver Canucks at Anaheim Ducks - Saturday March 29 - 7:00 p.m. - CBC, KDOC
Vancouver Canucks: 34-10-11, 79 points, 10th in Western Conference
Anaheim Ducks: 47-18-8, 102 points, third in Western Conference
The Vancouver Canucks will look to extend their four-game unbeaten streak when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday at Rogers Arena.
Though the Canucks have a 10-10-4 record against Pacific Division teams so far this season, they're 0-2-1 against the Ducks out of three visits to the Honda Center.
In November, they outshot Anaheim 36-23 but dropped a 3-1 decision thanks to impressive goaltending from rookie Frederik Andersen. On January 5, they got outshot 49-20 and blew a 3-2 lead thanks to Corey Perry's never-say-die last-second goal in overtime. Then 10 days later, Eddie Lack got the hook after giving up three goals on 13 shots and poor Joacim Ericsson got torched was Anaheim went on to score six power-play goals on their way to a 9-1 win.
That boxscore is even uglier than I remembered.
Click here to take a look.
It's worth noting that this game came three days before Torts' visit to the Calgary Flames' dressing room. Pretty clear that the team had already lost the plot by that point—I think the Calgary incident was a result of a team that was already off the rails, not the cause of it.
Despite the Ducks' dominating record, they've looked pretty ordinary of late. Anaheim squeaked out a 3-2 win in Calgary earlier in the week, and is coming into tonight's game on the second half of a back-to-back after losing 4-3 in overtime to Edmonton on Friday.
The loss didn't come for lack of opportunity, either. Anaheim outshot the Oilers 51-23 and couldn't capitalize on a 5-on-3 power play in overtime!
After leading the league for much of the season, Anaheim is now five points off the Presidents' Trophy pace with a 4-4-2 record in its last 10 games—worse than Vancouver's 6-3-1! Cam Fowler's out with a sprained MCL but is the only injured Duck, so the swoon's a bit of a surprise. Are they really missing Dustin Penner that much after moving him at the trade deadline, or are they just taking a bit of a breather before gearing up for their playoff push?
Fans at Rogers Arena should not be expecting to see Teemu Selanne in the lineup tonight as part of his farewell tour. He has been sitting out the second half of most Anaheim back-to-backs this season. Anaheim does visit once more before the end of the year, on April 7, so we should get our annual chance to say goodbye to the amazing player who's still too good to retire.
Jonas Hiller has started the last three games for the Ducks so, as I'd expected, Frederick Andersen will assume the duties on the second half of the back-to-back.
For the Canucks, of course it will be Eddie Lack in net once again.
Frank Corrado was recalled from Utica on Friday because Kevin Bieksa suffered a leg injury in Colorado, only playing a couple of shifts in the third period. But Bieksa was on the ice at Rogers Arena for today's morning skate and looks like he should be ready to go. Torts says he won't be dressing seven defensemen:
The Canucks are 0-5-0 this season without Bieksa in the lineup, so his presence should help. It's also another impressive sign of the commitment the guys are showing to playing their best against impossibly long odds.
No word from the skate on possible lines for the Canucks. The team may not have given up, but the beat writers aren't analyzing every nugget with quite the same intensity that they did earlier in the year.
Despite their success over the last couple of weeks, Vancouver isn't gaining any ground in the standings. Dallas routed Nashville 7-3 on Friday, so they're two points up again, with two games still in hand. The Stars are back in action tonight against St. Louis, while Phoenix goes head-to-head against Minnesota for a chance to pass the Wild and move into the first wild card spot.
Last night's win boosted Dallas' postseason chances by 8.4 percent, to 45.8, while it knocked the Canucks down by 0.7 percent, to 3.1.
Prospect Watch:
A good piece in the
Vancouver Sun from Brad Ziemer, covering the success of the Canuck prospects so far in the OHL playoffs, including quotes from magic man Dane Fox and the Canucks' Laurence Gilman, who's pumping up Brendan Gaunce.
Click here to read.
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