Vancouver Canucks at Colorado Avalanche - Tuesday November 4 - 6:00 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks 8-4-0 second in Pacific Division
Colorado Avalanche 3-5-5 seventh in Central Division
Here we are: the road trip that could define the Canucks' season, according to
Jim Jamieson of
The Province.
These four-in-six trips are never easy, especially when they wrap up with back-to-backs in Southern California, but there are some positive notes as Vancouver gets ready to play in Denver tonight.
First: Kevin Bieksa. According to Dan Murphy, it sounds like there's a chance he could play tonight.
Second: The Avs are a bit of a mess. Since they hammered Vancouver 10 days ago, Colorado has gone 1-1-3, most recently blowing a 2-0 lead on Sunday to lose 3-2 to an Anaheim team that was forced to use farmhand Jason LaBarbera in goal after John Gibson was injured during warmup.
After winning the Jack Adams trophy last year, frustrated Colorado coach Patrick Roy is naming names as he attempts to get his team on track. After Sunday's loss, he fingered Jarome Iginla for losing his defensive coverage on Cam Fowler's winning goal, according to
Nick Groke of the
Denver Post.
“On that third goal, we were just lost,” Roy said. “Jarome lost his position, lost his D. And it was an easy walk-in for Fowler.”
There was also some concern that Colorado captain Gabe Landeskog could be facing a possible suspension after a late-game hit on Corey Perry on Sunday.
Landeskog does appear to have targeted Corey Perry's head, and received a charging minor on the play. There's no word at this point from the league about supplemental discipline, so I'll assume that the captain will be in the lineup tonight.
Jon Abbott says Landeskog is on a line with Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon at today's morning skate:
As for the Canucks, they've played some fine hockey since getting blown out in Denver on October 24. Vancouver has gone 4-1 and given up just 10 goals in the five contests. Ryan Miller has been great and perhaps most importantly, Willie Desjardins has adjusted the team's system to stop fast teams from flying through the neutral zone to create offensive chances.
It worked against Washington and Montreal. Now that Willie's had a chance to see first-hand what Colorado can do, I'm hoping that he can find a way to counterattack.
I'm cautiously optimistic that tonight's game is winnable.
With Alex Burrows serving the third game of his suspension and Tom Sestito on the injured list, Bo Horvat will definitely make his NHL debut tonight.
Horvat didn't light up the scoresheet during his five-game conditioning stint in Utica, where he was pointless, or when he was with the Canucks during preseason. But the 19-year-old first-rounder will be judged tonight on his ability to play a responsible game and will hopefully help the Canucks keep the puck away from the fiery Avalanche by winning some key draws.
Here's what Jim Benning says he's hoping to see:
In recent games, the Canucks won 54 percent of their draws against Nashville and 53 percent against Edmonton but only 44 percent against Montreal and Carolina. Despite the small victories, they're still 29th in the league in faceoff percentage—ahead only of Buffalo with a 46.7 percent success rate.
Horvat has a chance to bring a skill to the table that the Canucks dearly need. If he just concentrates on being great on draws, that might be enough to earn him a full-season ticket to stay in the big leagues.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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