Tuesday November 11 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Ottawa Senators - 7:00 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 10-5-0 second in Pacific Division
Ottawa Senators: 7-4-3 sixth in Atlantic Division
After a tough road trip that saw some bumpy performances but generally good results, the Vancouver Canucks get back to work tonight at Rogers Arena against the Ottawa Senators.
I'd been thinking that I missed seeing the Sens in Vancouver last season but I remember now—it was the Heritage Classic! A Canucks loss that will live in infamy, with an aftermath that likely sealed the fates of both Mike Gillis and that coach we used to have.
Torts' January explosion against Calgary is often cited as the day that things went seriously sideways for the Canucks, but that game against the Senators was also a high water mark.
I'll always remember listening to his postgame comments, when he talked about his decision to start Eddie Lack over Roberto Luongo in the marquee game. I won't repost the video, but you can
click here to find it as part of my Heritage Classic game review from last March.
I'm working on the assumption today that the Canucks' good start to this season makes it a little less egregious to talk about he-who-must-not-be-named. So I'll also include
this link to the first Torts sighting that I've seen since he left Vancouver.
Naturally, it involves rescue dogs and Westchester, New York. I suspect he's enjoying his retirement and not watching one second of hockey—at least, not from the Western Conference. He might have enjoyed seeing the Rangers get beat up by Edmonton over the weekend.
But I digress. Back to today's Canucks and tonight's game.
Monday was a travel day back from California, so it looks like there won't be any lineup changes for tonight's contest:
That means Radim Vrbata, Zack Kassian, Derek Dorsett, Luca Sbisa and Tom Sestito will all be out of action.
Jannik Hansen practiced with the twins again, though he was replaced by Linden Vey partway through Sunday's game against the Ducks. The second line of Higgins-Bonino-Burrows remains intact. Nick Jensen will play in Kassian's spot with Matthias and Richardson, so Brandon DeFazio and Bo Horvat join Vey.
Don Brennan of the
Ottawa Sun gives us our goalie intel. As if we need it.
Eddie Lack likely won't see another game until next week's back-to-backs—on the road in Edmonton, then back home against the Ducks.
Still no word on what's ailing Luca Sbisa, whose injury is listed as "undisclosed" on the Canucks website.
Though Sbisa's tenure in Anaheim was bumpy, Ducks color man Dan Wood sent out a strongly-worded tweet of support ahead of Sunday's game:
I think this may be why Benning and Desjardins took a chance on the big defenseman, despite some of his on-ice lapses in the early going. Don't forget, Willie coached Sbisa back in Medicine Hat. He knew the character of this player before he was acquired.
Also worth noting from today's practice: the Canucks were working on their faceoffs. Perhaps Bo Horvat can show the vets a thing or two!
Though there's not a huge differential between most of the teams in the league in overall faceoff percentage, the Canucks remain near the bottom—in 26th place with a 47.4 percent success rate.
As Horvat prepares for his fifth NHL game and hopes to stick with the Canucks past the nine-game mark, he can draw inspiration across the ice from Ottawa's Curtis Lazar. Memorial Cup Rivals from junior, Salmon Arm's Lazar plays a two-way style that's similar to Horvat's, and is renowned for his defensively-responsible game.
The Senators have decided to keep Lazar with the team for the season. He has found a home on a line with Mike Hoffmann and Mark Stone. Lazar has yet to record his first NHL goal but has posted four assists in 12 games and is a plus-three.
Though the Canucks will need to be focused in order to avoid a letdown after the big win over the Ducks, Ottawa's schedule has been just as tough. They're also coming off back-to-backs over the weekend, including their make-up game against the Leafs that was rescheduled after the Parliament Hill shootings last month. The Sens lost 5-3 to Toronto after dropping a 2-1 shootout decision to Winnipeg on Saturday night.
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