Wednesday November 4 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet, Sportsnet One, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 12 GP, 6-2-4, 16 points, second in Pacific Division
Pittsburgh Penguins: 11 GP, 7-4-0, 14 points, fourth in Atlantic Division
The hottest team in the NHL will ride into Rogers Arena to take on the Vancouver Canucks for Hockey Fights Cancer night on Wednesday.
Here's the view from the rink this morning:
The Pittsburgh Penguins are kicking off their Western Canadian road trip on a four-game winning streak—memories of their slow start already a thing of the past.
The Canucks are also on a roll, 3-0-2 with points in their last five games.
It sounds like Chris Higgins is ready to return to the lineup tonight. Here's what was happening at Tuesday's practice:
Not a big surprise that Baertschi will be the player to sit out tonight.
With Adam Cracknell ably filling in for the injured Brandon Prust on the fourth line, Brendan Gaunce will almost certainly be sent back to Utica in the next couple of days, barring more injuries.
The early-season buzz around the Penguins has been focused on Sidney Crosby's scoring slump. The Kid has just one goal and five points in his first 11 games. For the moment, Evgeni Malkin is driving the bus—and he has proven to be the better partner so far for Phil Kessel, who has scored the game-winning goal in two of the Pens' last four games.
Jake Virtanen's looking forward to getting a first-hand look at Crosby.
It's funny that Sid scored his "Golden Goal" here in Vancouver, but generally doesn't do much in Vancouver against the Canucks.
The Penguins' recent success looks like it's hinging mostly on strong defensive play. Pittsburgh is the stingiest team in the league, with just 20 goals allowed, and has given up only five goals during the current winning streak. Bet they're happy to have Olli Maatta and Kris Letang back full time!
Tonight's game could turn out to be a goaltending battle between two netminders who have had remarkably similar careers:
It's interesting to hear that Nick Bonino has been enjoying his time in town, connecting with his old teammates.
"It was a really positive year for me," Bonino told Sam Kasan about his time in Vancouver for the
Penguins website. "It’s nice being here for a few days. I get to see some of them away from the rink and get to see the city again."
Bonino is averaging 15:54 a game for the Penguins and is 2-1-3 so far this season. The other player in the Sutter trade, Adam Clendening, is being carried as a seventh defenseman. He has appeared in just one game this season, back on October 15.
In other news, Elliotte Friedman led off his
30 Thoughts column this week with a look at hot Russian prospect Nikita Zaitsev—a 24-year-old right-shooting defenseman who could become a free agent as early as March 1, at the end of the KHL season.
The Canucks are rumoured to be one of several teams who are pursuing Zaitsev; if he's as good as they think, he'd certainly fill a need, but it sounds like the competition for his services will be stiff.
Friedman has one other Canuck-related note, which is also topical for tonight's game, about Brandon Sutter and his juicy five-year contract extension with a cap hit of $4.375 million, which will kick in next season.
Sutter has been a solid addition since joining Vancouver—playing in all situations, logging more minutes than any other forward and tied for third in team scoring. But Friedman hints that the weight of his contract may be feeling heavy on Sutter's shoulders:
When Dale Tallon was in Chicago, he told a good story about signing Brian Campbell to a massive contract. “I said to him, ‘Forget the money.’ You’ve got it. It’s over. Nothing can change that. Don’t try to earn it all in one shift. You got it based on how you played before. Continue to play that way.”
There are two players who need that message. One is Brandon Sutter. The Canucks are winning and everyone loves the kids, so it’s quiet for now.
The other is Dougie Hamilton.
To my eye, Hamilton has had a much tougher adjustment period in Calgary than Sutter has in Vancouver. I wouldn't think that this is an issue for the Canucks but it could be something to watch going forward—potentially even a couple of seasons from now.
To wrap up today, a blast of good news from the prospects department:
Demko was named the Hockey East goaltender of the month for October today.
It really is starting to look like Jim Benning's reputation for evaluating young talent is well deserved. He'll be taking full advantage of the Canucks' upcoming road trip to see as many players in as many different settings as he can.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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