Sunday December 13 - Vancouver Canucks at Chicago Blackhawks - 4 p.m. - Sportsnet, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 30 GP, 11-11-8, 30 pts, third in Pacific Division
Chicago Blackhawks: 39 GP, 16-10-4, 36 pts, fourth in Central Division
After three days off, the Vancouver Canucks are back to work, kicking off their six-game pre-Christmas road trip with a visit to the Chicago Blackhawks in the United Center.
As expected, roster recalls were made from Utica after the team headed east.
That's a busy travel week for Kenins, who was sent from Vancouver back to Utica on Thursday, recorded one shot on goal in the Comets' 2-0 loss to the Toronto Marlies on Friday, then flew to Chicago on Sunday.
Kenins hit the ice this morning, but so did Derek Dorsett, who's back with the team after taking a couple of days off for personal reasons.
Unless something strange happens between now and game time, I'd expect to see Dorsett in the lineup and Kenins in the press box.
I agree with this speculation from Jon Abbott:
The Comets are playing an afternoon game against the Toronto Marlies today, which is supposed to be Virtanen's second and last game of his AHL conditioning stint. After this, my guess is that he'll be assigned to Team Canada. The Canucks officially have until December 19 to decide, but Team Canada will play its first of three pre-tournament games in Finland on the 19th, so it'd make some sense for Virtanen to fly over with the team and get into a couple of practices.
Virt was a factor as an 18-year-old on last year's gold medal-winning team. It'd be interesting to see what he can do this year as a big fish—and if increased ice time and a prominent role can help to re-ignite the offensive side of his game.
As for the Canucks blue line today, without Dan Hamhuis:
The
Canucks.com game-day report says we'll see Ryan Miller in net tonight, opposite Corey Crawford.
As for the Blackhawks, Patrick Kane has silenced all the talk of his rough legal ride during the offseason with his record-breaking 25-game point streak, which stretches back to the sixth game of the season.
Kane continues to lead the NHL with 45 points in 30 games, which has him on pace for 122 points. If he can keep it up, that'd be the highest point total for an Art Ross Trophy winner since Joe Thornton scored 125 points a decade ago in 2005-06.
Kane has needed to get a little bit lucky to keep the streak alive over the past couple of games. He picked up a power-play goal midway through the second period in Chicago's last outing, a 2-0 home win over Winnipeg on Friday, and was the Hawks' only scorer in their 5-1 loss to Nashville on Thursday. His third-period goal was challenged for goaltender interference, but was ultimately upheld.
Interestingly, Wayne Gretzky is rooting for Kane to take a run at his record of points in 51 straight games.
"He can get there, absolutely," Gretzky told Chris Kuc of the
Chicago Tribune, via C. Roumeliotis of
CSN Chicago. "What does it take to get there? It's a combination of things. First of all, you have to be good and you have to get a little bit lucky. I was a little bit lucky during the streak, whether it was a (secondary) assist late in the game or an empty-net point. You have to stay healthy and you have to be surrounded by really good teammates. He has all the intangibles he needs."
"My goodness, it's exceptional what he has done so far and the sky is the limit for him."
Kane picked up just one third-period assist when the Canucks beat Chicago 6-3 at home three weeks ago. It'd be a feather in the Canucks' cap if they can stop the streak tonight.
The Blackhawks are also celebrating two other milestones. Nicklas Hjalmarsson is scheduled to play in his 500th NHL game, while Marian Hossa plays in his 1,200th. Hossa, who turns 37 in January, will break into the top 100 in games played before the end of the season.
Chicago's coming into the game with a healthy lineup. Marko Dano was sent down to the AHL earlier this week and Bryan Bickell has been back with the big club for four games after being recalled from Rockford.
The Blackhawks struck gold when they signed Artemi Panarin out of the KHL this summer—the 24-year-old leads all rookies with 28 points in 30 games and has played primarily with Patrick Kane. Their second Russian signing, Viktor Tikhonov, didn't work out so well. The 27-year-old was put on waivers earlier this week to make room for Bickell and was claimed by the Arizona Coyotes, who originally drafted him in the first round back in 2008. Tikhonov was pointless in 11 appearances with the Blackhawks.
With that, you're up to date. Early game today—4 p.m. start on the national broadcast for Hometown Hockey. You know what that means? No Canucks content during intermissions. Instead, we'll join Ron McLean and company in Summerside, PEI.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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