Saturday November 5 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs - 4 p.m. - CBC
Vancouver Canucks: 11 GP, 4-6-1, 9 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
Toronto Maple Leafs: 11 GP, 4-4-3, 11 pts, seventh in Atlantic Division
It's the matchup that Canada has been waiting for. The NHL's 19th-best Toronto Maple Leafs take on the 26th-best Vancouver Canucks in Saturday's national broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada. The game is also available to watch for free on NHL Gamecentre Live.
It's hard to believe it was just two weeks ago that the Canucks were 4-0-0 and challenging for top spot in the league. Since that time, they've scored seven goals in seven games and collected just a single point—from their shootout loss in Los Angeles.
The Canucks were expected to be without their top defensive pairing tonight, as both Chris Tanev and Alex Edler have been sidelined with injuries. Troy Stecher was recalled from Utica on Friday to help fill in.
But look—here's Edler at Saturday's optional morning skate!
Still, it's said to be unlikely that Edler will play tonight.
Before Edler's appearance, I figured it was safe to assume that, if his top pair couldn't go, Willie Desjardins will not be pairing Stecher (three games NHL experience) with Nikita Tryamkin (14 games NHL experience) tonight. Without Edler, I'd surmise that he'll keep Ben Hutton and Erik Gudbranson together and use them as his top pairing, then put Stecher with Luca Sbisa and Tryamkin with Philip Larsen.
If Edler can go, I'd guess he'll play with Stecher. Then does Willie scratch Tryamkin—or sit down Philip Larsen for the first time this season after a solid outing by the big Russian against Ottawa?
As for the Maple Leafs, their youth infusion is paying dividends but they're also giving up plenty of chances. Three of their top four scorers are rookies—William Nylander leads the way with 4-7-11, Auston Matthews has 6-4-10 and Mitch Marner is 3-5-8.
Toronto's tied for 11th place in the league with Pittsburgh, with 2.82 goals scored per game, but the Leafs are also ranked 26th in goals against—giving up 3.36 goals a game compared to just 2.45 goals a game by Vancouver (ninth). Toronto also gives up 32.8 shots per game—sixth-highest in the league, compared to 27.4 by Vancouver (25th).
The Leafs play high-opportunity hockey at both ends of the ice, which should make them the ideal opponent to help the Canucks bump their current suffocating scoring slump.
Jason Botchford of
The Province is on the road with the team, and
spoke with Canucks president Trevor Linden about the team's rough stretch of games.
Linden stands behind embattled coach Willie Desjardins and lauds the team's improved defensive structure this season. “I like the structure we’ve played with,” he told Botchford. “I think we’ve played well. We haven’t scored. Willie would need a long stick from where he’s standing.
"Stability is important to me. Patience is important," Linden continued. "I understand people. You come out and you win four and then you lose one in overtime and then lose (six) in a row. Trust me, it’s been frustrating for everyone. It’s not easy for me. I understand it’s not easy for the fans. I know people want to win.”
The Canucks can go a long way toward re-writing the story of this road trip if they can bump their slump by exploiting the Leafs' spotty defensive play in front of a national audience tonight.
Montreal's 10-0 loss to Columbus with backup Al Montoya in net on Friday goes a long way to adding credence to the theory that only Carey Price stood between the Canucks and some success against the Canadiens last Wednesday. Just one poor play made the difference between a loss and a chance to at least get to overtime against Ottawa on Thursday.
Botchford argues that the defensive structure may be part of what's stifling the offense:
Playing safe is not without significant gambles. If you have your forwards peeling back into the neutral zone whenever things get a little dicey, you’re going to sacrifice opportunities to beat goalies.
And this is not a team blessed with many snipers, if any at all. The Canucks not only need scoring chances, they need lots of them.
Toronto's last game was a 2-1 win over Buffalo on Thursday, with Mitch Marner scoring both goals. Next, the Leafs will play Los Angeles at home on Tuesday—so out of that I'll surmise that starter Freddie Andersen will be in net tonight.
The Canucks' next back-to-back comes Monday and Tuesday against the Islanders and Rangers so I'll guess Ryan Miller starts tonight, then he and Markstrom will split the New York games.
Not sure whether Derek Dorsett will be able to play tonight—he did finish Thursday's game against Ottawa but missed practice on Friday, and has just come back from that shoulder injury that caused him to miss four games. If he can't go, Jack Skille will likely draw into his spot on the fourth line.
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