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Vancouver Canucks playing for pride, will try to extend win streak vs. Habs |
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Tuesday March 7 - Montreal Canadiens vs. Vancouver Canucks - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific
Vancouver Canucks: 65 GP, 28-30-7, 63 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
Montreal Canadiens: 66 GP, 37-21-8, 82 pts, first in Atlantic Division
Last time the Montreal Canadiens came to town, they'd kicked off their 2015-16 season with a nine-game winning streak. On October 27, 2015, the Canucks put an end to that streak with a 5-1 win. Jared McCann scored twice for Vancouver, with the other goals coming from Luca Sbisa, Radim Vrbata and Derek Dorsett.
The Vancouver roster has changed dramatically since that night 17 months ago, but once again, the Habs are streaking as they make their visit to the west coast. Montreal comes into Tuesday night's game on a five-game winning streak. The team is 6-2-0 since Claude Julien took over behind the bench on Valentine's Day, reversing the 1-5-1 run that had led to Michel Therrien's dismissal.
This will be the first chance for fans in Vancouver to see B.C. boy Shea Weber wearing the bleu, blanc et rouge following last summer's huge trade. He has joined fellow British Columbian Carey Price, as well as new blueline acquisition Jordie Benn of Victoria.
Benn was one of a number of new players brought in by general manager Marc Bergevin at the trade deadline, apparently with an eye toward making his club tougher to play against in the postseason. Smaller forwards David Desharnais and Sven Andrighetto were shipped out, as was bubble defenseman Greg Pateryn, while Bergevin brought in Benn and Brandon Davidson on the blue line, along with Dwight King, Steve Ott and Andreas Martinsen up front.
Add in pesky Andrew Shaw and Brendan Gallagher, and the Habs are icing a pretty chippy lineup. In the early going, the changes are paying dividends. The question now is whether or not it'll be effective for Montreal in the playoffs. With a four-point lead on Ottawa in the Atlantic Division, the Habs are currently the highest-ranked Canadian team in the NHL standings, sitting eighth overall.
The team's recent resurgence has also coincided with a hot stretch of play from Carey Price. After missing most of the 2015-16 season due to injury, Price's stats have improved dramatically since Julien arrived. He's 5-2 in his seven appearances but has given up just 10 goals in those seven games—and just two goals in his last three games. We could be in for a vintage Price performance tonight.
Montreal has been off since Saturday, when they defeated the New York Rangers 4-1 at Madison Square Garden. Their next game is Thursday in Calgary.
Here are Montreal's roster notes from their practice at Rogers Arena on Monday.
Radulov, who has been a solid free-agent signing for Montreal this season, didn't play in New York on Saturday due to what's being called a lower-body injury. The veteran Plekanec was said to be taking a maintenance day when he missed practice on Monday. It's unclear whether he'll play tonight but it sounds like he probably won't. Veteran defenseman Alexei Emelin is also expected to be scratched from the lineup tonight, in favour of new acquisition Brandon Davidson.
As for the Canucks, they're coming home to Rogers Arena on a high note. For the first time all season, the Canucks strung together two wins on the road last weekend, and will see if they can keep the streak alive on home ice. Vancouver is now 18-10-4 at Rogers Arena this season, compared to 10-20-3 on the road.
From our first look at the lines at today's morning skate, it's no surprise to see that Loui Eriksson is still absent after being injured on Sunday in Anaheim. Nikolay Goldobin will make his Rogers Arena debut on the second line with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi...
Without Eriksson, Reid Boucher draws back into the lineup on the fourth line.
On the blue line...
Tanev was questionable last weekend as well, but played both games and delivered his usual high minutes—22:56 in L.A. on Saturday and 21:24 in Anaheim on Sunday. He might just be taking the morning off.
This is the first Tryamkin sighting since before Vancouver's bye week. He has missed the last five games after being caught in the wave of the mumps virus.
The energy in the building is always high when the Habs come to town. Additionally, tonight is also the date for the annual Canucks for Kids Telethon.
To close today—if you missed it, Trevor Linden took to the airwaves on TSN1040 this morning.
The most important topic he addressed is probably the future fate of Willie Desjardins.
Willie has one year remaining on his current contract, so this is the summer when the organization needs to determine whether to stick with him and offer a contract extension, or cut ties and try a fresh approach. I'm guessing these last 17 games could still have a big impact on what is ultimately decided.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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