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Elias Pettersson sets record, Vancouver Canucks look to rebound vs the Wild |
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Friday March 9 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Minnesota Wild - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 67 GP, 25-33-9, 59 pts, 28th overall
Minnesota Wild: 67 GP, 38-22-7, 83 pts, third in Central Division
I've made a small tweak to my gameday standings notes. As we approach the end of the season, the only thing that matters to the Vancouver Canucks and their fans is their position in the overall league standings, which will ultimately determine the draft lottery odds. Going into Friday's game against Minnesota, the Canucks are six points out of the league basement—two points behind Montreal and two points ahead of Ottawa.
The bottom fell out for the Canucks at this point last season. In their last 15 games, they went 2-13-0 to finish with 69 points. This year's group will need to earn 10 points down the stretch to match that total.
I think this year's audition-season crew offers a bit more hope for the future than most of last year's group. Obviously, Brock Boeser was a revelation when he arrived on the scene with nine games to go but last season, Game 68 was a 3-0 home shutout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, with a lineup that included Michael Chaput, Joseph Cramarossa, Alex Grenier, Joe LaBate and Jayson Megna up front, plus Philip Larsen, Luca Sbisa and Nikita Tryamkin on the blue line. In addition to Boeser, Drew Shore and Griffen Molino also had not yet joined the team.
Are we more confident now in a group that includes forwards Brendan Leipsic, Tyler Motte, Darren Archibald, Jake Virtanen, Nikolay Goldobin, Sam Gagner, Jussi Jokinen and Nic Dowd, plus Michael Del Zotto and Derrick Pouliot on the back end?
I think so. There's more upside in this year's group, right? They can get 10 more points, yes?
Canucks Nation went into a bit of a tailspin after Wednesday's loss to Arizona but relatively speaking, I didn't find the game *that* depressing. Of course, Brock was missed, and his absence was glaring on a night when Vancouver managed just 17 shots on goal.
The only other night that the Canucks have managed less than 20 shots this season was back on December 17—the night Boeser dragged himself to the bench and left the game after blocking Mark Giordano's point shot in Vancouver's 6-1 home loss to Calgary.
Overall, the Canucks are now averaging 30.0 shots per game this season. That still leaves them 29th overall—only ahead of Colorado and Washington, believe it or not. Shots per game are up overall in the league this year but last season, Vancouver was last with an average of 27.7 shots per game—and there were nine games last year when they didn't crack the 20-shot mark. That's probably why Wednesday's game dredged up so many bad memories after the Canucks have played a relatively entertaining style of hockey for most of this year.
It was a pretty feisty game for the Canucks—they outhit the Coyotes 35-19, led by six hits each from Jake Virtanen and Troy Stecher (!), plus five each from Tyler Motte and Michael Del Zotto. The 6-on-5 that led to Jussi Jokinen's goal with Markstrom out on the delayed penalty call was a thing of beauty. And if Brandon Sutter's 3-on-5 breakaway snipe had gone in like we thought instead of hitting the post, there's a good chance Vancouver could have come out of that game with the win. As it was, they were 58 seconds away from earning a point before Derek Stepan's last-minute dagger gave the "W" to Arizona.
And don't forget—the Coyotes may still be in last place overall, but they've been among the hottest teams in the league over the last month—9-2-2 since an overtime win over Minnesota back on February 8. Like the Florida Panthers, they seem to be getting their feet under them now after their offseason coaching change.
The Canucks will play the Coyotes two more times before the end of the season and I expect they'll be tough opponents in those games, too.
Now, on to tonight's game. Led by February's NHL Player of the Month Eric Staal, the Minnesota Wild have also been surging. Since that OT loss to Arizona on February 8, they're 9-3-1 and have moved up into third place in the Central Division, currently with a five-point playoff cushion.
Staal led all players with 13-8-21 in 13 games in February. He's now up to 36 goals for the season—tied with Tyler Seguin for fourth place in the league and just four goals behind leader Alex Ovechkin. Not bad for a 33-year-old on a team-friendly contract that pays him $3.5 million per year. Staal hit the 40-goal mark twice in his early career, with 45-55-100 the year the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup back in 2005-06 and 40-35-75 in 2008-09. He hasn't broken 30 since 2010-11.
Not surprisingly, Travis Green has tweaked his lineup after Wednesday's loss:
Jacob Markstrom missed practice on Thursday, said to be ill, so it's also not surprising that Anders Nilsson gets his first start since February 23. He did play 48:03 in relief of Markstrom on February 28 against the Rangers. Nilsson also made 29 saves to earn the shutout in Vancouver's 1-0 road win over Minnesota back on October 24. The Canucks also beat the Wild 3-2 on the strength of Brandon Sutter's overtime goal just before January's All-Star Break.
Tonight's game will be Minnesota's only visit to Rogers Arena this season—and I think this will be the last home game of the year where I won't be in attendance. Go get 'em, boys!
A couple of prospect notes to wrap up today:
• First, the Canucks announced a two-year, two-way contract extension for minor-league defenseman Ashton Sautner on Thursday. Originally signed as a free agent in 2015, Sautner is in his third season with the Utica Comets. He'll turn 24 in May.
• And finally—if you missed it, Elias Pettersson broke the record!
The Canucks' top prospect had two goals and two assists in Vaxjo's 6-3 win over Malmo on Thursday to eclipse Kent Nilsson's U20 Swedish Hockey League points record from 1975-76. Pettersson now has 55 points in 43 games, with one regular-season game left in the Lakers' season on Saturday.
Though he was left off the Swedish Olympic team, it's expected that Pettersson will suit up for Tre Kroner at the World Championship in Denmark in May. At that point, we'll start to see whether his skillset stands up against more mature players despite his lithe frame.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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