Wednesday March 14 - Vancouver Canucks at Anaheim Ducks - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 70 GP, 25-36-9, 59 pts, 29th overall
Anaheim Ducks: 70 GP, 34-24-12, 80 pts, ninth in Western Conference
Did the Vancouver Canucks leave their goals at home when they set out for their three-game road trip? So far, they've been shut out in Arizona and Los Angeles. On Wednesday night, they'll try to snap the drought that has reached 152 minutes and nine seconds since Jussi Jokinen made it 2-2 against Minnesota last Friday at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks have 12 games to go. In their last 12 games, they're 3-6-3 for nine points. Even if they match that, they'll finish below last year's total of 69 pts.
The "good" news is that they're continuing to drop in the standings—improving their draft lottery position.
As we saw last year, though, the new lottery system makes it perfectly possible for any non-playoff team to swoop in and grab that first-overall pick. When even a last-place finish still brings just a 20 percent chance of grabbing that first pick—and with the Canucks' awful luck with the draft right from the very first spin of that wheel back in 1970—I'm still expecting that another team will get it.
Even as we wait to see how the final standings shake down, there are some possibilities that are downright horrifying.
bike trails
How would you feel about Anaheim? They could be on that list too as they're looking at the very real possibility of missing the playoffs for the first time in six years.
The Ducks currently sit ninth in the Western Conference. They're two points behind third-place L.A. in the Pacific and the two wild-card teams from the Central—Colorado and Dallas. But they don't have games in hand and they don't hold the tiebreaker against anybody (not even Calgary or St. Louis, who are currently below them in the standings). So the Ducks are desperate—and even if they win tonight, they still won't move into a playoff position.
Anaheim comes into tonight's game on a three-game losing streak and their last two losses were big ones, against St. Louis and Dallas.
One team is guaranteed to bump its slump tonight!
After a long spate of early-season injuries, the Ducks are now essentially healthy, with only Patrick Eaves still on the injured list as he deals with his Guillain-Barre syndrome. The Ducks have struggled to score this season.
For the second-straight year, they're led by Rickard Rakell, who's up to 30 goals (and in the second year of a very reasonable contract that carries an AAV of just under $3.8 million per season for four more years after this one). Second in team scoring? Ondrej Kase (!) with 17 goals. Overall, the Ducks rank 23rd in the NHL with 2.73 goals per games. That's only a little better than Vancouver, now 27th at 2.61.
It's looking like the Ducks' aging core is getting to the end of the road—struggling to stay healthy if not with offensive production.
Their big three:
Corey Perry - 32 - cap hit $8.6 million for three more seasons after this - 59 GP, 15-27-42
Ryan Getzlaf - 32 - cap hit $8.25 million for three more seasons after this - 45 GP, 10-41-51
Ryan Kesler - 33 - cap hit $6.875 million for four more seasons after this - 32 GP, 6-3-9
One area where the Ducks remain strong is in net. With 2.66 goals against per game, they're seventh overall defensively. It's also interesting to note that Boston is the only team from the Eastern Conference in the top nine in goals against). As well as having a well-regarded defense, Anaheim may have the best goalie tandem in the league. John Gibson, who's expected to start tonight, has struggled with injuries as usual but has a .924 save percentage this season while our old pal Ryan Miller is at an impressive .926 with three shutouts.
Miller was great in his two outings against Vancouver this year: a 4-1 win in Anaheim on November 9 and a 5-0 shutout in Vancouver on January 2.
This does not bode well for the Canucks' chances of breaking their scoring slump tonight, though it's expected that John Gibson will get the start:
There is a chance that Chris Tanev could return to the lineup tonight.
Once again, I'll turn to the prospects to provide some positivity as I wrap up the blog for today:
This time, it's Jonathan Dahlen's turn in the spotlight:
Mission accomplished! Dahlen picked up points on seven of Timra's 10 goals in their three-game sweep of Leksands.
And finally, more love for Adam Gaudette:
As expected, Gaudette has also just been named a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»