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Elias Pettersson takes morning skate but won't play Wednesday vs. Oilers |
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Wednesday January 16 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet West, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 47 GP, 21-21-5, 47 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Edmonton Oilers: 46 GP, 22-21-3, 47 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
Elias Pettersson is getting closer to returning to action but won't play Wednesday as the Vancouver Canucks continue their homestand against the Edmonton Oilers.
Once again, Petey skated on his own on Wednesday morning.
He also returned for the team's optional morning skate, marking the first time he has skated with his teammates since his injury in Montreal nearly two weeks ago.
It does sound like he's getting close to a return:
I've been wondering if the injury might impact his debut appearance at the NHL All-Star Game, now just 10 days away. Petey says he'll be there.
For the third time in the last six games, Nikolay Goldobin appears to be headed back to the press box as a healthy scratch.
The move comes even though Goldy has picked up more points against Edmonton than any other team so far this season. His last points were two assists in the Canucks' 4-2 win in Edmonton back on December 27th. He also had an assist in Vancouver's 4-2 home win over the Oilers on December 16.
Unfortunately for Goldobin, Travis Green is probably paying more attention the fact that he has been a minus-eight in the five games that he has dressed for since that December win in Edmonton, and that it was his lazy hooking penalty on Denis Malgin that indirectly led to Florida's only goal in the Canucks' last game on Sunday.
Frank Vatrano scored one second after Goldy got out of the penalty box in the third period. Goldobin didn't see another shift a game where his ice time ultimately topped out at 8:34, his second-lowest total of the year after 7:53 against Calgary on opening night.
When the Canucks were losing in November, Goldy was a reason for optimism, with 12 points in 14 games that month. But he managed just seven points in 13 games in December and has not yet figured into a scoring play so far in 2019.
Josh Leivo took Goldobin's place on the first power-play unit at practice on Tuesday—and one could argue that it's Leivo's arrival that has bumped Goldy down the depth chart. In his 15 games with the Canucks, he's 4-1-5; Goldobin is 5-18-23 in 44 games.
Leivo is also riding a six-game pointless streak, but he was noticeable in his return to the lineup on Sunday after missing the previous three games with back spasms. He played just 9:23 against the Panthers, but recorded four shot attempts and one hit—and was the Canucks player who picked up the token 10-minute misconduct after the on-ice scuffle that took place with 11 seconds left in the game.
Here's how the lines ran at practice on Tuesday:
Leivo has shown some effectiveness as a top-six guy, but it's easy to understand why Travis Green would prefer him over Goldobin in a bottom-six role—especially if the team is looking to spark some secondary scoring as well as playing a responsible defensive game.
As for the Oilers—Wednesday's game is Edmonton's only road contest in the midst of a stretch of six at home to close out the month of January. The team has hit a bumpy patch of late and is now 13-11-2 since Ken Hitchcock replaced Todd McLellan as head coach, but is coming into Wednesday's game after a wild 7-2 win over Buffalo on Monday.
Watch out for Milan Lucic! After all the talk about his scoring woes in recent months, he scored twice on Monday and now has three goals in his last four games. Zack Kassian also scored twice against the Sabres, the team that originally drafted him. He's also now at four goals for the year.
Here's how Hitchcock skated his lines at practice on Tuesday:
Recently acquired defenseman Alex Petrovic has missed the last three games with a concussion but could be ready to get back into the lineup. Sounds like the plan is also to debut Colby Cave, a centre who was recently acquired on waivers from Boston. Cave is a 6'1", 200-pound 24-year-old who was signed by the Bruins after going undrafted out of the WHL. He had 1-4-5 in 20 games with the Bruins so far this season.
The Oilers' first-round pick from 2017, Kailer Yamamoto, has also been up with the team since late December, but suffered an upper-body injury in the first game after his recall. He should be ready to get back into the lineup against Vancouver.
Wednesday's game will mark the second-straight start in net for Mikko Koskinen, who's now 13-8-1 with a 2.69 goals-against average and .915 save percentage with the Oilers this year.
Compare that to incumbent Cam Talbot: 9-13-2, 3.17 and .896—and the 31-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
Still, it's hard to imagine the Oilers dealing Talbot. He has a modified no-trade clause, with a list of only 10 teams he could potentially be traded to. And with the Oilers seemingly hell-bent on making the playoffs, it's hard to imagine they'd be willing to create any instability in net unless they were certain that they were making an upgrade—and that'll be hard to do before the trade deadline.
There are plenty of trade rumours swirling around the Oilers, including the possibility that they'd deal 2016's fourth-overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi or their first-rounder in 2019. They'll be interesting to watch over the next month.
As previously mentioned, the Canucks are 2-0-0 against the Oilers so far this season—both 4-2 wins. The two teams are currently tied with 47 points in the Pacific Division standings—also with the Anaheim Ducks and now two points back of the Minnesota Wild, who moved into sole possession of the second wild-card spot with a shootout win over L.A. on Tuesday.
Much is being made this week about just how tight that wild-card race in the West has become—especially with the St. Louis Blues now nudging their way back into the mix. They're now just two points behind the Canucks, with two games in hand.
At this point, it looks like we've got Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Edmonton, Vancouver and Anaheim jockeying for the third spot in the Central Division behind Nashville and Winnipeg, and the two wild-cards. I'll have time to look into the race in more detail later this month, when the Canucks are off for the All-Star Break and their bye week.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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