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Canucks try for back-to-back wins; Loui Eriksson returns against the Devils |
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Friday March 15 - Vancouver Canucks vs. New Jersey Devils - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 70 GP, 29-32-9, 67 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
New Jersey Devils: 71 GP, 26-36-9, 61 pts, eighth in Metropolitan Division
It ain't Quinn Hughes, but the Vancouver Canucks do have a new defenseman on the ice for their morning skate before Friday night's game against the New Jersey Devils.
In addition to Sven Baertschi, I believe Ryan Spooner is also back skating. He has now missed four games due to his groin injury.
Teves won't play Friday but at minimum, he and Quinn Hughes are expected to make their Canucks debuts before the end of the year—and there could still be more new bodies coming in. Jim Benning has said that he's continuing to scour the college free-agent market.
Vancouver has already used 39 different players so far this season: 23 forwards, 11 defensemen and five goalies. With the revolving door once again starting to spin at full speed as the end of the season approaches, they're ahead of last year's numbers (24 forwards, 10 defensemen and three goalies) and already at the same number of total players as 2016-17, when they dressed 26 different forwards, 10 defensemen and three goalies.
In past seasons, the new faces have largely rotated into forward positions. This year, we've seen more movement on the blue line and in goal—partly by necessity, but I think also because the team now has more players to choose from at those positions?
I'm not sure that necessarily means that the Canucks' organizational depth issues have now been solved, but I do find it heartening that the club can now call up defensemen like Ashton Sautner and Guillaume Brisebois and have them hold their own at the NHL level.
With Teves taking over Michael Del Zotto's old No. 4, it is a bit sobering to think that MDZ and Erik Gudbranson are both almost certainly destined for the postseason with their new teams, isn't it? Gudbranson has been embraced by the fan base in Pittsburgh—a plus-five with one assist and averaging 20:18 in his eight games with the Penguins so far. For his part, Del Zotto has mostly been relegated to press box duties with the Blues: he has been healthy-scratched six times and averaged just 13:20 on the two nights where he has seen game action with the Blues since his trade-deadline move from Anaheim.
I keep seeing Jared McCann's face on the highlight shows since he joined Pittsburgh, and it's no wonder. He's doing more than just using his speed to kill penalties: he has nine goals and 13 points and is a plus-nine in 21 games since joining the Penguins—still on just over 14 minutes of ice time a game. Despite all their blue-line injuries, Pittsburgh is 7-1-1 since the trade deadline. They were looking like they might miss the playoffs—now, they're four points out of first place in the Metro after a 5-0 dusting of Buffalo on Thursday.
As for Jonathan Dahlen—I can't tell you his ice time because the AHL keeps that data under lock and key, but I can let you know that he has four assists in six games so far with the San Jose Barracuda, and is a minus-three. San Jose is 2-4-0 since Dahlen joined the team at the trade deadline and has been on the wrong end of some blowout losses, having given up seven or more goals in three of those games. They're now locked in a three-way tie for second place in the AHL's Pacific Division but look like they're set to make the playoffs.
Given that Josh Teves won't have a chance to nap this afternoon, it makes sense that we won't see him in the lineup tonight. He isn't exactly on the basket-weaving academic stream:
The Canucks haven't won back-to-back games since their home victories over Buffalo and Detroit, nearly two months ago. After taking two points from the New York Rangers on Wednesday, they have a chance to match that with a win over another non-playoff club, the New Jersey Devils, on Friday.
After their surprise run to the postseason and Taylor Hall's MVP performance last year, the road has been much rockier for the Devils this season. Hall was once again producing at more than a point-a-game clip earlier in the season, but has now been out since December; he had arthroscopic surgery on his knee a couple of weeks ago, and it's uncertain whether or not he'll return to the lineup this season.
Without Hall, the Devils have been led offensively by reliable Kyle Palmieri, who's up to 27 goals on the year and has cracked the 20-goal mark for the fourth-straight season. Blake Coleman is also having a breakout year in his second full NHL season—a 27-year-old who is now up to 21 goals.
Here's how we should expect the New Jersey lineup to look on Friday night:
After going through a terrible rough patch as he recovered from hip surgery, Cory Schneider has gotten some of his old mojo back in recent months. Since recording his first win in more than a year in a relief appearance against Minnesota back in January, Schneider has gone 4-3-1, with one shutout, and picked up the W in the Devils' 6-3 road win over Edmonton in their last game on Wednesday.
On Friday, we'll see rookie sensation Mackenzie Blackwood in Vancouver for the first time. The 22-year-old's first year has been overshadowed by Jordan Binnington in St. Louis and Carter Hart in Philadelphia, but Blackwood's raw numbers are better than Hart's—a .919 save percentage and 2.69 goals-against in 17 appearances, where he has gone 6-8-0 while regularly facing well over 30 shots a game.
Blackwood was in net for the Devils in their 4-0 shutout win over the Canucks back on New Year's Eve at the Prudential Center, so he has never given up a goal against Vancouver.
Anders Nilsson took the loss for Vancouver that day. On Friday night, Jacob Markstrom get the start for the Canucks. Sounds like Sautner is good to go after getting tangled up with Rngers defenseman Brendan Smith in the third period on Wednesday.
With that, you're up to date. Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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