|
Alex Edler hurt, Jake Virtanen scratched as Vancouver Canucks host Flames |
|
|
|
|
|
Saturday October 14 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Calgary Flames - 7 p.m. - CBC
Vancouver Canucks: 3 GP, 1-1-1, 3 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Calgary Flames: 5 GP, 3-2-0, 6 pts, second in Pacific Division
After playing .500 hockey through their first three games, the success of the Vancouver Canucks' season-opening homestand comes down to Saturday night's game against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks opened strongly last week with their 3-1 win over Edmonton, but have been trending in the wrong direction since then, with a shootout loss to Ottawa, then an outright loss to Winnipeg.
Meanwhile, the Flames are on the second half of a back-to-back after taking a 6-0 shellacking by the Senators on Friday night at the Saddledome.
First things first. We have an injury update on Alex Edler:
It could have been worse, but that's still a pretty heavy diagnosis for an injury that came off a pretty innocuous-looking hit.
I was happy to see Edler and Chris Tanev reunited to start the season, and they were forming an effective pairing. The injury will trigger some juggling and opportunity for other players.
First off, we'll get to see Derrick Pouliot just 11 days after he was acquired by trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Having played for Travis Green in junior back in Portland, sounds like Pouliot knows how to make a good impression on his new boss.
It's not expected that Pouliot will slot straight into Edler's top-pairing spot, but there's nothing definite yet on whether Michael Del Zotto or Ben Hutton will be the one to move up. Del Zotto has been playing more minutes and has been defensively solid since making his debut as a Canuck, but he has also shown good chemistry on his pairing with Erik Gudbranson, so Green might not want to mess with that. If that's the case, Ben Hutton would be tapped to play with Tanev.
Pouliot could receive some of Edler's special-teams minutes:
Here are Pouliot's thoughts on drawing in:
Up front, Brock Boeser stays in the lineup after recording an assist and four shot attempts in 16:31 of ice time on Thursday against the Jets—fifth-most among forwards behind the twins and his 5-on-5 linemates Horvat and Baertshi. He also had one hit, one takeaway, and played 3:36 on the power play with the Sedins and Thomas Vanek.
Jake Virtanen was the low man on Thursday at 7:06 and played just one seven-second shift in the last 23:44 of the game, so it's not terribly surprising that he sits. A week ago, I would have argued that his speed and physicality would be a good match against the feisty Flames, who rank in the top half of the league in hits and penalty minutes in the early going. Virtanen is third on the team in hits, behind Dorsett and Gudbranson, but has yet to record a point this season and has just three shots on goal in three games.
The Sedin line and the Horvat line did the bulk of the heavy lifting last game so with Alex Burmistrov back in the mix and Virtanen out, Travis Green will have another opportunity to shuffle his bottom six. We'll see what we get tonight.
Given the makeup of the Canucks, it's not surprising to see that they're currently tied for 22nd offensively, though they're in pretty good company with Edmonton, Boston and San Jose at an average of 2.33 goals per game. I think its hilarious that Alex Ovechkin's nine goals in five games so far rank his individual production higher than seven teams—including the Canucks.
I thought Travis Green might give Anders Nilsson a look tonight but that's not the case. Jacob Markstrom will get his fourth straight start in goal.
As for the Flames—Mike Smith draws back in after he was pulled with 12:02 to play in the third period last night against Ottawa. When Smith's good, he's very good but when he's not—well, he gives up five goals on 22 shots to Ottawa. It'll be interesting to see if he can bounce back tonight.
Gulutzan is making one change at forward, but holding his cards close to his chest.
Jaromir Jagr has played just over 13 minutes in both his games with Calgary this week—primarily on a line with Kris Versteeg and Sam Bennett, as well as on the power play. He's pointless so far but did get four shots last night against Ottawa. Word is that his legs haven't been great through his first two games. How will he fare in a back-to-back situation?
Not surprisingly, Johnny Gaudreau is the one to watch up front—he's currently tied for seventh in league scoring with seven points in his first five games.
To wrap up today—the Utica Comets got their first win of the season on Friday night as Thatcher Demko recorded a shutout in a 2-0 win over the Rochester Americans. Reid Boucher and Patrick Wiercioch scored the goals. A busy weekend continues for the Comets when they visit Syracuse tonight before returning to Rochester on Sunday. Both games run at 4 p.m. PT.
With Edler out for a bit, I imagine the Canucks will recall another spare defenseman to accompany them on the five-game road trip that starts next week. If they do, Wiercioch seems like he'd be the likely candidate—he was the last player sent down and his recall would also help ease the Comets' logjam of veterans a little bit. Last night's game was his first with the Comets.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»