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Elias Pettersson & Brock Boeser together in return to lineup vs. Penguins |
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Saturday October 27 - Vancouver Canucks vs Pittsburgh Penguins - 7 p.m. - CBC, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 11 GP, 6-5-0, 12 pts, second place in Pacific Division
Pittsburgh Penguins: 8 GP, 5-1-2, 12 pts, second place in Metropolitan Division
With two key forwards slated to return from injury, the Vancouver Canucks will be much closer to icing an NHL-caliber lineup in their return to Rogers Arena against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson are in, and will play together.
Petey's concussion does not appear to have impacted his impish sense of humour with the media.
Though he skated in regular rotation on Saturday morning, Chris Tanev is not expected to play. He's being described as day-to-day after suffering a hip bruise on Wednesday in Vegas.
Pettersson has missed six games since suffering his concussion against Florida two weeks ago. Boeser missed two games with a groin issue originally suffered in Winnipeg back on October 18. He played two more games before sitting out.
Alex Edler (knee), Sven Baertschi (concussion) and Jay Beagle (arm) also remain on the sidelines. Travis Green is now suggesting that Edler will be missing for "weeks."
That means Michael Del Zotto stays in on the blue line after a not-great return to the lineup on Thursday in Arizona. MDZ played 18:16, with one shot, two hits and two giveaways. He finished the night at minus-one, losing Alex Goligoski on the opening goal of the game, early in the second period.
Alex Biega will also stay in the lineup, while Darren Archibald watches from the press box tonight after one game in the lineup. Adam Gaudette will get his first scratch after filling in for the six games that Pettersson was absent.
Gaudette has one assist and was plus-one, averaging 9:37 of ice time in those six games. The Canucks went 3-3-0 in Pettersson's absence, alternating wins and losses. Yes, they had trouble scoring, but those results are probably better than most of us expected.
After Anders Nilsson took the loss in Arizona on Thursday, it looks like Travis Green is going back to Jacob Markstrom in net as the Canucks open a four-game homestand that will feature a game every second night. The Canucks are one of just four teams to have already played 11 games this season. The grind won't let up for another week.
As for the Penguins—as I mentioned yesterday, they haven't lost since dropping that 3-2 overtime decision to the Canucks in Pittsburgh last week, where Boeser continued his hot streak against the Penguins with the game-winning goal on Casey DeSmith. Matt Murray has returned to action since then—shutting out Toronto before giving up five goals to Edmonton and just one in Calgary.
In all three games on their Canadian road trip, the Penguins have been bleeding shots against, an average of 41 per game. It'll be interesting to see if the Canucks can take advantage of that; they've hit the 30-shot mark just once this season, against Florida, which was also the only game so far this year that they've outshot their opponent.
The Pens have just one significant injury to report: defenseman Justin Schultz is out long term with a broken leg.
After his five goals in two games against Murray last season, it's hard not to get excited about what Boeser might be able to deliver tonight. He'll play with Elias Pettersson for the first time.
At the other end of the ice, Sidney Crosby is rounding into form after a bit of a slow start. He posted his first three goals of the season, as well as two assists, in the Penguins' two games in Alberta earlier this week. Pittsburgh's special teams have been great so far this season: their power play is currently ranked third at 35 percent and their penalty killing is fourth, with an 86.4 percent success rate.
Meanwhile, down on the farm, the banged-up Utica Comets didn't have many positives to take out of a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Rochester Americans on Friday night.
I'm now officially worried that even as Utica's roster has been decimated, Jonah Gadjovich continues to get the healthy-scratch treatment from coach Trent Cull. From Friday:
Gadjovich has dressed for just four of the Comets' 10 games so far. He's pointless, and a minus-one, with five shots on goal.
Though Gadjovich turned 20 on October 12, I've heard some talk that he might be better served by returning to junior for an over-age year than sitting on the sidelines in Utica. It'll be something to watch, particularly if the Canucks and Comets start getting healthier.
Unlike their parent club, the Comets now have some time off to practice and rehab. Their next games aren't for a week—a back-to-back series in Montreal against the Laval Rocket on November 2-3.
With that, you're up to date. Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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