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Elias Pettersson returns, Micheal Ferland skates as Canucks face the Flames |
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Saturday February 8 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Calgary Flames - 7 p.m. - CBC, Sportsnet, CityTV, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 55 GP, 30-20-5, 65 pts, first in Pacific Division
Calgary Flames: 55 GP, 27-22-6, 60 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
It's Hockey Day in Canada, with featured programming from Yellowknife all day on Sportsnet and all seven Canadian teams in action.
Most of those games are relevant to the Vancouver Canucks' playoff push. The Winnipeg Jets are one point out of the second wild-card in the West and kick off the day by hosting the Ottawa Senators. The Edmonton Oilers are three points behind Vancouver, third in the Pacific, and host Nashville (tied with Winnipeg). And Toronto plays in Montreal.
Not Canadian, but also significant: the Vegas Golden Knights are two points behind Vancouver and return home after a long road trip to host Carolina in Saturday's other late game.
The Canucks are kicking off a six-game homestand at Rogers Arena, and even though they went 0-2-1 in their last three games, they're also riding a nine-game home winning streak that stretches back more than seven weeks. Montreal was the last team to beat them at Rogers Arena, back on December 17.
For the year, Vancouver is an impressive 18-5-3 on home ice. The only team in the league with fewer regulation losses at home is Boston, although with their record of 18-2-9, the Canucks have a smaller number of total losses and are tied with Pittsburgh (19-5-3) for the fewest total home losses this season.
Some very good news: Elias Pettersson is on the ice for the morning skate, in his usual spot with the Lotto Line.
A couple of the other lines have also been tweaked, with Brandon Sutter moving up to play with Tanner Pearson and Bo Horvat, while Loui Eriksson moves down to the fourth line.
On defense, Oscar Fantenberg has now been placed on injured reserve and is in concussion protocol after taking that hard hit from Marcus Foligno on Thursday. Guillaume Brisebois was recalled from Utica on Friday, and Jordie Benn will draw back in, after sitting out 17 of the last 18 games as a healthy scratch.
It's gotta be disappointing for Fantenberg to be back on the sidelines with his second head injury of the season, especially after playing his way into a regular top six role when he got the chance. And he has been pretty solid.
In 27 games with Vancouver this season, he has averaged 15:49 a night, mostly with Tyler Myers, and is 1-3-4 and a minus-4.
Benn has played 38 games, averaging 16:36, and has six assists and is a minus-5.
But what a different year for the Canucks, in terms of the health of their defense. After icing 14 different blueliners last season and seeing only Troy Stecher appear in more than 70 games (78), this year, the Canucks have used only eight defensemen so far — and (knock on wood) — Chris Tanev, Tyler Myers and Stecher have played every game, while Quinn Hughes has missed just one and Alex Edler has missed 10. That's a big shift from what we've seen in past seasons — seems like Tanev's new supercharged shot-blocking pads are doing their job!
Also interesting — a Micheal Ferland sighting.
With two weeks and two days until the trade deadline, the Canucks are getting down to the wire in terms of determining whether Ferland is healthy enough to help the team down the stretch run, or if they should go look for more help.
As for the Flames, they've hit a wall since their 8-3 loss on home ice to the Edmonton Oilers in the Battle of Alberta rematch last Saturday, losing 3-1 to San Jose on Tuesday and 3-2 to Nashville on Thursday, with both games at the Saddledome.
Captain Mark Giordano injured his hamstring against the Sharks and his absence is a big blow to the team. Right now, there's no timetable for his return — the team is hoping for an update on his prognosis sometime next week.
Here's how Calgary's lines looked at their morning skate on Saturday.
After moving up from an associate coach role when he took over from Bill Peters, Geoff Ward had that stereotypical reputation as the guy who goes to bat for his players. But with the Flames' playoff hopes now hanging by a thread, he's showing that he's not afraid to be the bad cop when necessary.
It'll be fascinating to see if the Flames come out with fire in their bellies against the Canucks.
I'll leave it there for now. Enjoy the sunshine today if you're in the lower mainland — and enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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