Thursday April 7 - Vancouver Canucks 5 - Arizona Coyotes 1
Saturday April 9 - San Jose Sharks @ Vancouver Canucks - 7 p.m. PT
The Vancouver Canucks did what they needed to do, knocking out a pair of 5-1 wins in their road games in Vegas and Arizona earlier this week.
But their playoff hopes are hanging by a thread as they return to Rogers Arena to open a five-game homestand against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
Vancouver is now at 78 points in 72 games, good for 10th place in the Western Conference. Dallas sits in the second wild-card spot with 84 points in 70 games, following their 4-3 overtime loss to Toronto on Thursday.
With a 4-3-3 record for 11 points in their last 10 games, the Canucks have lost four points of ground compared to the Stars (7-2-1 for 15 points) and three points against the Golden Knights, sitting ninth with 82 points in 72 games and 7-3-0 in their last 10.
The Stars kick off the Saturday schedule with an 11 a.m. PT date against the New Jersey Devils, who are on an 0-4-1 skid and winless in three games since Jack Hughes went down with a sprained MCL. At 7 p.m. PT, the Golden Knights will host the hapless Arizona Coyotes, who have lost three of their last four and barely showed a pulse against Vancouver on Thursday night.
It looks like the Canucks will need two points against the Sharks just to hold their current position. And there's also some pressure from behind. After coming back to force overtime against Colorado on Friday night, Winnipeg is just one point behind Vancouver. The Jets hit the road to play Ottawa on Sunday.
MoneyPuck has the Canucks' current playoff odds at 3.2% as of Saturday morning.
SportsClubStats offers a slightly more encouraging 5.2%.
SportsClubStats also looks at how the odds will change depending on the outcome of today's game. In a vacuum, without considering other outcomes, if Vancouver wins in regulation, their odds will increase to 6.8%. If they lose outright, they'll drop to just 1.8%.
Thursday's game in Arizona was another nice one for the team's stat sheet. Bo Horvat was named first star as he picked up two more goals, reaching 30 for the first time in his career and becoming the Canucks' first 30-goal scorer since Radim Vrbata potted 31 in Jim Benning's first season in charge, 2014-15.
The power play also went a perfect 2-for-2, off a pair of goals from Alex Chiasson. Vancouver is 5-for-8 with the man advantage in its last three games and has connected at a league-leading 31.9% since the All-Star Break.
The penalty kill has gone a perfect 9-for-9 over the last three games, and given up just one goal in the last seven. Since the All-Star Break, it's at 80.9%, which is 14th in the league. Not incredible, but also not historically bad, like earlier in the year.
The Canucks aren't even last overall for the year anymore, actually. At 73.6%, they've climbed ahead of Detroit (73.0%) and Arizona (72.7%)
With 28 saves on 29 shots on Thursday, Jaroslav Halak has bumped up his record for the season to 4-7-2 and, more importantly, nudged his save percentage up another five points, to .899. His season low was .883 after that debacle in New Jersey on Feb. 28.
He needs to get to .905 in order to cash the final $250,000 bonus on his contract for this season, and he should get at least two more starts. The Canucks have two more back-to-backs still on the schedule: at home to Dallas and Ottawa on April 18/19, then home to L.A. and on the road in Edmonton on April 28/29.
And while Halak's recent play has been better, general manager Patrik Allvin clearly signalled that he's moving on when the Canucks announced Friday that they've agreed to a new two-year, one-way contract with Spencer Martin.
That's a move which will be well-received. The fanbase has been clamouring to see more of Martin ever since he stepped in under tough circumstances back in January, when both Halak and Thatcher Demko were in Covid protocol.
Allowing a total of five goals across three home games, Martin helped the Canucks earn four of a possible six points in a 2-1 shootout loss to the mighty Florida Panthers, a 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers where Connor McDavid scored the game winner, and a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets — which looms pretty large right now, considering the current standings.
So Martin boasts a .958 save percentage and 1.59 goals-against average at the NHL level this season. When given the opportunity, the 26-year-old career minor-leaguer did exactly what was required to earn his first-ever one-way contract.
He'll earn $750,000 next season and $775,000 in 2023-24. And the Canucks have installed an inexpensive and potentially effective backup to play behind Demko — who will have a partner around his age for the first time in his career. Both born in 1995, Martin is exactly six months older.
Martin's numbers with Abbotsford this season remain stellar, and some of the best of his minor-league career — an 18-4-2 record with a .916 save percentage and 2.41 goals against average. He has thrived in his new organization since the Canucks acquired him from the Tampa Bay Lightning for future considerations in an under-the-radar move in late July.
As for Saturday's game — there is some shuffling from the road trip.
The good news is that Quinn Hughes is back in the mix on defense. The bad news is that there's no Tanner Pearson, who played just 4:28 before leaving Thursday's game with an injury.
Though Boudreau characterized the upper-body issue as 'day-to-day' after Thursday's game, Pearson did not take part in Saturday's morning skate.
Jason Dickinson didn't skate in the line rushes. But he was on the ice and Boudreau said after the skate that he will play tonight.
So here's what we know so far:
Also interesting to see that Boudreau is leaving Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the first power-play unit, after the successes in Vegas and Arizona.
I assumed that Dickinson would slot in for Brad Hunt, who skated with the forwards. But with Hunt also deployed on PP2, maybe it's Sheldon Dries who will come out? The AHL's February player of the month was recalled by Vancouver on an emergency basis on Thursday.
As for the Sharks — they're on their way to a third-straight playoff miss, 11 points behind the Canucks in seventh place in the Pacific Division. They're kicking off a five-game road trip on Saturday, which will also see them go through the Central Division to play Nashville, Chicago, Dallas and Minnesota. And while their recent record is grim — 0-5-1 in their last six games — they have been getting good goaltending from James Reimer, which allows them to hang around in games, and they can get the better of some division rivals. For whatever reason, they're 3-1-0 this year against both Calgary and L.A.
But the Canucks took care of business both times they visited the Shark Tank this season, winning 5-2 on Dec. 16 and 5-4 in overtime on Feb. 17 — the game where Alexander Barabanov forced the 3-on-3 session with his buzzer-beating tying goal at 19:59 of the third.
Reimer left the Sharks' 4-2 loss to the Flames midway through the third period on Thursday, but word is that he has travelled to Vancouver. Still, that could mean that Vancouver sees new acquisition Kaapo Kahkonen in net. Picked up from Minnesota at the trade deadline, the 25-year-old has struggled so far in San Jose, giving up 12 goals in four appearances for an 0-2-0 record with an .886 save percentage and 4.80 goals-against average.
Saturday could also mark the first time Canucks fans get a glimpse of one-time prospect Jonathan Dahlen in an NHL game. He started his rookie season strongly and spent some time on San Jose's first line, and is at 12-10-22 in 54 games this year. But he recently missed time with a facial injury, has been in and out of the lineup a bit, and is pointless in his last six games.
As for Jonah Gadjovich, who was picked up on waivers by the Sharks before the beginning of the season, he's at 1-2-3 in 41 games. He's averaging 8:44 of ice time a game, has suited up for just one of the Sharks' last five games, and is currently listed as day-to-day with a hand injury.
One-time Canuck and all-round nice guy Nick Bonino is also back with the Sharks — who originally drafted him in 2007, but dealt his rights to the Anaheim Ducks when he was still a sophomore at Boston University.
Now 33, Bonino is at 10-9-19 in 68 games this season, but is also a team-worst minus-24.
The Sharks haven't visited Vancouver since a pair of games back in January of 2020, both won by the Canucks. I'll be at the rink tonight and am interested to get a look at Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl, as well as the veteran stars Logan Couture, Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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