Tuesday October 24 - Vancouver Canucks 1 - Minnesota Wild 0
There wasn't much to offer in terms of entertainment value, but it's hard not to feel good about the fact that the Vancouver Canucks are heading home from their road trip with eight of a possible 10 points after Jake Virtanen's second goal of the season stood up as the winner against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
Ummm...here are your highlights?
Considering some of the nightmare games the Canucks have played at Xcel Energy Center, a boring win was actually a pretty pleasing outcome. For whatever reason, the rink was Roberto Luongo's kryptonite for years, even when the Canucks were at their peak. And remember that nightmare game just before Christmas two years ago, when the Wild beat the Canucks 6-2? Thomas Vanek had a goal and three assists for Minnesota that night, by the way.
Last night, Vanek was limited to just two shot attempts in 12:08 of ice time. The only players with less were Alex Burmistrov (11:57), Alex Biega (11:02) and our hero, Jake Virtanen (10:02).
Though the overall texture of the game was dull, Jake continued to take advantage of his new role with the Sedin twins. He had a few sniffs around the net before scoring his unassisted goal after creating a neutral-zone turnover midway through the third period.
So much to like there! The goal was smart, confident and probably even a little bit lucky—and it puts Virtanen on a two-game scoring streak as the Canucks return to Vancouver.
Brock Boeser's massive Minnesota cheering section didn't get to see him light the lamp, but the chemistry that's emerging between Virtanen and the twins is a terrific story that embodies the team's transition. Just as the twins learned from Markus Naslund and Trevor Linden, we're seeing Jake soak up Daniel and Henrik's influence. For the moment, it looks like the move has put him back on the path to becoming a full-time NHL player.
The other big story of the day—Anders Nilsson, who recorded his league-leading second shutout of the year in just his third start.
In spite of the debacle in Boston last week, Nilsson currently ranks fourth in the NHL in both save percentage (.949) and goals-against average (1.84).
Nilsson's shutouts have come on consecutive Tuesdays. I'd be pencilling him in right now for the last game of the Canucks' upcoming five-game homestand on November 6 against Detroit—which also happens to be the front half of their next back-to-back.
Between now and then, the team's schedule is relatively easy. The team will be home for the better part of two weeks, with plenty of practice time and days off, so that'll give the injured players some time to heal. The opponents they'll face are pretty formidable, though. The homestand kicks off with Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Thursday, then includes the always-dangerous Dallas Stars, the surprising New Jersey Devils and the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins before wrapping up with the Red Wings.
It'll be interesting to see if attendance starts to improve with the team now two games above .500 and tied with Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders for the longest active winning streak in the league at three games. I mean really, who can touch the unstoppable juggernaut that is the Vegas Golden Knights? They won their fourth straight game against Chicago on Tuesday.
Brendan Gaunce will not be with the team for the homestand. He's on his way to Utica to start his two-week conditioning stint.
Because Gaunce is in his fourth pro season and is no longer waiver exempt, I thought he'd count as an AHL veteran on an already crowded Comets roster, but that's not the case. Per the
AHL website, the first threshold is 260 professional games (including NHL, AHL and European leagues). Gaunce has 77 games of NHL experience and 124 with the Comets, so that puts him in the safe zone at 201.
This was another interesting tidbit that emerged from Rick Dhaliwal on Tuesday:
Jason Botchford followed up on this rumour in
The Provies after Tuesday's game.
When Stecher went down on Sunday in Detroit, there was concern that his knee injury could be serious enough to knock him out of action for the rest of the season, which is why Jim Benning got on the phone to see what fill-ins might be available.
Once he was examined back in Vancouver, Stecher was diagnosed with a knee sprain—just like Alex Edler and Loui Eriksson—and given the same 4-to-6 week timeline.
"With the fortunate news they got on Stech, Benning said he is now not looking to add a D," writes Botchford. 'No, we’re not,' Benning said. 'We called up Wiercioch and have 7 D now so we’re not doing anything.'"
When the Canucks left for this road trip, they were trending downwards and it looked like we had another long, depressing season ahead of us. But other than the blowout loss to the Bruins, this road trip has been a treat.
Last year's 4-0 start turned out to be a mirage, but this *is* different. Three of the wins last year came in overtime or the shootout, thanks to late-game comebacks, and the Canucks were averaging just 27 shots per game.
On this road trip, three of the Canucks' four wins have been by multiple goals and they're averaging a reasonably respectable 30.1 shots per game for the year so far. They're also up to 22nd in the league with an average of 2.67 goals per game, which is a nice improvement over their 2.17 goals a game and 29th-place offense last year.
Imagine what they can do if they the power play going!
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