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Vancouver Canucks at Vegas Golden Knights - Saturday November 13, 7 p.m.
Did the Vancouver Canucks hit rock bottom in their blowout loss in Denver on Thursday? Or will that game turn out to be the one that triggered a downward spiral that will lead to another lost season — and, perhaps even the organizational changes that so many fans seem to be clamouring for?
At this point, I'm braced for the worst. After enduring that nasty humiliation, the Canucks have to get through back-to-back games in Vegas and Anaheim this weekend — with only a 22-hour turnaround, as Sunday's match at Honda Center is a 5 p.m. start. Then, a three-game homestand opens next week with a rematch against the Avalanche.
Even without Nathan MacKinnon on Thursday, Colorado looked every bit like the Stanley Cup contenders they were projected to be. For me, the game brought back memories of the Tampa Bay Lightning casually beating the Canucks 9-2 at Amalie Arena in January of 2020, on the winding road to their eventual championship.
Given the heavy schedule, it's understandable that the Canucks didn't practice on Friday. But that left the team with a day off in Vegas, of all places. And Friday also marked Elias Pettersson's 23rd birthday. Do we need to be worried about a case of the Vegas Flu striking Vancouver on Saturday, on top of all their other issues?
I'm sure you've heard that the Golden Knights have been dealing with significant injuries — and that's true. Up front, Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone and William Karlsson have been sidelined, and the club lost another roster player when it dealt away Peyton Krebs as part of the Jack Eichel deal.
According to reports from Vegas's morning skate, Stone could draw back in against the Canucks. He's a game-time decision.
On the blue line, Zach Whitecloud is out long term, and Alec Martinez was cut by a skate for 50 stitches to the face in Thursday's 3-2 win over Minnesota.
Martinez is questionable against Vancouver, which means Ben Hutton could make his Golden Knights' debut against his old squad. An unrestricted free agent at the beginning of the season, he signed a one-year deal worth $750,000 with Vegas on October 28, after their injuries started to pile up.
Here's how the lines rolled on Saturday morning:
But despite their thin lineup and after a rough start to the season, Vegas has been winning. After starting the season 1-4-0, Vegas is now 7-2-0 in its last nine games, and is in the middle of a comfortable six-game homestand that should make it easy to give Robin Lehner the start on Saturday night.
Lehner got the start in 10 of Vegas's first 11 games and held the fort until the club was able to get sorted out, winning games despite facing some high shot volumes. Backup Laurent Brossoit has played two of three for Vegas so far this week, so Lehner should be rested up and ready to go.
As for the Canucks, they'll also be shorthanded on the blue line. Tucker Poolman will miss the last two games of this road trip as he serves a two-game suspension for a high-sticking call in Thursday's game.
Even Colorado's coach was surprised by the size of Poolman's punishment.
With Travis Hamonic absent and Luke Schenn injured, Poolman's absence creates a significant hole on the right side. Madison Bowey was recalled from Abbotsford on Friday and should make his Vancouver debut. I imagine we'll see Tyler Myers log some huge minutes, with Kyle Burroughs and Bowey behind him.
At Saturday's morning skate, Travis Green has also swapped in Brad Hunt and Alex Chiasson to replace Jack Rathbone and Justin Dowling, respectively. Lineup changes after a loss, and perhaps fresh legs with the back-to-back games, as well.
I don't want to dwell too much on what happened on Thursday. But I will point out that the penalty kill took another hit, giving up two goals on three shorthanded situations. That's now seven straight games with at least one goal allowed while shorthanded. And yes, with 16 goals surrendered on 43 times shorthanded, the Canucks' P.K. is now last in the league at 63.7%, and is averaging 1.14 power-play goals against per game.
Tyler Motte's value to his team increases with every additional day he's sidelined.
I'll wrap up today on a positive note, with the Abbotsford Canucks' 7-1 blowout win over the San Jose Barracuda on home ice on Friday night.
With their parent club decimated by Covid-19, the Barracuda have been very shorthanded due to call-ups, but had managed to win two of their last three games. The Canucks were able to feast on Friday, building a 3-0 lead in the first 6:02 and cruising the rest of the way.
Jett Woo, Will Lockwood (in his second game back from injury), Vincent Arseneau and Adam Brubacher each scored their first goals of the season. Sheldon Rempal had a two-goal night and Sheldon Dries picked up his sixth of the year in the win. Dries also had three assists, and was named the game's first star.
Mikey DiPietro picked up the win, making 28 saves.
The two teams meet again on Sunday at 4 p.m., but the Barracuda should have some reinforcements back in their lineup by then. Seven players were re-assigned on Friday as the NHL squad got its regular roster players back out of Covid protocol.
During the Covid crisis, Jonah Gadjovich established himself as a fourth-liner in San Jose. He's still on the main roster; it'll be interesting to see if he maintains his spot now that the regulars are returning.
Another ex-Canuck who has found stability on his new team in Zack MacEwen, in Philadelphia. He has become a regular on their fourth line, and on Friday the Flyers elected to keep him over a player they'd drafted and developed, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who was placed on waivers.
MacEwen responded by scoring the game-winning goal as Philadelphia handed the Carolina Hurricanes their first home loss of the season on Friday night. It was his first point as a Flyer. Aube-Kubel, a second-round pick by Philadelphia in 2014, was claimed by Colorado on Saturday.
But let me end with this, as Peter DeBoer takes “that’s a good team over there” to a whole other level.
Will Bubble Demko still be in the Golden Knights' heads?
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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