|
Race to the bottom continues as Vancouver Canucks' losing streak reaches 7 |
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday March 20 - Vegas Golden Knights 4 - Vancouver Canucks 1
Before the season began, I was thinking about running a poll asking whether or not you thought the Vancouver Canucks would finish above or below the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the year-end standings.
I backed off on the idea after I saw Vegas play for the first time. Yes, the Canucks iced a B Team at Rogers Arena while the 'real players' were on their preseason tour of China, but that 9-4 win for the Golden Knights was my first indication that this wasn't your normal expansion club.
Now, the regular-season series is complete. After Tuesday's win, Vegas went 3-0 for the year against Vancouver, outscoring the Canucks 15-6. Each win was by a margin of three goals.
On Tuesday, the Golden Knights scored what proved to be their game winner before the first TV timeout. When netminder Marc-Andre Fleury was replaced by Malcolm Subban to start the second period, I really thought they were just saving their starter for more important tasks. Fleury seemed fine when he left the ice at the end of the first period after seeing just seven shots, but something's up.
Nothing definite yet, but with Fleury's history of head injuries, this Brandon Sutter shot may have been the catalyst for his absence:
In the third period, Sutter broke the joint shutout bid with his seventh of the season.
It wasn't much, but it's one more goal than the last road trip. And there are still three games to come!
So yes—the Canucks are going to finish out the season below Vegas in the standings. With nine games to play, the Golden Knights have 99 points and an eight-point lead on the surging San Jose Sharks at the top of the Pacific Division. The Canucks also have nine games to go—and have now played one more game than the Arizona Coyotes—so they're officially last in the Pacific and 30th overall with 59 points.
Huge game tonight for #TeamTank, as the Coyotes visit the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo's currently last with 58. If the Sabres get two points, Vancouver will be last in the league.
The way things are right now, I can't imagine the Sedins wanting to sign on for another year of this, can you?
Now pointless in eight games, Henrik Sedin's sitting at 43 points and may not even match his 50-point output from last season. His ice time has dropped from 19:02 per game last season under Willie Desjardins to 15:23 this year, his shots have dropped from 99 to 58 and he hasn't scored in four months. His two goals this season came a week apart, both on the road: on November 7 in the 5-3 win over Calgary at the Saddledome, then on November 14 in L.A. in a 3-2 win over the Kings.
This is pretty crazy: Henirk's last goal at Rogers Arena was his thousandth career point—against Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers back on January 20, 2017.
As for Daniel, his ice time has also dropped, from 18:23 per game under Willie last season to 15:04 this year. But his goals are up from 15 to 21 and his points are up from 44 to 48. He had that great 10-game streak in February where he posted eight goals and six assists but since that ended against Nashville, he has tallied just two assists in the last eight games.
All that being said, the Sedins are still the most productive active players in the Canucks' lineup right now. Injured Brock Boeser is the only player ahead of them, with 55 points in 62 games. Fourth place in the team scoring race is still held by Thomas Vanek, who had 41 points in 61 games before leaving for Columbus—where he has eight points in 11 games and is a plus-eight as the Blue Jackets have charged up the Metro Division standings thanks to a nine-game winning streak.
Next on the Canucks scoring list? Bo Horvat, who needs one more goal to match his career high of 20 from last season. Horvat snapped a seven-game goalless drought last Saturday against San Jose.
I don't imagine the Sedins are going to give a definitive answer about their future at the year-end press conference after the regular-season schedule wraps up.
My hope is that something will be decided, one way or the other, before the draft.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»