|
The red-hot Canucks have closed the gap; turning to Holtby Sat. in Montreal |
|
|
|
|
|
Do you believe yet?
The Vancouver Canucks are doing everything they can to make this stretch run interesting. They extended their record in the last 10 games to 8-2-0 on Friday night when J.T. Miller's spectacular overtime goal gave the Canucks a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Give Miller credit for his situational awareness, knowing that he was going against three forwards. The Winnipeg Jets used a similar strategy to take advantage of the Canucks a month ago. But as the tactic becomes more commonplace, coaches and players are learning how to answer back.
As a team, the Canucks' fortunes turned around at the beginning of March. Miller's personal season started to come around about two weeks earlier. Since Feb. 15, he and Brock Boeser each have 15 points in 16 games. Friday's game winner was also Miller's fourth of the year. The only other Canuck with more than one, believe it or not, is Tyler Myers, who has two.
And how about this stat?
Are we at peace with this trade once again? I feel like Miller has been the straw that stirs the drink, offensively, especially while Elias Pettersson has been sidelined.
Speaking of Pettersson — if you missed it, the Canucks slipped him onto long-term injured reserve on Friday. He has been out since March 4 (16 days so far) and will miss his ninth game on Saturday.
To qualify for LTIR, a player must miss at least 10 games and 24 days of the season. Game 10 will come Monday, back home for the first of two games against Winnipeg. Day 24 doesn't come till March 28 but by then, the club will be on a week-long hiatus. Looks to me like this is a move to help save cap space and clear a roster spot. With any luck, Petey will be able to rejoin his team for some practices during the break and come back refreshed against Calgary on March 31.
I thought that impending break might tempt Travis Green to start Thatcher Demko again on Saturday, for the second game of the back-to-back against Montreal and his fourth start in six nights.
But Green said Saturday morning that he's going with Braden Holtby.
Holtby's last start came on March 2, also the second game of a road back-to-back, when the Canucks lost 5-2 to Winnipeg. His last win came on Feb. 17, when Vancouver beat Calgary 5-1 at home.
I'm always a bit skeptical about how lifetime stats carry over, but John Shorthouse mentioned on Friday's broadcast that Holtby has the best record of any visiting goalie at Bell Centre, which is interesting. I remember how Roberto Luongo just couldn't get it together for games in Minnesota back in the day. With goalies being as superstitious as they are, I wonder if they can gain extra confidence in a building where they've had past success?
Here's more on the goalie matchup from the man who knows, Kevin Woodley.
A couple of other positives from Friday's game:
- Another goal from Adam Gaudette, following his shootout winner on Wednesday in Ottawa. Three of his four goals this season have actually come against Montreal.
- A primary assist for Antoine Roussel on Gaudette's goal, as he returned to the lineup after missing three games. That's just the fourth point of the season for the pesky Roussel, and his first since Feb. 2.
As for newcomer Jimmy Vesey, he started the game on a line with his old New York Rangers teammate Miller, along with Jake Virtanen. He played a regular shift throughout the game and even saw 2:29 of power-play time on the top unit with Miller, Boeser and Horvat. Total ice time: 18:13. He didn't hit the score sheet, but finished with three shot attempts and two blocks.
With Vesey's relatively low price point and impending unrestricted status, there didn't seem to be any downside when the acquisition was announced on Wednesday. Now that we know Tanner Pearson's expected to be out for about four weeks after injuring his leg on Wednesday, it seems like Vesey will have every opportunity to fill Pearson's role. I'm kind of thinking of him as the new Josh Leivo — right down to the Maple Leafs connection.
Saturday's game is Vancouver's last of the year against Montreal — in the regular season, anyway. The Canucks are one point back. It seems fitting that if they can conjure up their first regulation win of the year against the team that gave them fits early on, their reward will be a move into fourth place in the Scotia North Division.
Playoffs, baby!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»