Thursday October 22 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Washington Capitals - 7:00 p.m. - Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 3-1-2 - 8 points - second in Pacific Division
Washington Capitals: 4-1-0 - 8 points - third in Metropolitan Division
The Vancouver Canucks will look to snap a two-game losing skid and earn their first win of the year on home ice at Rogers Arena when they face the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.
I remember that. The 1995-96 season was Vancouver's first at Rogers Arena, which caused some concern that the change of venues was also causing a downturn in the team's fortunes. I'm pretty sure that wasn't the memory the Canucks brass were trying to evoke when they launched the "20 in 20" promotion to celebrate the Arena this year.
Though the Caps lineup features the game's most prolific sniper in Alexander Ovechkin, he has traditionally been quiet against the Canucks. The Great 8 tallied his 900th and 901st career points in his 764th NHL game in Calgary on Tuesday night, an average of 1.18 points per game, but he has just five goals and two assists in 10 career games against Vancouver—an average of .70 points per game.
That being said, the Caps look like they're a team on the rise. Like the Canucks, Washington went from a non-playoff team in 2013-14 to 101 points and a playoff spot under a new coach and general manager last year. The Caps ultimately went one better than Vancouver by beating the New York Islanders in the first round before falling to the Rangers.
Washington's off to a good start this year, too, with the team's only loss coming against San Jose on the day that Ovechkin was scratched for disciplinary reasons after mis-setting his alarm and missing a team meeting.
Washington's currently icing what could be its deepest top six in franchise history. Ovechkin is skating with Evgeny Kuznetsov and newcomer T.J. Oshie, while Nicklas Backstrom has five points in two games since returning from hip surgery, centring the second line with Marcus Johansson and Mr. Game 7, Justin Williams.
Ovechkin has goals in all four games he has played this season, the Caps are ranked first in the league offensively with 3.80 goals scored per game and they're second on the power play at 31.3 percent.
For their part, the Canucks are tied for second defensively with 1.83 goals allowed per game but currently rank 18th in scoring—and 28th with the man advantage.
Apparently Ovi's in spy mode during the teams' morning skates today at Rogers Arena:
As for the Canucks, we've reviewed the new line combinations over the past couple of days.
Radim Vrbata will be reunited with the Sedins on the top line, the Kid Line stays together, Brandon Sutter will centre Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen and Adam Cracknell will sit out for the first time this season as Jared McCann skates between Brandon Prust and Derek Dorsett.
Ben Kuzma shared some new info on Prust in
The Province earlier this week. I hadn't previously heard that his offseason conditioning regime was interrupted due to surgery to remove a cyst on his ankle.
This helps to explain why Prust was a bit of a non-factor during training camp. I wonder if we'll see his mobility pick up as he puts the health issues behind him.
Prust also offered Kuzma a summary of his fights to date:
“Emotionally. I’m more into it and once the points start counting, my game improves,” says Prust, who fought Brandon Bollig in the season opener. “That first game with Calgary was a big rivalry and Dorse (Derek Dorsett) had a big fight and you want to get your feet wet with a new team and earn respect within your team and the division.
“The next two (fights) were kind of guys looking for me, and I don’t like to say no too often.”
He's also the guy who makes sure the rookies know their role, filling a void left by the departures of Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa:
“You definitely go after the rookies. I haven’t pulled too many pranks, but the rookies will tell you when we landed in California (Oct. 11), I made them take their shirts off and go off the plane with just their blazers on. No shirts underneath.
“I just thought it was something funny. It’s just part of the rookie’s job.”
Prust has now fallen to third in NHL penalty minutes, behind Andy Andreoff of L.A. and Cody McLeod of Colorado with 25 minutes. Derek Dorsett's one minute behind, in fifth place. Overall, though, the Canucks' 81 penalty minutes now rank them a conservative sixth in the league. The cranky Los Angeles Kings are No. 1.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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