|
Vancouver Canucks Game Review/Game Day: Miller Stars vs. Ducks, Virtanen In |
|
|
|
|
|
Monday October 13 - Vancouver Canucks 2 - Anaheim Ducks 1 (S/O)
The Vancouver Canucks survived a full two-minute penalty in overtime, then went on to beat the Anaheim Ducks in a shootout to kick off their two-game road trip to California on Monday night.
Here are your highlights:
The Canucks never led in the game and were outshot 29-25 by the Ducks through 65 minutes, yet they hung in the whole way.
Both goals came in the second period. Sami Vatanen opened the scoring for Anaheim early on, then Adam Cracknell replied for the Canucks on a bad-angle goal—his first in the NHL since 2013.
Though he's the old man of the group at 30, Cracknell's riding the same wave of youthful exuberance as the Canucks' kids in the early going this season.
He's also hanging with them off the ice:
The fourth line also made itself noticed when Brandon Prust took on Clayton Stoner in an early scene-setting tilt, less than two minutes into the game.
Get used to this. Willie said Prust's fight "was big for us again" in his comments after the game. The Canucks outhit the big bad Ducks by a margin of 29-26—Dan Hamhuis led the way with six hits, five of them in the first period, while Bo Horvat chipped in with five of his own as he sees his on-ice role continue to grow.
On Monday night, Ryan Miller was as steady as we've seen him in a Canucks uniform. His positioning was terrific all night and did not make any of those third-period giveaways that I'd been concerned about last week.
The win also marks a step forward in Miller's personal history against the California teams.
At this point, it's easy to forget that Eddie Lack was the goalie of record for most of the Canucks' success against the Ducks last season. Miller played Anaheim twice last season, going 0-1-1, while Lack was 2-0-1 in his starts.
The same was true with the Kings: Lack was 2-1 while Miller was 0-2.
Though Willie didn't tip his hand last night after the game, it's expected that Miller will get the start for the back-to-back at Staples Centre tonight. Hard to argue with those early numbers: 2-0-1 with a 1.60 goals-against and .948 save percentage.
Miller's also the NHL's winningest goalie in the shootout:
It was great to see Jared McCann get an opportunity in the skills competition, but I wish we'd seen that gorgeous wrist shot of his. Thankfully, Vrbata and Burrows were money, even going up against the league's best shooter.
It looks like we'll be seeing a lot more in-game line juggling from Willie this season. For the second half of the game, Alex Burrows found his way up to the second line to add some extra defensive presence in place of Sven Baertschi.
For the second straight game, Kevin Bieksa was second in ice time for the Ducks, playing exactly one second less than he did in Anaheim's season opener at 24:25. His most prominent moment in the game was probably his pregame bump of Dan Murphy as he headed down the hall to the ice.
Ryan Kesler was also quiet with no shots, three hits, one retaliatory penalty and a humble 9-11 record in the faceoff circle.
All told, a good road win against one of the league's top teams.
Tuesday October 13 - Vancouver Canucks at Los Angeles Kings - 7:30 p.m. - Sportsnet Vancouver - TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 2-0-1 - 5 points - first in Pacific Division
Los Angeles Kings: 0-2-0 - 0 points - seventh in Pacific Division
Not only are the Canucks first in the Pacific as they head up the highway to Staples Center for tonight's game, their five points are good for first place in the Western Conference and fourth overall in the NHL, behind only Montreal, Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers.
One more win tonight against the struggling Kings would give the Canucks a very strong foundation for their 2015-16 regular season.
Willie didn't lay out his cards after Monday's game, but Jake Virtanen's brother Stefan says it's #GoTime tonight:
Where Virtanen will fit in the lineup remains to be seen. Jared McCann played just 10:32 last night, lowest of all the forwards, so would it make sense sense to give him a night off, shuffle Brandon Sutter back down to 3C, move Vrbata up with the twins and deploy that Baertschi-Horvat-Virtanen combo that dazzled us in preseason?
The Kings have looked vulnerable defensively—and, well, everywhere—early in the new season. L.A. has given up nine goals in two games to San Jose and Arizona while scoring just twice themselves.
The Kings should be well rested; they've been off since their 4-1 loss to the Coyotes on Friday night.
This will be Vancouver's first look at big bad Milan Lucic in the black and silver; he's skating on the team's second line with Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli and has just one shot on goal so far this season.
Christian Ehrhoff will also be in the lineup for Los Angeles. He has been practicing on a second pairing Jake Muzzin, while Drew Doughty has been paired up with Brayden McNabb.
The Kings will be without the services of Dwight King tonight, who's sidelined for 8-10 weeks after surgery to repair a broken foot suffered while blocking a shot during preseason.
Will the Kings come out ready to battle tonight, or will they continue their early-season funk?
We'll find out soon enough.
Note the late 7:30 start. Tonight's broadcast, once again, is on Sportsnet Vancouver.
Enjoy!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»