Saturday November 4 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins - 7 p.m. - CBC, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 12 GP, 6-4-2, 14 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
Pittsburgh Penguins: 15 GP, 8-5-2, 18 pts, third in Metropolitan Division
With one month of the NHL schedule now complete, we've barely learned a thing.
Only four teams have really pulled away from the mushy middle—at the top, there's the Tampa Bay Lightning (22 pts), St. Louis Blues (21 pts) and Los Angeles Kings (21 pts) and at the bottom, you'll find the Arizona Coyotes (3 pts).
Less than 10 points separate the other 27 teams—all between nine and 18. For all their early goaltending issues, the Pittsburgh Penguins currently sit sixth overall, tied with two other teams in their division but ranked lowest because they've played more games.
After picking up just one of four possible points so far this week, the Canucks are ranked 15th overall. They've slid one spot in the Pacific Division standings thanks to a three-game winning streak by the San Jose Sharks and are one of SEVEN teams in the Western Conference that currently has 14 points.
Already, the Canucks are sliding into must-win territory if they hope to keep a playoff spot within their sights. Otherwise, Rasmus Dahlin-watch will soon commence in earnest.
Despite having come into the season with an unproven goaltending duo and losing two top-six defensemen to injury, the Canucks have been stingy through their first 12 games. They're currently second in the league in goals against (28) and third in goals against per game (2.33) and the penalty kill has moved up to seventh overall (84.1 percent), despite having already faced three of the top five power-play teams. They handled the Stars and Devils pretty well, but the Bruins were the one team that really got the best of them.
Not surprisingly, Pittsburgh's also right up there with the man advantage—currently second overall with a 29.1 percent success rate. More surprisingly, the Penguins are having trouble scoring at 5-on-5—they're ranked 23rd and scoring only a tenth of a goal per game more than Vancouver overall. If the Canucks can contain them when they have the man advantage, they should have a shot at winning this game.
That'll require scoring, of course. And one way they'll be trying to generate that is with a new power-play configuration that uses Brock Boeser on a different unit, at the left faceoff circle.
I was at practice yesterday and saw Boeser fire one absolute laser while they were working on this configuration. I'm looking forward to seeing whether he can execute tonight during game action.
The other news from Friday's practice—Alex Edler back in the mix for his first full practice since being injured on October 12.
Stecher hit the ice before today's morning skate for the first time since his injury, nearly two weeks ago. Progress, but he's still a ways off.
After tonight's game, the Canucks' schedule picks up. They'll finish off the homestand on Monday against Detroit, then travel to Calgary immediately for a Tuesday game. From there, it's south to Anaheim (Thursday), San Jose (Saturday) and L.A. (Tuesday the 14th), then home for two games before heading east for six—the longest road trip of the season.
For the second time this season, Thatcher Demko was called up by the Canucks on Saturday but once again, it's a relatively benign move.
Nilsson's already a committed family man—who loves dressing up as Spider-Man!
Demko was named the AHL's goalie of the month for October and played last night in Utica's 2-1 loss to the Binghamton Devils. His recalls do represent a change in philosophy for the organization, which turned to Richard Bachman last season when injuries struck. This recall would indicate that the team is now confident that Demko could hold his own if he was pressed into service in an NHL game.
He has certainly won over the Comets' fans in a little over a year of service.
Brendan Gaunce will also be on his way back to Vancouver soon.
Gaunce has two goals and one assist in four games with the Comets so far, and is a plus-two. Utica is back on home ice tonight for another game against Rochester.
To me, Friday's practice was indeed more uptempo and high-energy than anything I saw from Willie's group last year. The players were on the ice for over an hour and did some end-to-end skating exercises for first-three-strides explosiveness as well as the usual drills and special teams work.
With that in mind, it's not a big surprise that only a small group hit the ice this morning before the game.
It's odd that Markstrom wasn't on the ice. Not sure what they means about who plays tonight...
At the other end of the ice, expect to see two-time Stanley Cup winner Matt Murray between the pipes for the Penguins. He got Thursday off as 22-year-old Tristan Jarry of Surrey took the 2-1 overtime loss in Calgary against the Flames in his second-ever NHL game.
It's funny that Jarry's development has been accelerated after the Antti Niemi-as-backup experiment failed miserably—but he's actually only 11 months younger than Murray. The Penguins have done an impressive job of filling their goalie pipeline!
Murray has a 2.95 goals-against average and .908 save percentage this year, but his record against Vancouver is literally perfect. He has played two games against the Canucks so far in his career—both last season—and shut out Vancouver both times.
Can the Canucks crack the goose-egg tonight?
Up front, the usual suspects are leading the way for the Penguins offensively—Malkin, Kessel, Crosby and Letang. It's nice to see Letang back in action after he missed the playoffs with yet another serious injury last season.
Defensemen Justin Schultz and Matt Hunwick are both currently sidelined with concussions, and forward Carter Rowney is out of action due to a hand injury.
To wrap up today, a nice feature on Canucks prospect Adam Gaudette from Canucks.com:
And as I wrap up for today—tiny snowflakes are falling in downtown Vancouver. Plan accordingly if you're coming to the game tonight!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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