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Vancouver Canucks shift PP combos, expected to make call up for road trip |
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The Vancouver Canucks are practicing in Ottawa today in preparation for their second game in a week with the Ottawa Senators.
Tuesday night's contest will be the first of five on the road over the course of eight nights. The trip will also include stops in Boston, Buffalo, Detroit and Minnesota.
All things considered, the Canucks held up relatively well last week against the Senators—now one of just two teams in the NHL without a regulation loss after they swept their Western Canadian road trip for the first time in the history of their franchise with big wins over Calgary and Edmonton. Maybe that trip to the Eastern Conference Final last year was about more than just goaltending and superhuman play by Erik Karlsson?
Through their first five games, the Sens are averaging a solid 3.80 goals per game. Kyle Turris—the B.C. boy who's set to become an unrestricted free agent at season's end—is leading the way with seven points, while Mark Stone and Derrick Brassard each have six points. Bobby Ryan has four assists and leads the league with an impressive plus-nine.
And Karlsson? He's ready to roll after that gnarly offseason ankle surgery.
As for the Canucks—nice to see they're doing some work on their horrific power play today.
Batchelor points out that today's deployment shows the Canucks moving against the league-wide trend toward using just one defenseman on power-play units. He suggests that this could be a response to the team having given up shorthanded goals in back-to-back games—and that makes sense.
So far, the Canucks have scored twice with the man advantage, but also given up two, so it has been a wash. That's not bad, though, compared to the Buffalo Sabres under their new coach Phil Housley, who was a power-play demon back in the day. The Sabres have two power-play goals in six games—and have given up five shorties! That takes some doing.
Word is that Gagner also got a look with the Sedins, but it seems Thomas Vanek is off that unit for the time being.
Vanek's also bumped from the Sedin line at even strength.
I'm happy to see Markus Granlund moved up. Are we ready for a world where Bo Horvat is skating with Gagner and Vanek?
Interesting that Brendan Gaunce is healthy enough to take a rotation at practice. He's still listed on IR.
Sutter is at the rink today:
Not surprisingly, Loui Eriksson isn't on the road trip. He was limping badly when he left the ice after crashing into the Calgary net on Saturday night.
Word is that the Canucks are planning on calling up a forward from Utica. With offense at a premium, Nikolay Goldobin seemed like he should have the inside track—he has three goals and five points in four games with Utica so far.
But—brace yourselves—Murph suggests that Sutter's status could factor into the team's decision.
Last year, Megna was recalled from Utica on October 24 and Chaput came up on November 7. Is this season already turning into Groundhog Day?
Chaput has a goal and an assist in Utica so far but is a team-worst minus-four. Megna has played in just three games, which I would assume means he has been caught in the revolving door due to the overload of veterans on the team. He's pointless, and minus-three.
Goldobin earned some praise from Utica coach Trent Cull after the Comets' two wins this weekend.
Cull also had kind words for goaltender Thatcher Demko and defenseman Philip Holm. Demko was named first star in Saturday's 3-2 win over Syracuse after earning his first shutout of the year on Friday against Rochester. Holm was named third star thanks to a goal and two assists—his first points in the AHL.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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