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Sedins' future front & centre as Vancouver Canucks open homestand vs. Kings |
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Tuesday January 23 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Los Angeles Kings - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 47 GP, 18-23-6, 42 pts, seventh in Pacific Division
Los Angeles Kings: 47 GP, 25-17-5, 55 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
The Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings both got off to good starts this year in the wake of their preseason trip to China. But like the Canucks, the Kings are now struggling.
Both teams are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. Vancouver is 2-5-1 since losing 4-3 to the Kings in an entertaining game at Rogers Arena back on December 30. L.A. is 2-6-0 and just snapped a six-game losing streak against the New York Rangers last Sunday at Staples Center.
Not long ago, the Kings were comfortably perched at the top of the Pacific Division standings. Now, John Stevens' team is two points out of a wild-card spot and facing the stark possibility of a missing the playoffs for the third time in four years.
What happened? The Kings' power play has been among the best in the league since New Year's, clicking at a rate of 33.3 percent, and their penalty kill has also been Top 10, but L.A. was outscored 21-11 during that six-game losing streak, so there was trouble at both ends of the ice.
Of course, the Kings continue to fumble along without Jeff Carter, who played just six games this season before suffering that skate laceration to his ankle. Other than that, they're healthy.
For the most part, so are the Canucks. Only Erik Gudbranson is absent, although it looks like Travis Green is going to make one switch to his blue line tonight:
I wonder if Hutton the Hulk will bring it again tonight, like he did with his monster hit on Dustin Brown back in December?
Sounds like we'll see a switch up front as well.
Other than Brock Boeser's notorious pair of healthy scratches at the beginning of the season, I feel like it has been years since the Canucks have had enough healthy regulars to be shuffling guys in and out of the lineup like this.
As expected, Michael Chaput did clear waivers today and has been reassigned to Utica.
Speaking of Boeser—the Canucks' All Star rookie has gone cold, with just one goal and two assists in nine games, dating back to that last meeting against L.A. He now trails Mat Barzal by nine pints in the rookie scoring race.
I'm starting to wonder if Boeser has hit a wall as he tries to adjust from the NCAA season to the longer NHL schedule? He played 57 games in his draft year with Waterloo of the USHL, but at North Dakota he played 42 regular season games in 2015-16—plus World Juniors and going on to win the Frozen Four. Last season, that wrist injury limited him to 32 regular-season games and kept him out of World Juniors. North Dakota was knocked out of the NCAA playoffs relatively early, but he did play those extra nine games with the Canucks at the end of the season.
This year, Boeser's at 44 games played with Vancouver. He's getting more shots than ever—averaging 2.89 shots per game for the year but 3.44 through this cold snap since December 30—so maybe he's just being played tighter, defensively, by opposing teams.
Coming off a 1-0 shutout loss in Winnipeg on Sunday—and a 5-0 shutout loss to Anaheim last time they played in front of their home fans at Rogers Arena back on January 2—it'd be great to see Boeser get back on track and light the lamp tonight.
The Kings are going into a pair of back-to-backs, also scheduled to face the Flames in Calgary on Wednesday. It's expected that Jonathan Quick will get the start against the Canucks tonight, while Jacob Markstrom draws back in for Vancouver.
Tonight's game marks the beginning of a five-game homestand for the Canucks, with a four-day break for the All-Star Game this weekend.
Back in front of the local media, it's time for Daniel and Henrik to start facing questions about whether they'll return next year.
Here are two distinctly different takes on what's being said today:
....with a bit of a backpedal from Chris Johnston's weekend report on Hockey Night in Canada, which indicated that the twins were definitely looking to come back next year...
They've got Bo's endorsement:
Until something definitive comes out, this is going to be a major talking point. Five weeks less a day until the February 26th trade deadline.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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