Sunday March 26 - Winnipeg Jets 2 - Vancouver Canucks 1
The Vancouver Canucks scored first for the fourth straight game but went 0-for-2 on the penalty kill and lost another player to injury as they finished off their road trip with a 2-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
Here are your highlights:
The Canucks were wrapping up a four-games-in-six-nights trek through the tough Central Division with a set of back-to-backs and were coming off their emotional win in Brock Boeser's debut in Minnesota. With those factors in mind, it's somewhat impressive that they were in the game right up till the end. Shots were a respectable 32-29 and the Canucks pressed hard to score the tying goal after Ryan Miller was pulled with just over two minutes left to play.
Alex Edler scored Vancouver's only goal, threading through a point shot late in the first period. Bo Horvat drew the second assist on that play to reach the 50-point mark for the first time in his career.
With an assist on Edler's goal, Horvat has hit the 50-point mark for the first time in his career! pic.twitter.com/WccWm17XD8
Horvat is trending beautifully through his NHL career so far. He had 25 points in his first season in 2014-15, then 40 points last year, and he's right on pace for another 15-point jump to finish up this year at 55.
It's a small number for any team's leading scorer, but I still haven't fully accepted the idea that 100 points is all but out of reach for any NHLer these days. Current Art Ross leader Connor McDavid has 88 points with seven games to go, so he's on pace for 96 and he's the only player that's close. I guess those new goalie pants didn't exactly create a big spike in scoring, did they?
Perhaps more interesting—Bo now has a five point lead over Henrik Sedin in the Canucks scoring race. If he finishes out the year in top spot, it'll be the first time since Daniel's Art Ross season in 2010-11 that someone other than Henrik has led the Canucks in scoring.
Markus Naslund was the last non-twin to lead the Canucks in scoring, and that was back in 2005-06. He was the Canucks' leading scorer for seven straight years, starting in 1998-99. That means the last non-Swede to lead the Canucks in scoring was—wait for it—Pavel Bure, with 51 goals and 90 points in 1997-98.
Pavel won four team scoring titles in the 90s and Alex Mogilny won two, so the last Canadian player to lead the Canucks in scoring was none other than Trevor Linden, with 75 points in 1991-92. Bo's ascent really does mark the dawn of a new era in Canucks history!
For the second straight game, Horvat played with Sven Baertschi and Brock Boeser. Though there had been some question about whether Boeser would have the energy to play his third game in three days, he logged 17:52, including 1:07 on the first power-play unit with the Sedins.
“We hardly ever play three games in three days in (college),” Boeser told Jason Botchford of The Province after the game. “That was the first time in a long time for me.
“I could definitely feel my legs getting tired out there, toward the end of shifts especially.”
Running off adrenaline, Boeser still managed six shot attempts, two of which required saves by Michael Hutchinson. He was dinged with his first giveaway on Sunday but was a plus-one for the night—well-positioned in the slot when Edler scored.
Winnipeg's only a 2.5 hour drive from the University of North Dakota, so Boeser and Troy Stecher were able to host some of their college teammates on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the Fighting Hawks boys didn't get to see much of Stecher. He played just 4:10 over five shifts before leaving the game in the first period with what's being called an upper-body injury.
Alex Biega started the game at forward, stepping in for injured Jack Skille. He was shifted back to the blue line after Stecher got knocked out and ultimately played 15:29.
So the injuries keep on coming. And yes, Vancouver has lost more man games to injury this season than any other team—and it's really not even close.
Over the weekend, The Province checked in with injured defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who has now been out of the lineup for just over three months after wrist surgery.
Gudbranson has been keeping himself occupied by doing ride-alongs with the Vancouver Police Department, offsetting his gruelling rehabilitation regime—a full day's work that runs from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“I’ve started to use some weights, but it’s all about mobility and proper movement patterns. A lot to it is intricate and localized and simple," Gudbranson told Ben Kuzma.
“The best one is throwing a dart. It’s a very mechanically important movement. It’s a great motion.”
Gudbranson's a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of this season. His upcoming contract situation is tricky because he's only one year away from unrestricted free agency. His rough season doesn't put him in good position to lock down a long-term, big-money deal, but a short-term "prove-it" contract would leave him free to walk away.
Since the day he was traded to the Canucks, Gudbranson has said all the right things about playing in Vancouver, and continues to talk the talk.
“I know for a fact that whether I play again this year, or not until next year, I have something to prove,” said Gudbranson. “I want to be here more than anything. Above that, I want to prove to the city and the team that I can be a good influence on this group.”
Sounds like it's touch-and-go whether or not Gudbranson will be able to get into any games before the end of this season.
Monday's a team day off for the Canucks. The team will kick off a three-game homestand against the California teams when the Anaheim Ducks visit Rogers Arena on Tuesday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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