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Vancouver Canucks Game Day: Dec 9 vs. New York Rangers, Virtanen to AHL

December 9, 2015, 2:00 PM ET [206 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wednesday December 9 - Vancouver Canucks vs. New York Rangers - 7:00 p.m. - Sportsnet, TSN1040

Vancouver Canucks: 29 GP, 10-11-8, 28 pts, third in Pacific Division
New York Rangers: 28 GP, 18-7-3, 39 pts, second in Metropolitan Division

The Vancouver Canucks will look to build on their feel-good win over the Buffalo Sabres when they host Alain Vigneault and the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

The game will be Vancouver's last at Rogers Arena before the Christmas break, so it'd be nice to see the team deliver a shiny gift to the fans, rather than a lump of coal.

The most positive sign from Monday's game was the return of balanced scoring. The Sedins have been carrying an overly heavy share of the offensive load for the last couple of weeks, so three goals from Radim Vrbata and one from Brandon Prust were sights for sore eyes.

Tonight, however, they're facing a much tougher opponent. And the Canucks haven't had much luck against the Rangers in recent years.




Last season, the Canucks were blown out by the Rangers' speed in a 5-1 December loss at Rogers Arena, but earned a 5-4 shootout win in February at Madison Square Garden.

Again this year, the Rangers have been one of the strongest teams in the Eastern Conference. They've taken some heat for their less-than-impressive possession numbers, but they're seventh in the league in scoring and third in goals against, which means they've been coming out on the right side of the score sheet more often than not.

The power play has also been clicking nicely in recent games, and is now ranked fourth in the league, so special teams will be something to watch tonight.

This season, the Rangers are being led offensively by Mats Zuccarello. Rookie Oscar Lindberg is also a player to watch—he has 10 goals already this season. Rick Nash is well off last year's 42-goal pace. He has lit the lamp just eight times in 26 games.

For all their success, there's a faction of Rangers fans that thinks Alain Vigneault isn't doing enough for the team. Click here to see the outline of AV's alleged transgressions on the Blueshirt Blog. Apparently playing Tanner Glass is an unforgivable sin.

The Rangers have been off since Sunday and are kicking off three games in four nights against Pacific Division teams with their visit to Vancouver, so I expect we'll see King Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes tonight.

At age 33, Lundqvist's numbers this season are on par with his Vezina Trophy-winning season in 2011-12. His .938 save percentage is the best in the league, and he's second to Braden Holtby with a 1.99 goals-against average.

Goals will likely be hard for Vancouver to come by tonight, so the team will need to play a tight defensive game to have any real chance of success.

I don't expect any changes in the Canucks lineup today.




Sounds like Luca Sbisa's hand is still some ways away from being ready for game action:




The biggest news to come out of the Canucks camp on Tuesday was the announcement that Jake Virtanen has been sent down to the Utica Comets for a conditioning assignment. Virtanen has missed the Canucks' last four games after suffering a hip pointer from a Ryan Getzlaf hit against Anaheim on November 30.

As a 19-year-old, the only way that Virtanen can be assigned to the AHL is through a conditioning assignment like this. Bo Horvat went through the same process last year when he was injured during preseason, spending five games with the Comets before being recalled and sticking with the Canucks for the rest of the year.

At this point, it doesn't sound like Virtanen will be with the Comets for very long:




The Comets play tonight in Rochester, then have a home-and-home series against Toronto, with games on Friday and Sunday.

I'm hoping that this opportunity will give Virtanen a bit of a chance to be a big fish. Hopefully he can get some significant ice time with the Comets and get back in touch with the offensive side of his game. In the long run, a sixth-overall draft pick needs to do more than just hit if he hopes to realize his full potential in the NHL.

The door is still open for Virtanen to join Team Canada for the World Junior Championships. Their selection camp is being held this weekend in Toronto, but a decision doesn't need to be made on NHL players until December 19th.

To wrap up today, click here for an excellent piece on Todd Bertuzzi from Ed Willes at The Province.

With age has come perspective. I'm so glad that both Bertuzzi and the fans have been able to make peace with his time in Vancouver—the entire #20in20 campaign has already proven to be worthwhile, for that outcome alone.

Now—into the fire against the Rangers. Enjoy the game!
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