Tuesday November 21 - Vancouver Canucks 5 - Philadephia Flyers 2
Brock Boeser scored two more goals as the Vancouver Canucks started their big six-game road trip on a positive note with a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
Here are your highlights:
Just before puck drop, the Canucks released a statement announcing that Derek Dorsett had left the team to get medical advice about his surgically-repaired neck.
Considering the serious nature of the procedure that Dorsett underwent last December and the all-out playing style that he has continued to bring on the ice, it's concerning but perhaps not entirely surprising that some complications may have manifested.
Ben Kuzma of
The Province reviewed what Dorsett went through after playing list last game of the 2016-17 season just over a year ago, against the Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 17, 2016:
“It was a push on the hips and not even that hard,” Dorsett recalled during his long rehab following surgery. “I just whiplashed back, the nerve flared and my arm went numb. That was the fourth incident within a month and that’s when we decided to do something about it.”
The C5 and C6 vertebrae were fused, bone spurs were addressed and a bulging disc was removed and replaced by a plastic spacer and bone marrow from Dorsett’s hip.
He felt an immediate relief in pain, but daily workouts at Rogers Arena were a rude reminder of how long a recovery road he still had to travel. He had days where he experienced soreness and stiffness after being inactive for two months while wearing a neck brace.
The biggest point of concern is the return of a tingling sensation.
The plan is for Dorsett to fly to L.A. for a consultation with the surgeon who operated on him last year, Dr. Robert Watkins. After that, a course of action will be determined.
On Tuesday, Brendan Gaunce stepped into Dorsett's spot on the Canucks checking line. He had a good game, with six shots on goal in 15:22 of ice time, but acknowledged the hole that Dorsett's absence creates.
“He’s the heart and soul of every team he plays on,” Gaunce
told Kuzma after the game. “He’s not the biggest guy, but he’ll do whatever it takes to win. That's something every guy can look at and not just young guys. It’s tough losing him and that’s why you have to have a whole team step up. Guys know he went through such a tough year.”
Dorsett has been a bright spot from the first game of the season, when he shut down Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. He became an unlikely scoring machine when he posted six goals in seven games through a two-week stretch in late October.
Going into Tuesday's game, Dorsett left the team tied for second in scoring with Brock Boeser and Sven Baertschi, each with seven goals, and was fifth on the team with nine points in 20 games. He's also leading the league with 74 penalty minutes.
Of course, a five-goal outburst by the Canucks in Philadelphia bumps Dorsett quickly down the team's stat page. Though the Canucks were outplayed in the early going and gave up the first goal yet again, Daniel Sedin got the Canucks rolling and Brock Boeser chipped in another two goals as the power play went 2-for-3 on the way to a comfortable win over the Flyers.
Daniel's now just four points away from hitting the thousand-point mark and Boeser takes over the team lead in scoring. He moves one point behind Clayton Keller in the rookie scoring race, despite having played five fewer games.
For the second straight game, the Canucks defense corps did a solid job of containing one of the NHL's most dangerous offensive juggernauts. Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek combined for eight of the Flyers' 38 shots but were limited to just one goal by Voracek in garbage time, drawing to within two goals midway through the third period.
Call me crazy, but I thought Erik Gudbranson had a really strong positional game. I kept noticing him calmly rubbing Flyers players out of dangerous spots—playing a quiet but physical game.
Speaking of whipping boys, Loui Eriksson posted his second straight two-point night and got his first goal of the year into an empty net with 21 seconds left to play. He's now up to five points in five games since returning from his knee injury—a pace that would actually justify his $6 million salary if he can keep it up!
Wednesday November 23 - Vancouver Canucks at Pittsburgh Penguins - 4 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 21 GP, 10-8-3, 23 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Pittsburgh Penguins: 22 GP, 11-8-3, 25 pts, third in Metropolitan Division
With the NHL going dark on Thursday for U.S. Thanksgiving, 30 of the league's 31 teams are in action tonight, including the Canucks on a Pennsylvania back-to-back that continues in Pittsburgh.
There's always a lot of fuss made about which teams are in playoff position at this time of year. The Canucks were on the right side of the line for a hot minute after their win last night but got bumped back down to ninth place after the Dallas Stars beat the Montreal Canadiens. Dallas is tied with Vancouver with 23 points in 21 games but holds the edge in the tiebreaker with one extra regulation/overtime win.
Probably more importantly, the Western Conference remains extraordinarily jammed up, with only seven points separating second place from 13th. The Canucks are in the middle of a group of 12 teams that'll be fighting for seven playoff spots—no easy task, but much more competitive than where most people expected them to be this season.
Not surprisingly, just an optional skate this morning in Pittsburgh:
We'll have to wait till game time to find out whether Chris Tanev is going to be declared fit to get back into the lineup—cast and all.
I'm also a bit concerned about Brandon Sutter, who seemed to be in serious pain after blocking a shot in the third period on Tuesday. He did take a couple of draws down the stretch, so hopefully he'll be OK to play tonight.
As for the Penguins, they're missing a key centre themselves, with Evgeni Malkin out of action due to an upper-body injury. They've lost some significant depth down the middle from their Stanley Cup roster now that Nick Bonino and Matt Cullen have moved on. Expect to see Jake Guentzel, Riley Sheahan and Carter Rowney playing behind a very busy Sidney Crosby for the Penguins tonight, while Matt Murray should get the nod in net.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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