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Vancouver Canucks will look to exploit Golden Knights' goalie situation

November 16, 2017, 2:40 PM ET [426 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Thursday November 16 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Vegas Golden Knights - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific

Vancouver Canucks: 18 GP, 9-7-2, 20 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
Vegas Golden Knights: 17 GP, 10-6-1-, 21 pts, second in Pacific Division

The Vegas Golden Knights' revolving goaltender wheel will be in full spin as the NHL's newest expansion team makes its first-ever regular-season visit to Rogers Arena on Thursday night.

Vegas used its fifth goaltender of the young season in its 8-2 loss in Edmonton on Tuesday night when Maxime Lagace appeared to hurt his back midway through the third period, with the game already out of reach at 7-2. That gave 19-year-old Dylan Ferguson of Lantzville, B.C. the opportunity to make his NHL debut. The Kamloops Blazers netminder has been on emergency recall since Halloween, and was serving his seventh game as Lagace's backup.

With Ferguson's debut on Tuesday, the Golden Knights have now tied the record for most goalies used in an expansion year according to fellow Hockeybuzzer Sheng Peng —just 17 games into the season.

They've got 65 games left to challenge for the all-time record.




Malcolm Subban, who has been on the shelf since October 21, did join the team on this road trip and practiced on Wednesday in Vancouver, as did Lagace and Ferguson.

If you caught Vegas' 9-4 drubbing of the Canucks at Rogers Arena back in preseason, you saw Ferguson, who went the distance in that game.

Will we see him tonight? Maybe.




Since the regular season began, the Golden Knights have not fared so well on the road—evidence, perhaps, that the "Vegas Flu" is a thing that's affecting road teams when they come into the playground of Sin City? The Golden Knights come into tonight's game with a 7-1-0 record on home ice, but they're just 3-5-1 on the road. I'm also bemused by the fact that their worst defensive show of the season in Edmonton came with our old pal Luca Sbisa sidelined with a lower-body injury.

Sbisa has been carrying a heavy load on Vegas' top pairing, logging an average of 20:23 a night. He's a solid plus-three and has eight points in 16 games—well on his way to the best offensive season of his career as he approaches unrestricted free agency.

Vegas doesn't have a captain, but Sbisa is one of six players on the team who were given an "A" this year. I guess that number is down to five since one of those players was another ex-Canuck, Jason Garrison, who cleared waivers on October 27. He's now with the AHL Chicago Wolves, where he's pointless and a minus-four in five games.

As I'm sure you've heard, the player to watch out for offensively is James Neal, who's now up to 10 goals. He's also an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, as is David Perron, who leads the team with 15 points.

I'm curious to see what Vegas brings to Rogers Arena tonight, especially now that they've started to encounter some adversity that extends beyond the health of their netminders.

As for the Canucks, their narrative shifts back in a positive direction after the dramatic come-from-behind win in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

I fuelled that fire with a look at Brock Boeser's Calder Trophy potential in my Westender column yesterday:




Boeser's currently second to Clayton Keller of Arizona in the rookie points race and his point-a-game pace is the best in the rookie class. He was the bright light in the preseason game against the Golden Knights, scoring twice. Can he keep it going tonight?

In the story, I mention how Boeser is at the crest of a wave of talent that should be arriving in Vancouver over the next few years.

TSN has also noticed. Today's ranking of NHL teams' "Core Four" players under 24 sees the Canucks moving up from 21st last season into the top 10 this year.




If you're up for a gentle dip into the world of analytics, Daniel Wagner walks you through some interesting Canucks numbers from the first 18 games of the season at Pass It to Bulis.




My biggest takeaway is that the numbers seem to indicate that the Canucks' early-season success might turn out to be reasonably sustainable. Injuries can always make things go sideways, of course, but goaltending and defense have turned out to be strong suits for the team this year.

Anders Nilsson continues to hover in the league's top five in goalie stats, Jacob Markstrom's .913 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against average are both well above his career averages and the Canucks remain among the league's top five defensive teams, allowing an average of 2.61 goals per game.

Markstrom has been confirmed as tonight's starter for Vancouver.

Tuesday's success with the man advantage bumped the power play up to 16.1 percent, too. That's good for 23rd overall—a step in the right direction.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing what the new groups can do against Vegas tonight.

Enjoy the game!
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