Canucks embrace "Team Like That" identity as road trip continues in Anaheim (michael del zotto)

michael del zotto

Canucks embrace "Team Like That" identity as road trip continues in Anaheim

By Carol Schram

Nov 1, 2019 • 2:33 pm

0comment-bubble

Friday November 1 - Vancouver Canucks at Anaheim Ducks - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650

Vancouver Canucks: 12 GP, 8-3-1, 17 pts, second in Pacific Division Anaheim Ducks: 14 GP, 8-6-0, 16 pts, fourth in Pacific Division

After a day off to enjoy Halloween at Disneyland and at the beach under sunny skies with temperatures in the 70s, the Vancouver Canucks will get back to work at Honda Center on Friday night with their first meeting of the season against the Anaheim Ducks.

Widely expected to be among the NHL's bottom feeders after a 24th-overall finish last season, and without veterans like injured Ryan Kesler and Patrick Eaves and bought-out Corey Perry, the Ducks have started well in their first year under new head coach Dallas Eakins, who returned to the NHL after coaching the Ducks' AHL farm team in San Diego for the last four seasons — and reaching the Western Conference Final last year before losing in six games to the Chicago Wolves.

This is a very different Dallas Eakins from the man who tried to rule with an iron fist during his year and a half with the Oilers in 2013-14. Eakins is this week's guest on "The Full 60" with The Athletic's Craig Custance, and talks about how a team's culture really needs to grow from within — and how he's in a very different spot this time around after having already spent four years in the Ducks organization and building familiarity with many of his current players as well as the team's off-ice staff.

It's an interesting listen, if you have time — and is available to all, not just Athletic subscribers.

After starting 6-2-0, the Ducks have tapered off a bit over the last couple of weeks, going 2-4-0 in their last 10 games. But they're always tough at home and are 5-1-0 at Honda Center this year. Most recently, they beat Winnipeg 7-4 on Tuesday, so they're also well rested. Twenty-one year old rookie defenseman Josh Mahura, a third-round pick in 2016, had three assists in that game — his first of the year with the Ducks after appearing in 17 NHL games last season.

Speaking of NHL defensemen, the Ducks lineup now boasts two faces that are familiar to Canucks fans — Michael Del Zotto and Erik Gudbranson.

Del Zotto played 12 games with the Ducks after he was traded to Anaheim by the Canucks last January, then was moved to the St. Louis Blues at the trade deadline. He didn't appear in any postseason games for the Blues, but did get his name on the Stanley Cup. Then, on July 16, Del Zotto signed a one-year, $750,000 deal to return to the Ducks. This season, he's averaging 19:25 of ice time in 10 games played. He has been healthy scratched four times but is 1-2-3 and a plus-four when he has played, and logged a season-high 25:03 against the Jets on Tuesday.

Erik Gudbranson is also a plus-four in his three games in a Ducks uniform after being traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins last week in exchange for forward Andreas Martinsen and a seventh-round pick. The move came after Josh Manson suffered a knee sprain that is expected to keep him out of the lineup for a month or two. Hampus Lindholm has also missed Anaheim's last two games with a lower-body injury, but is expected to be ready to get back into the lineup against the Canucks on Friday.

The Ducks are 2-1-0 since Gudbranson arrived. He's pointless, but has averaged 21:18 of ice time in those three games, so we should see quite a bit of both guys against the Canucks.

Here's how the Ducks' lineup rolled out against Winnipeg on Tuesday.

The Ducks have a deep prospect pool and rookies like Max Comtois and Sam Steel who are playing regular roles this season. But most of the Ducks' offense is still coming from the veterans. Jakub Silfverberg is leading the way with 11 points so far, while Ryan Getzlaf, Adam Henrique and Lindholm each have nine.

Getzlaf's also playing his 999th career game against the Canucks on Friday.

The Ducks are just 21st in goals per game, at 2.79, but they're tied for seventh defensively at 2.50 goals against per game, just below Vancouver's 2.42 (fourth overall). At 39, Ryan Miller continues to kick butt in his backup role — he's 3-0-0 in his four starts, with a .929 save percentage and 2.10 goals-against average. Of course, John Gibson is getting the lion's share of the work, and is expected to start against the Canucks. He's fourth in total ice time so far this season, behind Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Binnington and David Rittich, and is 5-6-0 with a .920 save percentage and 2.66 GAA.

Of course, Gibson has been an assassin against the Canucks. In his career, he's 8-2-1, with a .927 save percentage, 1.91 goals-against average and three shutouts. Last season, the Ducks went 3-1-0 against the Canucks, winning their games at Honda Center by scores of 4-3 and 1-0 — although the shutout went to journeyman fill-in Kevin Boyle.

As for the Canucks, they're now leaning into Drew Doughty's early-season bulletin-board comments, "Bunch of Jerks" style:

As far as I've seen, Doughty was not made available to the media after Wednesday's game to see if he's changed his opinion at all about the Canucks.

The big lineup news after Wednesday's win is the recall of Sven Baertschi.

Apparently some of the lovely weather I experienced in Regina last weekend is still wreaking havoc in the midwest. Snow in Chicago combined with heavy rain in New York state has caused some delays for Baertschi as he makes his way to Anaheim — but sometimes a little determination can go a long way!

There was some talk that Micheal Ferland may have hurt his hand while fighting Kyle Clifford on Wednesday, but apparently that's not the case.

As for Baertschi, he and his linemate Nikolay Goldobin sit tied for second in scoring on the red-hot Utica Comets, behind only Reid Boucher with 10 points each. From a distance, it doesn't seem like Baertschi's suffering from any on-ice hesitation now that he's back in action after a dark trip through concussion recovery last season.

According to Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, "Canucks general manager Jim Benning met with Baertschi’s agent, Andre Rufener, in New Jersey two weeks ago and promised that the team had not closed any doors on the player, and that it was possible for Baertschi to work his way back to the Canucks." Today's recall makes good on that promise — although we probably won't see Baertschi in the lineup until Saturday in San Jose.

One other note before I wrap up for today — I don't want to rain on the parade of a terrific month of October, but Dom Luszczyszyn at The Athletic IDed the Canucks as having had the easiest schedule in the entire NHL during the month of October. We've seen what happens when things get tough, so it makes sense that there are benefits to be had when the situation trends in the opposite direction.

November will be more of a test. After the California trip, the team returns to Vancouver for one game against St. Louis before a back-to-back in Chicago and Winnipeg. Then, it's back home, with an afternoon game kicking off a four-game homestand, and a season-high six-game road trip to finish out the month, which actually concludes with the first half of a home-and-home back-to-back against Edmonton.

We should have a much better idea whether this group has a legitimate chance to make the playoffs by the end of the month.

For now - enjoy the game!

Show Comments
Loading...
Loading...
0
Show comments for this article