Saturday December 2 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs - 4 p.m. - CBC, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 26 GP, 12-10-4, 28 pts, fifth in Pacific Division Toronto Maple Leafs: 27 GP, 17-9-1, 35 pts, second in Atlantic Division
The Vancouver Canucks will celebrate Daniel Sedin's arrival in the thousand-point club when they host the Toronto Maples Leafs to kick off a busy month of home games on Saturday.
Playing 10 of 15 games on the road, Vancouver went 6-7-2 in the month of November—but the road wasn't really the problem. They were 5-4-1 away from Rogers Arena, but just 1-3-1 at home.
That'll have to change in December if the Canucks hope to still be lurking in the playoff mix when the calendar flips to 2018. Going into Saturday's action, they're sitting 10th in the Western Conference, one point out of a wild-card spot.
But first, let's pause to ponder Daniel Sedin's many achievements.
By the numbers. #Daniel1000 holds a lot of #Canucks records. pic.twitter.com/DERdT1OC0C
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 2, 2017
With the boost provided by the new power-play configuration and the chemistry that they've shown with Loui Eriksson in recent games, it's nice to see the twins getting back on the scoresheet.
After their three-point outbursts in Nashville, Daniel and Henrik now both have 15 points in 26 games and are on pace for 47. That's three better than last season for Daniel and would be a drop of four from 51 points last season for Henrik.
Here's the scoop on the plan for tonight's celebration.
Join us early tomorrow as we celebrate #Daniel1000 at @RogersArena.https://t.co/fynsKwj2WZ
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 1, 2017
If you're going to the game, make sure you get there early—and don't forget, it's a 4 p.m. start!
The Canucks are also celebrating having Brock Boeser named rookie of the month for November.
.@BBoeser16 comments on being named NHL Rookie of the Month and sharing the #Daniel1000 moment with Daniel Sedin. pic.twitter.com/0x3y1B6QQX
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 1, 2017
Here's hoping Brock's Canucks career pans out better than the team's last two rookie-of-the-month winners!
Rookie of the Month honours in @NHL began in 1983/84 season. @BBoeser16 is one of just 7 players to have won RoM with #Canucks. Here’s complete @Canucks list: pic.twitter.com/abeZ9FRNxZ
— Joey Kenward (@kenwardskorner) December 2, 2017
Boeser's in a battle for the Calder but his 25 points have him on the first page of the overall NHL stats page—tied for 26th overall with Alex Ovechkin and Mark Stone, and one point behind Toronto's Auston Matthews.
Matthews, of course, was the 2017 Calder winner. He recently missed four games with an upper-body injury, but he's coming into Vancouver on a four-game point streak, and the Leafs have swept the first two games of their Western road trip so far, against Calgary and Edmonton.
We'll have to wait till gametime to see who gets the start in net and whether any other roster changes pop up.
Here's a bit more clarity on Brandon Sutter's status:
Benning : "Sutter is 2-3 weeks away, he is 1 week into that."
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) November 30, 2017
It is a groin strain. #Canucks
Two other notes to wrap up today:
• First, Nikita Tryamkin continues to tear it up in the KHL. This is his second straight player-of-the-month honour.
In November @tryamkin94 led the KHL defensemen's list with 42 shots, 28 hits, 15 blocked shots, and for 2nd straight time was named the D-man of the month! pic.twitter.com/eJ8Lpp7VCc
— KHL (@khl_eng) December 2, 2017
Tryamkin's up to 21 points in 36 games with Automobilist.
• And finally, fan voting is now open for the 2018 NHL All-Star Game:
Cast your vote for the NHL players you think have earned a trip to Tampa! #NHLAllStar
— NHL (@NHL) December 2, 2017
2018 NHL All-Star Fan Vote: https://t.co/KnWNparQOA pic.twitter.com/T42U1P2gTc
Only two Canucks are available for selection off the main ballot—Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi. If you want to vote Boeser, you'll have to use the "other" button.