Sven Baertschi, Jacob Markstrom draw in as Vancouver Canucks host Bruins (canucks)

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Sven Baertschi, Jacob Markstrom draw in as Vancouver Canucks host Bruins

By Carol Schram

Feb 17, 2018 • 3:21 pm

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Saturday February 17 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Boston Bruins - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet 650

Vancouver Canucks: 58 GP, 22-30-6, 50 pts, seventh in Pacific Division Boston Bruins: 55 GP, 35-12-8, 78 pts, second in Atlantic Division

Two teams headed in different directions will face off at Rogers Arena tonight as the Vancouver Canucks celebrate Chinese New Year by hosting their old rivals, the Boston Bruins.

Over their past 10 games, the Canucks are 3-7-0. The only team that has been worse over that stretch is, believe it or not, the Chicago Blackhawks, who are now on a league-worst six-game losing streak. The New York Rangers also have three wins in their last 10 games and after sending out their letter to season-ticket holders letting their fans know they'd be sellers at the trade deadline, they've dropped five points out of the second wild-card spot in the East.

At the other end of the spectrum, only two teams have better records than the 8-2-0 mark that the Bruins have amassed over their last 10 games. Pittsburgh is gearing up to take a run at the threepeat at 8-1-1 and Toronto has won its last five and is now 9-1-0 in its last 10.

The Atlantic Division is getting interesting. Going into tonight's game, the Bruins sit just three points behind the division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning, with three games in hand. Toronto has played four more games than Boston but is also staying close—three points behind the Bruins.

When Trevor Linden and Jim Benning were hired by the Canucks in 2014, they talked about the "Boston Model" as something to emulate. At that time, it meant playing tough—the 'heavy' game of the Los Angeles Kings was in style.

The Bruins have certainly had some bumpy moments in the four intervening years, missing the playoffs twice before dropping their first-round series to the Ottawa Senators last year. But the team has taken on new life since Bruce Cassidy took over as interim coach when Claude Julien was relieved of his duties on February 7, 2017.

In the year-and-a-bit since Cassidy took the reins, the Bruins' 115 points in 82 games are third-most of any team in the league—and they had a late bye week last season; the two teams above them, Tampa Bay and St. Louis, have both played significantly more games.

Cassidy's approach has clearly been effective. The Bruins are first in goals against this season (2.38 goals per game), second in goal differential (+52), seventh on the power play (21.6 percent), second on the penalty kill (84.2 percent) and tied for eighth in faceoff percent (51.3 percent).

Mr. Selke, Patrice Bergeron, leads his team with 27 goals and could hit a career high this year at age 32. Brad Marchand is second to Nikita Kucherov with 1.29 points per game—leading his team in total points despite having missed 13 games to injuries and a suspension. And ageless Zdeno Chara has seen his ice time drop to a 'mere' 23:14 per game but is third in the NHL in plus-minus at plus-27. He continues to anchor Boston's top defense pair, a month away from his 41st birthday—this year, serving as mentor to star rookie Charlie McAvoy.

Chara's a UFA at the end of this season, but the Bruins are talking about bringing him back. That's one long contract (seven years, cap hit $6.9 million) that has provided good value from start to finish.

So the Bruins are still anchored by the three players who crushed the Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. But they've been fuelled this year by their kids—not just David Pastrnak, who's now an established sniper at the ripe old age of 21, but also a bunch of new names.

On Saturday night, Canucks fans will get their first live look at McAvoy, who's among the rookie scoring leaders on the blue line with 26 points and is also a plus-23. Up front, there are also a couple of new names to note:

• Danton Heinen, a 22-year-old forward from Langley, B.C., who played for the Merritt Centennials and Surrey Eagles of the BCHL before attending the University of Denver. Drafted in the fourth round in 2014, Heinen has 12 goals and 38 points so far this season.

• Jake DeBrusk, the 21-year-old son of former NHL enforcer and current Sportsnet colourman Louie DeBrusk. Jake's a first-rounder from 2015 out of the WHL, who has 11 goals and 29 points this season.

Anders Bjork also got off to a good start this season, but is currently on the injured list. Boston's also missing speedy forward Frank Vatrano and defenseman Kevan Miller.

Bottom line: right now, Boston looks like a team that has successfully re-stocked its roster with some good young talent from throughout the draft and is set to take a serious run at playoff success.

But first, they'll face the Canucks, who they crushed 6-3 in Boston back in October. Vancouver hasn't been able to maintain the momentum of their big win in Dallas last weekend, which followed Jacob Markstrom calling out his teammates—and himself—for poor play. So far this week, the Canucks struggled through an error-filled 4-3 loss to Florida before being stymied by Martin Jones in their 4-1 road loss to San Jose.

After getting the hook against Florida and backing up in San Jose, Jacob Markstrom returns to the net tonight for Vancouver. Sven Baertschi will also draw back in.

I expect we'll see good things from Sven tonight.

As for Ben Hutton, he'll sit out for the second-straight game.

One other note: this weekend is the Canucks' annual SuperSkills competition. That part of the day kicks off at 1 p.m. but if you're attending, make sure you show up early for the alumni game at noon!

Bo and Markstrom will also be showing off their gaming skills later on Sunday afternoon.

Enjoy the game!

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