Vancouver Canucks look to head into break on a high note against Hurricanes (antoine roussel)

antoine roussel

Vancouver Canucks look to head into break on a high note against Hurricanes

By Carol Schram

Jan 23, 2019 • 2:39 pm

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Wednesday January 23 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Carolina Hurricanes - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650

Vancouver Canucks: 50 GP, 23-21-6, 52 pts, fourth in Pacific Division Carolina Hurricanes: 49 GP, 23-20-6, 52 pts, fifth in Metropolitan Division

The Vancouver Canucks are looking to head into the All-Star Break on a high note and finish out their current homestand without a regulation loss as they host the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night at Rogers Arena.

Though they've been criticized for not playing their best hockey through this stretch and have been significantly outshot in their past three games, they're 3-0-2 on this homestand and have outscored their opponents 17-12—thanks, primarily, to the 5-1 win over Florida.

Though Travis Green skated Nikolay Goldobin in a regular rotation and Jake Virtanen as an extra forward at practice on Tuesday, the two have switched back again at Wednesday's morning skate. Travis Green says Virtanen will play.

Virtanen is 11-8-19 through 50 games so far this year—one point off his career high of 20, set last season. His 11th goal on December 20th against St. Louis was a new career high in that category but after that, he went pointless in 11 games before drawing the assist when Antoine Roussel tipped his shot past Jonathan Bernier for the game-winner against Detroit on Sunday.

I think Goldobin is a victim of two factors: Green's usual reluctance to mess with a winning lineup and the Canucks' rare status as a 100 percent healthy team.

I've liked the way Roussel and Virtanen have worked together for the last few games. Antoine seems like the brains behind the operation, picking the most effective spots and moments to stir the pot. Once the target has been identified and engaged, Jake rolls in as backup to provide a little extra muscle and support.

On a team that has been meek for more than a few years, I think it's easy for Canucks fans to support most of Roussel's shenanigans, especially when they channel memories of the best of Alex Burrows from days gone by.

If anything, Roussel might be even more calculating than Burrows when it comes to picking his spots. In this interview with Ben Kuzma, he makes no bones about the fact that he keeps a constant eye on the league standings and knows exactly where his team sits in the mix.

“You kidding me? We have to watch and know where we’re at,… he told Kuzma. “To know where you’re going, you’ve got to know where you’re at. We had to win (Sunday) to stay in the chase. It’s not hopefully making the playoffs, but making the playoffs.…

I remember Roussel mentioning playoffs months ago, when the Canucks let a point slip away late in a game—maybe that shootout loss in Buffalo that kicked off the November losing streak? The Dallas Stars reached the postseason just twice in his six years with the team, so he knows what it's like to be watching from the sidelines when April rolls around.

With 10 days off after Wednesday's game, I expect Jacob Markstrom will once again get the nod in net. Thatcher Demko is looking flash, though, in his new goalie equipment:

Knock on wood—if there's ever such a thing as an almost-guaranteed win, Wednesday's game should be it. The Hurricanes are wrapping up their Western Canada swing with a third game in four nights, following a 7-4 win in Edmonton on Sunday and a 3-2 overtime loss in Calgary on Tuesday. They'll also be without injured forward Jordan Staal and most likely Micheal Ferland, who sat out with an upper-body injury against Edmonton and managed just 8:20 of ice time before leaving Tuesday's game against Calgary. Bad timing for a guy who's apparently on the trade block and looking for a big-money deal as he approaches unrestricted free agency!

The Hurricanes also haven't won in Vancouver in nearly 20 years.

But don't put the two points in the bank just yet. If you recall, the Hurricanes dished out a convincing 5-3 win over Vancouver in Raleigh back on October 9, with rookie Andrei Svechnikov scoring the winning goal.

Now with 12-10-22, the 18-year-old Russian who was chosen second overall at the draft last June sits sixth in the rookie scoring race and is tied for second in goals with Mathieu Joseph of the Tampa Bay Lightning. After picking up another two points in his return to action on Sunday, Elias Pettersson continues to lead all rookies in both goals and points with 23-21-44 in 39 games. His plus-13 also ties him with Andreas Johnsson of Toronto for the rookie lead in that category.

Hurricanes-Canucks and Blues-Ducks are the last two games on a light six-game schedule before the All-Star Break begins. There's a tweak in the schedule this year: the Skills competition will go Friday night, with the 3-on-3 games running in prime time on Saturday.

The NHL has also piggybacked all teams' bye weeks onto the All-Star Break, giving every team a minimum of seven days with no games or practices. Ten teams are off this week; the other 21, including the Canucks, will be off next week.

The league has also taken another step toward minimizing the number of teams that have to face clubs that are in their game rhythms as they come back from their bye weeks. I broke it all down for Forbes earlier this week:

The Canucks will return to action on the road, against the also-rested Colorado Avalanche, on Saturday, February 2.

I'll leave you with this clip from last weekend, in case you haven't seen it. Looks like Canucks prospect Tyler Madden is a fan of the Hurricanes' home-game win celebrations—this kayaking move is lifted straight from their playbook.

Enjoy the game! It'll have to last us for awhile!

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