Thursday March 9 - New York Islanders at Vancouver Canucks - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific
Vancouver Canucks: 66 GP, 28-30-4, 64 pts, sixth in Pacific Division New York Islanders: 65 GP, 31-23-11, 73 pts, fifth in Metropolitan Division
It's deja vu all over again. For the second straight game, the Vancouver Canucks are hosting an Eastern Conference team that has surged in the standings since making a coaching change. The New York Islanders jumped over eight teams as they climbed from last place in the Eastern Conference all the way up to the second wild-card spot after Doug Weight took over behind the bench on January 17.
The Islanders were 17-17-8 when longtime coach Jack Capuano was released. Under Weight, they've gone 14-6-3—an impressive improvement.
Also impressive—the Isles have maintained their position while they've been on an epic road trip. Tonight is game eight of nine away from Barclays Center. They're 4-2-1 so far and coming off a 4-1 win in Edmonton on Tuesday night.
The Isles need every point they can get if they hope to parlay this run into a postseason berth. They're currently just one point ahead of Toronto in that last playoff spot. Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Florida are all within four points.
Forget superstar John Tavares—the Islanders player generating the most buzz these days is 21-year-old Josh Ho-Sang, who has made his NHL debut with the team during this road trip. The 28th-overall pick from 2014 has had some discipline issues during this path to the NHL and caused a stir last week when he chose the revered 66 as his uniform number.
Ho-Sang asked yet again about wearing No. 66: "It's no disrespect. If anything it's the ultimate respect."
— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) March 7, 2017
In his four games so far, Ho-Sang is averaging 15:08 of ice time per game, playing on the Isles second line with Andrew Ladd and Brock Nelson. He's a minus-four overall and scored his first NHL goal on Tuesday in Edmonton.
The first career goal for Josh Ho-Sang #Isles pic.twitter.com/K8aRGh63Yx
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) March 8, 2017
As an aside, you might remember that Ho-Sang's linemate Andrew Ladd was being deemed an early bust as an expensive free-agent signing when the Canucks lost 4-2 to the Islanders at Barclays Center back on November 7? Ladd's now up to 18 goals but has only six assists for 24 total points.
To compare, Ladd is 31 and is signed to a seven-year contract at $5.5 million a season; Loui Eriksson is 31 and signed to a six-year deal at $6 million a season. He also has 24 points this season; 11 goals and 13 assists.
Of course, we won't get to see the two veterans go head-to-head tonight—Eriksson will miss his second game with a lower-body injury suffered on Sunday in Anaheim.
Eriksson is "a week to two weeks away from returning," said Coach.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 7, 2017
Sadly, we also won't get to compare rookies Ho-Sang and Nikolay Goldobin.
UPDATE: @NG078 has the flu and will not play tonight.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 9, 2017
Jack Skille's still sidelined, so the Canucks aren't carrying any extra forwards. Time to improvise, again.
.@BlakePriceTSN probably Biega playing up front now, with Goldobin out #CanucksOn1040
— Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) March 9, 2017
If Biega moves up, his spot will be taken either by Nikita Tryamkin or, if he can't go, by Philip Larsen.
A couple of other quick notes from the Islanders camp:
• Winger Anders Lee scored twice in Edmonton on Tuesday to tie his career high with 25 goals. He has 10 goals in 22 games since Weight took over behind the bench
• Winger Shane Prince was injured on Tuesday night in Edmonton and has been sent home for further evaluation. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk is also expected to miss his third-straight game with a lower-body injury.
• Thomas Griess is expected to get the nod in net.
Seems like not a day goes by at this time of year without big off-ice stories making headlines around the Canucks.
First, we've got Willie Desjardins acknowledging that he's hearing the rumours that his time behind the Vancouver bench might be up at the end of the season...
It's "details to follow" regarding the @Canucks' coaching situation. https://t.co/XlrfYALjEU
— NHL (@NHL) March 9, 2017
The new twist on this story comes from TSN's Darren Dreger, who says that if Willie is let go, he won't be unemployed for long. Other teams are very interested in procuring his services.
ICYMI yesterday, pretty interesting note from Dreger on Desjardins... #Canucks https://t.co/YG5I1seeZ3
— Chris Nichols (@NicholsOnHockey) March 8, 2017
What do you think? Should Willie stay or go?
Also, if you missed it—the Canucks' radio broadcasts will be moving off TSN1040 next season. Rogers Sportsnet has acquired the radio rights for the next five seasons.
No announcement has been made yet about which Rogers station will carry the broadcasts, which lends credence to this idea:
With Rogers acquiring the #Canucks radio broadcast rights, is the door open for a Sportsnet station in #Vancouver? Me thinks so.
— Brian Wiebe (@Brian_Wiebe) March 9, 2017
Rogers had a bumpy start on the TV side after paying big bucks to pull the national NHL broadcast rights away from TSN three years ago. They saw a big ratings hit when no Canadian teams made the playoffs in the 2015-16 season. It's interesting that they'd double down on their commitment to sports in Vancouver, even as local ratings have dropped while the Canucks are struggling. An all-sports station that carries Blue Jays games and other Sportsnet content would be a logical addition to their local portfolio.
I'll wrap on a positive note, with this video of new acquisition Jonathan Dahlen's five-point performance in his Swedish League playoff game. Nice!
Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Dahlen 5-point night (3+2) vs TAIF tonight (HockeyAllsvenskan Playoff Series) #TimraIK pic.twitter.com/GC6FPT4op2
— Robert Söderlind (@HockeyWebCast) March 8, 2017
Enjoy the game!