Pressure on Erik Gudbranson as Vancouver Canucks seek revenge vs. Leafs (trevor linden)

trevor linden

Pressure on Erik Gudbranson as Vancouver Canucks seek revenge vs. Leafs

By Carol Schram

Dec 3, 2016 • 2:59 pm

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Saturday December 3 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs - 4 p.m. - CBC

Vancouver Canucks: 24 GP, 10-12-2, 22 pts, sixth in Pacific Division Toronto Maple Leafs: 23 GP, 10-9-4, 24 pts, seventh in Atlantic Division

There's no getting around it. Canucks fans are screaming for revenge after the Toronto Maple Leafs embarrassed their team in a 6-3 win at the Air Canada Centre four weeks ago.

The loss was the eighth in Vancouver's nine-game losing streak, and it wasn't the only indignity suffered in the game.

To summarize:

• Morgan Rielly knocked Jannik Hansen out of action with a fractured rib after a third-period hit.

• Nazem Kadri avoided suspension from a blindside hit that flattened Daniel Sedin as he scored the Canucks' third goal.

• Ryan Miller took it upon himself to defend 5'10" rookie Troy Stecher after he got jumped by 6'3" Matt Martin.

• Erik Gudranson got a talking-to from the league after he made threats against Martin in earshot of the media after the game ended.

Unsurprisingly, Gudbranson is playing down his comments, according to Jason Brough of NBC Sports:

“That was kind of a spur of the moment,… Gudbranson said Thursday. “I was walking to the dressing room. I was just frustrated. That was a tough night. Do I mean anything I said? Absolutely not. That’s outrageous. That’s just kind of a fit of rage. Unfortunately, it got blown up to that proportion.…

Gudbranson's insisting that two points would be the best revenge, but that's not stopping some folks who follow the team from insisting that it's the most important game in his tenure as a Vancouver Canuck for the big defenseman.

This situation has made me queasy ever since it started to unfold, as the memories of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore from 2004 come flooding back. That was definitely a worst-case scenario!

I have to admit, I'd forgotten that the Canucks and Avalanche played an uneventful game against each other in Denver 15 days after captain Markus Naslund was injured by Moore, before all the drama unfurled in Vancouver on March 8. If the Leafs and Canucks get through tonight without any major fireworks they'll have completed their series for the year and won't see each other again until sometime in the 2017-18 season.

With Amy Schumer taking the stage at Rogers Arena on Friday night, the Leafs held an almost-full practice at UBC on Friday morning—missing only goaltender Frederik Andersen.

The Canucks' UBC practice was an optional run by assistant coaches Manny Malhotra and Dan Cloutier. It included both goalies along with extra players Alex Biega and Joe LaBate, injured players Jannik Hansen and Anton Rodin...and Sven Baertschi, who I presume is putting in a little extra work as he recovers from last week's foot injury.

No morning skate today, so we won't get any other lineup notes till game time. It is expected that Ryan Miller will get his third start of the week after earning the win against Minnesota on Tuesday and taking the loss to Anaheim on Thursday.

To wrap today, if you missed it, check out this Q&A with Trevor Linden, from Luke Fox at Sportsnet:

It's very thorough, and covers a lot of ground—with some anecdotes and other notes that you may not have heard before.

I say this with a touch of hesitation—I hope we all get through this in one piece. Enjoy the game??

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