Thursday April 2 - Vancouver Canucks at Chicago Blackhawks - 5:30 p.m. Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 45-27-5, 95 points, second in Pacific Division Chicago Blackhawks: 46-24-6, 98 points, third in Central Division
After knocking off two big wins in St. Louis and Nashville earlier this week, the Vancouver Canucks have already relieved considerable playoff pressure as they face their old rivals from the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of their last road trip of the year.
With six games to go, the 'Hawks have a playoff spot virtually locked up, but still have plenty to play for. They're just one point behind the St. Louis Blues in the battle for second place in the Central Division and also need to keep an eye on the surging Minnesota Wild—who are three points back and briefly knocked Chicago into a wild-card position a week or so ago.
The Canucks are 2-0 against Chicago this year, winning 4-1 in Vancouver back in late November, then squeaking out a 5-4 overtime victory thanks to a Daniel Sedin game-winner after blowing a late 4-2 lead at the United Center in a dramatic mid-February matchup.
The Blackhawks are 10-4-1 since losing Patrick Kane to a broken collarbone in late February but like the Canucks, Chicago has been struggling against non-playoff teams, with recent losses against Dallas, Philadelphia and Columbus. The 'Hawks are now riding a two-game winning streak after taking care of business against the Los Angeles Kings with a 4-1 win last Monday and watching Jonathan Toews drive a dagger into the playoff chances of his hometown team in Winnipeg with a last-minute goal that gave Chicago a 4-3 regulation win over the Jets last Sunday.
Corey Crawford will start for Chicago tonight, which presents an interesting opportunity for the Canucks. Crawford has been weak in both games against Vancouver earlier in the season and has struggled in his last five games, going 2-3 and giving up less than three goals in just one of those contests. Scott Darling gave up just one goal when he played Monday against L.A. and is expected to get the start in the second half of Chicago's current back-to-back, tomorrow night in Buffalo.
Don't expect changes to the Vancouver lineup tonight. The only item of note is that Jon Abbott is now listing the Horvat line third instead of fourth among the forwards...
#Canucks morning skate: 22-33-14/20-13-17/41-53-36/27-7-51 d'23-8/2-6/3-5 Lack as they try to win 3 straight for 6th time #TSN1040
— Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) April 2, 2015Eddie Lack is 2-0-0 in his career against Chicago and is now boasting a .919 save percentage that ties him for 15th in the NHL with St. Louis' Brian Elliott. He'll play in his 38th game of the year tonight, so he could end up matching or exceeding the 41 games he played last season when all is said and done—but with a much better record to show for his efforts.
Lack continues to give up the odd groaner of a goal—but on balance, he has delivered the netminding that the team has been needing since Ryan Miller's injury on Feb. 22.
In Miller's absence, Vancouver has gone 11-5-2—a far cry from last year's season-ending 8-10-1 implosion after Roberto Luongo was traded.
After such an emotional game on Tuesday in Nashville, as well as an increased sense of playoff security, I fear that the Canucks could come out flat tonight and get smacked by a Chicago team that has plenty to play for—including a chance to clinch their playoff spot tonight. Hopefully the old-time rivalry against the Blackhawks and the rockin' atmosphere at the United Centre will stir up enough emotions to coax another strong performance out of Vancouver.
As for the out-of-town scoreboard, Calgary visits St. Louis tonight, while the Kings are home after their five-game road trip, facing an Edmonton Oilers team that got smacked 5-1 by Anaheim on Wednesday night.
Comets Streaking
The Utica Comets clinched an AHL playoff spot on Wednesday night with a 5-1 victory over the Rochester Americans—their eighth straight win, with Jim Benning and Trevor Linden on hand to watch.
Sven Baertschi was named first star after scoring two more goals, giving him 13 points in 12 games on an incredible 26.9 percent shooting percentage since joining the Comets.
Hunter Shinkaruk is now up to 25 points on the season after goals in his last five straight games. And college defenseman Ben Hutton scored a beauty in his very first game as a pro, cutting through the Rochester defense like it was butter:
Replay of Ben Hutton's first goal as a pro in the #AHL with @Comets - #Canucks https://t.co/SwVHXHzWDJ
— Mr.Matt (@Mister_Matt_79) April 2, 2015With four games remaining, the Comets are now sitting first in the AHL's Western Conference, one point ahead of Grand Rapids and San Antonio.
Already riding high after getting the Comets franchise into the postseason in just its second year of existence, the players got a little extra dose of inspiration from the big chiefs after their win:
Utica gm Pat Conacher raving about Linden & Benning who talked to the players after the game. #Canucks
— News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) April 2, 2015Linden was also interviewed during the game:
Highlights and a can't miss interview with @VanCanucks …‹ President (9:48 mark), Trevor Linden.
#CometsTV: https://t.co/r35GCTjzIX
— Utica Comets (@UticaComets) April 2, 2015During that interview, Linden confirmed that we should be looking for Ryan Miller to be game-ready as the playoffs are set to begin in two weeks' time:
"Ryan Miller is taking shots in practice and he's probably a couple weeks away." -Trevor Linden
— Don Laible (@CometsTales) April 2, 2015Can't wait to see how that plays out.
Enjoy the game tonight!