Thursday January 8 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Florida Panthers - 7:00 p.m. - Sportnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 23-12-3, 49 points, second in Pacific Division Florida Panthers: 17-11-9, 43 points, sixth in Atlantic Division
He's ba-a-a-ck.
Roberto Luongo will play his first game at Rogers Arena since a 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on January 29, 2014 when the Florida Panthers visit the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Since the Panthers have already been in town for several days, there's not much more to add. We've got the Luongo vs. Miller Olympic matchup and a tribute planned for the Canucks' all-time winningest goalie (though Cory Schneider does have him beat for franchise record save percentage and goals-against average).
A few more interesting faces will also be in the mix tonight:
Ex-Canuck Willie Mitchell is captaining the surprising Panthers at age 37, and defenseman Shane O'Brien could also see action. He has appeared in Florida's last two games, his first of the season.
O'Brien made a bit of a reputation for himself during his time in Vancouver, which Luongo wasn't shy about digging up as the Panthers headed into town:
What are your office hours this week @RoxyVancouver ? Just asking for a friend ------------>@ShaneOBrien55
— Strombone (@strombone1) January 5, 2015Though O'Brien has passed through Nashville, Colorado and Calgary before landing in Florida, general manager Dale Tallon is taking a benevolent attitude:
Panthers GM Tallon on Shane O'Brien: "You like to give guys second chances. I wasn't exactly an angel myself. He's been a model citizen."
— Ben Kuzma (@benkuzma) January 8, 2015With just one playoff appearance in their past 13 seasons, the Panthers' lineup is filled with high draft picks. Since they don't earn a lot of TV time, here's a reminder of the players we'll see in the lineup tonight that have been drafted by the organization:
Aaron Ekblad - 1st overall in 2014 Aleksander Barkov - 2nd overall in 2013 Jonathan Huberdeau - 3rd overall in 2011 Eric Gudbranson - 3rd overall in 2010 Nick Bjugstad - 19th overall in 2010 Dmitri Kulikov - 14th overall in 2009
My takeaways from this list:
• if not for their first-rounders, the Panthers would have nothing at all • look how long they've been accumulating talent, and one could still argue that the difference in the team's success rate this year has been the addition of veterans like Luongo, Mitchell and Jussi Jokinen
Worth noting: the first-rounder that Florida obtained from Vancouver in the Keith Ballard trade in 2010 turned into Quinton Howden. He has played just 34 NHL games and is currently toiling with the San Antonio Rampage in the AHL.
Also worth nothing: there's talk this week that Ballard might retire after having suffered his third concussion in 14 months back in December on a terrible hit into the boards by the New York Islanders' Matt Martin.
Maybe Ballard's career here in Vancouver could have been different if he hadn't been constantly derailed by injuries. If he didn't have bad luck, it seems Ballard would have no luck at all.
Back to tonight's matchup: Here's a fun number from Canucks.com: Luongo has never beaten the Canucks. He has given up eight goals in three appearances, going 0-1-1.
On the Canuck side, both Brad Richardson and Radim Vrbata took part in the Canucks' optional morning skate on Thursday:
#Canucks for optional: brad Richardson, Vey, Horvat, Hansen, Vrbata, Burrows, Weber, Sbisa, Corrado, Hamhuis (lower body) and goalie Lack.
— Jim Jamieson (@JamiesonCanucks) January 8, 2015Farhan Lalji thinks, despite his good game on Tuesday, that Linden Vey will end up as the odd man out:
Looks like Vey is the last fwd off the I've. Both he and Horvat stayed out late. Looks like both Kassian & Richardson will play. #canucks
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) January 8, 2015We've also good some good news regarding a potential return for Dan Hamhuis:
#Canucks coach Desjardins said Dan Hamhuis is way ahead of schedule (lower body), but wouldn't commit to a timeframe on his return.
— Jim Jamieson (@JamiesonCanucks) January 8, 2015All things considered, the defense has hung together pretty well in the seven weeks since Hammer tore his groin. The team has gone 10-6-2 and given up 40 goals in those 18 games.
Even better, Vancouver has allowed more than two goals just once in its last eight games—last Thursday, against the Kings, they were burned for three.
The last time the defense did worse that that was on December 13—the 5-1 loss to the Rangers. That was when Kevin Bieksa and Luca Sbisa were still playing together.
Willie put Bieksa with Ryan Stanton and Sbisa with Yannick Weber for the next game. Vancouver still lost 2-0 to Dallas, but the improvement in the goals-against was instantaneous and the wins started coming back shortly thereafter.
I wonder how the pairs will look once Hamhuis returns?