Saturday March 14 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs - 4:00 p.m. - CBC, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 38-25-4, 80 points, third in Pacific Division Toronto Maple Leafs: 26-36-6, 60 points, seventh in Atlantic Division
To the consternation of many of you, the Vancouver Canucks will be lining up for a 4:00 afternoon contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Rogers Arena today.
I don't mind it at all. It takes me back to the old days, when there was only one Hockey Night in Canada game on Saturday nights, at 5:00 p.m. PT. And tonight, it also allows me to double up on work, heading off to my DJ job right after the hockey game is over. It could be tight, but should work out.
After Thursday's disheartening loss to the Kings, and bearing in mind that Vancouver lost 5-2 at the ACC back on December 6, it's easy to be nervous about how tonight's game will unfold. But really, the Leafs are beyond hapless, as Jeff Paterson reminds us:
#Canucks facing a team that is 1-15-2 in last 18 road games today. The win came when Florida ran out of healthy goalies
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) March 14, 2015One Leafs player to watch out for tonight is David Booth, who's on a six-game point streak, including two goals last night in Calgary. Booth remains on Toronto's third line, playing with Leo Komarov and Trevor Smith.
Prodigal son Nazem Kadri is also expected back in the Leafs' lineup tonight after sitting out three games for disciplinary reasons.
There's no game-day skate today, but Canucks.com reports that the cavalry is ready to arrive.
Kevin Bieksa, Yannick Weber, Chris Higgins and Brad Richardson are all said to be ready for duty, though Alex Burrows will be a game-day decision after missing yesterday's practice.
That, I think, should return us to our original defense pairings, which look pretty good at this point.
Edler-Tanev, Hamhuis-Bieksa, Sbisa-Weber
It was exactly four weeks ago that Edler and Tanev were injured. I'm sure Hamhuis and Sbisa are breathing a sign of relief that they got through this stretch in good health and nothing too awful went wrong.
Just a reminder after Thursday's lousy loss—Vancouver has managed to put up a 7-5-1 over the last 28 days—not bad at all when you consider all the injury issues.
Eddie Lack will start tonight, and will be backed up by Joacim Ericsson. The Canucks announced on Friday that Jacob Markstrom has been returned to Utica and is going to have to bear the cross of that awful NHL stat line: one game played, .250 save percentage, 22.50 goals-against average.
I had been hoping that Markstrom would get a start next week against either Philadelphia or Columbus and that may still happen.
Markstrom was sent down to Utica to play. Will be back after playing. Ericsson to replace him in Van
— Jason Botchford (@botchford) March 13, 2015Every point is critical right now, and after sitting for 10 days following his March 3 appearance against the Sharks, he's bound to be both rusty and nervous. Markstrom could be back as early as Monday.
In other Canucks news from Friday, the team announced the free-agent signing of Edmonton Oil Kings captain Ashton Sautner.
Sautner's a 20-year-old left-shooting defenseman, 6'1" and 193 pounds. He's 12th in WHL scoring among defensemen this year with 12 goals and 48 points. He has extensive playoff experience in his three previous WHL seasons and was part of the Oil Kings' 2014 Memorial Cup-winning team.
Sautner will be eligible to report to the Utica Comets when his junior year is concluded.
One final story to wrap up today, courtesy of Brad Ziemer.
Past and present #Canucks mourn the loss of their trusted friend and loyal confidant Mark Slavin. http://t.co/cl92YWF1ou
— Brad Ziemer (@BradZiemer) March 14, 2015A very moving tale of a man who has been a friend to many Canucks—for decades. And a peek behind the curtain at a guy like Kevin Bieksa going the extra mile to lend a hand to someone in trouble. He really does have the heart of a lion.
I expect the Canucks to get a boost from the emotion that Bieksa brings when they hit the ice tonight. Enjoy the game!