Saturday November 14 - Vancouver Canucks at Toronto Maple Leafs - 4:00 p.m. - CBC, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 17 GP, 7-5-5, 19 pts, third in Pacific Division Toronto Maple Leafs: 16 GP, 4-8-4, 12 pts, eighth in Atlantic Division
The Toronto Maple Leafs are playing their best hockey of the year as they prepare to host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday in the Hockey Night in Canada feature game from the Air Canada Centre.
Just a week ago, I included the Leafs in this piece for Bleacher Report as their 2-8-2 record to start the season put them on track for potentially their worst season in franchise history.
They showed me! With a record of 2-0-2 since I wrote that article, Toronto's still in last place in the Atlantic but has climbed within three points of Boston and Florida. The team has just arrived home after road wins against two tough Western Conference foes in Dallas and Nashville and goaltender James Reimer has been on fire.
Reimer has started six straight games since Jonathan Bernier went down with a lower-body injury.
Since Bernier injury, James Reimer is 3-1-2 with a .942 sv% ... his season sv% is up to .920 (19th in NHL)
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 13, 2015Bernier's now back in the lineup, but Reimer's expected to start his seventh game in 13 nights tonight, while Bernier will get the nod against the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Maybe he's due for a clunker?
Even with their recent success, the Leafs are not exactly an offensive juggernaut. They 27th in the league offensively while the Canucks are tied for fourth (!) and are being led in scoring by two defensemen—West Vancouver's Morgan Rielly with 11 points and Dion Phaneuf with nine.
Ex-Canuck Shawn Matthias has just one goal so far this season, but two of his three assists on the year have come in the last two games.
As for Frankie Corrado, he remains a forgotten man in the Toronto press box.
Asked if he considered giving Corrado a look v his old team, all Babcock would say is, "No" ... Frankie sits yet again
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 14, 2015Frankie's only hockey since he was picked up on waivers by the Leafs was a seven-game conditioning stint with the AHL's Toronto Marlies, where he earned three assists and was a plus-two.
As for the Canucks—(UPDATE)—they've just recalled Hunter Shinkaruk from the Utica Comets!
Shinkaruk gets the call from #Canucks. Tonight??
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) November 14, 2015Shinkaruk's tied for the AHL lead with 10 goals in 12 games. I'd love to see what he can do tonight.
The possibility of some fresh blood also helps distract me from my disappointment that apparently management didn't consider the result of my poll in Friday's blog before choosing tonight's starting goaltender.
Ryan Miller looks to be the #canucks starter tonight in Toronto.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) November 14, 2015For those of us on the Markstrom watch, here's all we have so far:
News from #Canucks skate: Markstrom expected to get 1 of next 3 games remaining on road-trip, per Desjardins #TSN1040
— Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) November 13, 2015We all know how goalie controversies start to brew in this town. In my latest piece for Canucks Army, I argue that the next round is about to unfurl.
Both goalies are participating in today's optional morning skate:
Optional #Canucks skate this morning. Hutton, Horvat, Hansen, McCann, Virtanen, Cracknell, Miller & Markstrom.
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) November 14, 2015Brandon Sutter's expected to miss his second straight game.
Our @DTSN1040 tell us that Brandon Sutter has a lower-body injury that has bothered him for some time. Day-to-day. #CanucksOn1040
— Matthew Sekeres (@mattsekeres) November 13, 2015It's another big night for the kids, as Jared McCann returns to his home region for the first time as an NHLer.
After last year's gold-medal World Junior experience, Jake Virtanen sounds like he has some very fond memories of the ACC:
"It's always pretty sweet being in this building. It's a big game tonight and we need the win. Can't wait" - Virtanen #Canucks
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) November 14, 2015Here's how the line combinations looked in practice on Friday. The Kid Line is back together!
Sedin-Sedin-Hansen
Baertschi-Horvat-Virtanen
Higgins-McCann-Vrbata
Burrows-Cracknell-Dorsett
Edler-Tanev
Hamhuis-Weber
Hutton-Bartkowski
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) November 13, 2015Special teams have also seen a bit of a shakeup.
Jannik Hansen on the 1st unit power play? Jannik Hansen on the 1st unit power play.
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) November 13, 2015Yes, Jannik Hansen has replaced Radim Vrbata on PP1. Not only is Hansen third in team scoring with 10 points compared to seven for the struggling Vrbata, he's also the top plus-minus man on the team at plus-10, while Vrbata ranks dead last at minus-nine. Given that the Canucks' three shorthanded goals surrendered in the last five games have burned them just as much as their 1-for-18 production with the man advantage over those same five games, Hansen's speed and defensive presence could be just as valuable tonight as his suddenly soft hands.
Despite their strong road record last season, the Canucks dropped a 5-2 decision to the Leafs at the ACC last December 6. Here's hoping they'll be able to flip the script tonight.
Enjoy the game!