Monday November 16 - Vancouver Canucks at Montreal Canadiens - 4:30 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, RDS, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 18 GP, 7-6-5, 19 pts, third in Pacific Division Montreal Canadiens: 18 GP, 13-3-2, 18 pts, first in Atlantic Division
The Vancouver Canucks have confirmed that they'll use Jacob Markstrom in net as they try to salvage the second win of their seven-game road trip on Monday night in Montreal.
No Burrows or Sutter tonight. Markstrom starts. Prust and Sbisa still need some skates with group. Shinkaruk will make NHL debut. #Canucks
— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) November 16, 2015Markstrom picked up the only other win of the trip so far, against the NHL's last-place team in Columbus. Now he'll face one of the best—though the Habs are now listed third overall, two points behind the New York Rangers (who won their ninth straight game on Sunday) and tied with the Dallas Stars.
I'm sure that Montreal native Alex Burrows is disappointed to be missing a game in his hometown, but he returned to Vancouver to be with his family; something that coach Willie is calling a "good thing."
If you can parse through the French, you'll see that this Montreal Journal reporter is confirming that the reason is the birth of Burrows' third child.
#Canucks: Alex Burrows ne jouera pas contre les #Habs ce soir. De retour à Vancouver pour la naissance d'un 3e enfant.
— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) November 16, 2015Needless to say, Hunter Shinkaruk is thrilled with the opportunity to make his NHL debut.
"The first NHL bed sheets I had were Canadiens. They were from my grandparents, kind of funny" - Shinkaruk, all smiles #Canucks
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) November 16, 2015After visiting the ACC on Saturday, the Canucks' kids are soaking in the atmosphere of the Bell Centre today.
Been a lot of photos taken by the #Canucks this morning.
"This building is something else" - @jaredmccann19 pic.twitter.com/kVwbCewv4i
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) November 16, 2015Last night, the group gathered at the restaurant that Brandon Prust co-owns for a team dinner, complete with custom six-course menu and an appearance by Prust's "Hockey Wives" fiancee, Maripier Morin.
Toujours un honneur d'accueillir les @VanCanucks! Avec @maripiermorin en plus...c'est la cerise sur le sundae 😊 pic.twitter.com/GcOk9Z2VSy
— Restaurant Laurea (@RestoLaurea) November 16, 2015Prust's not ready to get back into the lineup yet, so at the game tonight he'll be extending his hospitality to three dozen underprivileged kids for a very special game-night experience.
.@BrandonPrust8 will roll out Bell Centre's red carpet for youngsters at #Canucks vs #Habs https://t.co/GJuuwTmGNz https://t.co/P9tEnESqpO
— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) November 13, 2015Dave Stubbs says Prust's about a week away from getting back into the lineup, but even though he called out New Jersey's Bobby Farnham on Twitter last week for celebrating excessively after fighting Jake Virtanen, Prust was testy when asked if he was targeting the Canucks' rematch with the Devils next Sunday as a possible return date.
Prust on possibility of return vs NJ "I'm not going to be making a comeback just for that..you focus on winning a hockey game" #TSN1040
— Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) November 15, 2015We also have a little more information on Luca Sbisa, who has missed the last seven games. He's also getting closer, but not quite ready to return.
Sbisa reveals he twisted his left foot during the last shift in Arizona, after getting tangled up along the boards #Canucks #TSN1040
— Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) November 15, 2015Here's how the lines rolled at practice yesterday.
Sedin-Sedin-Hansen
Baertschi-Horvat-Virtanen
Higgins-McCann-Vrbata
Shinkaruk-Cracknell-Dorsett
Edler-Tanev
Hamhuis-Weber
Hutton-Bartkowski
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) November 15, 2015Expect to see something similar tonight—the Canucks only had an optional skate this morning.
Nine players and two goalies taking part in #Canucks optional skate this morning. pic.twitter.com/ksguHsC8bQ
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) November 16, 2015Shinkaruk's call-up comes as he's in a three-way for the AHL scoring lead, with 10 goals in 12 games. A fourth-line spot might not be the perfect place for him, but it suggests that the organization is becoming more impressed with Shinkaruk's two-way game.
Brendan Gaunce might have been a more logical fit for the role, but he was skating in a no-contact sweater during practice with the Comets last week. Gaunce did play on the weekend, in a pair of road losses to Springfield and Syracuse.
Here's Willie's scouting report on the Habs for tonight:
"Lots of speed, like lots and lots of speed.… - Willie Desjardins on the #Habs.
One "lots" wasn't enough.
— Ðrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) November 16, 2015With Carey Price still on the shelf, the Canadiens are turning back to rookie Mike Condon in net tonight after he was pulled on Saturday against Colorado. The Canadiens had the run of the play through the first two periods but were stymied by the Avs' Reto Berra, while Condon gave up four goals on 11 shots through 40 minutes—including two nearly-identical goals by Nathan MacKinnon just 13 seconds apart late in the first period.
Saturday's loss was the first in regulation of 25-year-old Condon's nine-game NHL career. He's now 6-1-2 with a 2.06 goals-against and a .921 save percentage.
It'll be interesting to see if he bounces back or if Saturday's events shake up his confidence.
Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin's expected to miss tonight's game with a lower-body injury. Despite the loss on Saturday, Alexander Semin's expected to draw in for a second straight game after having been a healthy scratch for the seven previous games. His last ice time before being sent to the press box came when the Canucks defeated the Canadiens at Rogers Arena on October 27.
Ex-Canuck Dale Weise is still tied for Montreal's team lead with eight goals, but he has cooled off. He's pointless in his last three games.
Enjoy the game!