Saturday December 6 - Vancouver Canucks at Toronto Maple Leafs - 4:00 p.m. - CBC, TSN1040 Vancouver Canucks 18-7-1 second in Pacific Division Toronto Maple Leafs 13-9-3 fourth in Atlantic Division
Tonight's the night when the Vancouver Canucks get to show Canadians east of Alberta just what this year's hockey team is made of.
To summarize the Canucks' performance so far:
• fourth overall in NHL standings • first overall on the road (11-4-0) • tied for second overall in wins • fifth overall in points earned per game • sixth overall in goals per game • 15th overall in goals against per game • 12th overall on the power play (now 20.2 percent) • seventh overall on the penalty kill (now 84.9 percent) • 20th overall on faceoffs (now 48.8 percent; a big improvement from earlier in the season)
The Canucks are currently riding a two-game win streak after shutting out the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 on Thursday, which brings their record so far on the current seven-game road trip to 3-1-0.
No changes to the Canucks lineup tonight:
#Canucks line combs & D pairs: 22-33-17/20-13-14/27-15-7 /51-53-36 (extras 29 & 46) 23-8/5-3/18-6 (extra 26)
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) December 6, 2014Defenseman Dan Hamhuis has been sidelined since November 20th with a groin injury. Despite being one of the team's most reliable defensemen, the Canucks have allowed just nine goals in six games in his absence.
Windsor, Ontario naive Zack Kassian has been sidelined with a finger injury since November 25th, just before the beginning of the road trip. He has been replaced on the wing on the third line by Linden Vey, who has three points and is a plus-three in his four games as a fill-in.
The Canucks were 1-1 against the Leafs last year. They shut out Toronto 4-0 at home on November 2 in a game that will be remembered as coming hot on the heels of the Sedins' contract extensions. Pavel Bure's No. 10 jersey was retired before the game, Dave Bolland suffered a bad skate cut courtesy of Kassian and the feisty game featured 94 minutes in penalties. Colton Orr and David Clarkson led that category for Toronto, while Tom Sestito and Kassian were the top bad boys for Vancouver.
The Canucks also outshot Toronto 47-21 in that game, led by an unbelievable 12 shots on goal by Alex Edler.
The tables were turned in February. In their last game before the Olympic break—and what turned out to be Roberto Luongo's last start as a Canuck—Vancouver lost its seventh straight game when it dropped a 3-1 decision to the Leafs at the ACC.
The Leafs have had some bumpy spots in the early going this year—most notably their 9-2 loss to the Nashville Predators back on November 18. But they've been better lately, going 4-1-1 in the six games since then and sitting in the first Wild Card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
One of the reasons for their improved play has been the steady contribution of ex-Canuck Mike Santorelli, who has found a home as a second-line winger, playing with Joffrey Lupul and Nazem Kadri. Santorelli has nine points in his last five games, 18 points in 25 games, and ranks fourth in Leafs scoring. He also leads his team with an impressive plus-13. It has been another solid season for the Canuck cast-off.
Not so much for David Booth, who suffered a broken foot during preseason. He has played just four games so far, most recently on the fourth line with Trevor Smith and Richard Panik, and has yet to score his first point for the blue and white.
To his credit, Booth has been a pretty good quote when reminiscing about his old team:
David Booth on old Canucks coach Tortorella: "He thought I was weird & I thought he was weird"
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) December 6, 2014Expect to see Ryan Miller face Jonathan Bernier in net tonight. Bernier's workload is approaching Cory Schneider-like standards as he makes his eighth straight start.
It's an early start, of course. 4:00 on Hockey Night in Canada.
I'm looking forward to it. Enjoy the game!