Tuesday January 6 - Vancouver Canucks vs. New York Islanders - 7:00 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 22-12-3, 47 points, second in Pacific Division New York Islanders: 26-12-1, 53 points, second in Metropolitan Division
Here's a surprise: it looks like Eddie Lack will get the start for the Vancouver Canucks tonight against the New York Islanders.
As we discussed yeseterday—Lack was shel-lacked last March when the Islanders came back in the third period to beat Vancouver 7-3. That can't happen again...can it?
We may actually see a battle of the backups tonight. The Islanders played what's being called one of their worst games of the season when they fell 5-2 to Edmonton on Sunday night, and Jaroslav Halak was uncharacteristically weak.
Backup Chad Johnson could get the call for the visitors: he has a 5-5-0 record in 11 appearances this season, with a 3.54 goals-against and .867 save percentage.
By comparison, Lack is sitting at 2-4-2 in 11 appearances, with a 2.59 goals-against and .916 save percentage.
In other Islanders roster news, ex-Canuck Michael Grabner has been activated from injured reserve after missing the last nine games with a lower-body injury. Grabner also missed 25 games due to hernia surgery earlier in the year: he has two goals in the five games that he has played this season.
Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky has just been placed on IR for the Isles with an upper-body injury.
Other than that, the team is healthy, looking to bounce back from the Edmonton loss, and trying to pass Pittsburgh to take over first place in the Metropolitan Division tonight. That's quite an achievement for a group that ended 2013-14 in the division cellar.
After looking at how Detroit built their team through the draft last weekend, I thought it'd be interesting to give equal time to the Islanders—who have had plenty of opportunity to take advantage of draft lottery picks.
Ryan Strome - 5th in 2011 Brock Nelson - 30th in 2010 John Tavares - 1st in 2009 Calvin de Haan - 12th in 2009 Casey Cizikas - 92nd in 2009 Anders Lee - 152nd in 2009 Josh Bailey - 8th in 2008 Travis Hamonic - 53rd in 2008 Matt Martin - 148th in 2008 Kyle Okposo - 7th in 2006
It's an interesting list. For all the top-level talent like Tavares, Okposo, Strome and Bailey, they've also done well at drafting later picks. Cizikas, Anders Lee and Matt Martin are all key members of their lineup, that they've been patient with, and Hamonic is a top-pairing defenseman.
Also, the turnaround for the Islanders has really come this year, when they added some glue through trades and free agency. Halak has been a big upgrade in net, Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy are anchoring the blue line, and Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin and Cal Clutterbuck are all contributing up front.
We don't get to see the Islanders very often—though they certainly left an impression when they were here last year. Should be interesting to check in on one of the league's most-improved teams tonight.
For the Canucks' part, Willie Desjardins shuffled his lines at practice on Monday, finally reuniting Alex Burrows with the Sedin twins and shifting Radim Vrbata down to the second line with the ice-cold Nick Bonino and Chris Higgins.
Desjardins said moving Burrows was to give #Canucks new look, he's excited to see if Vrbata can spark others.
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) January 5, 2015I'm fine with this move. Burrows has been a feisty and useful addition to the first power-play unit in recent weeks, and has shown in the past that he can be effective with the Sedins. His game is very different from Vrbata's but, he can help give the twins more time and space.
It'll also be interesting to see whether Vrbata's skillset translates to another line. If it works, it could help the team get more balanced scoring at five-on-five.
Virtanen Wins Gold, Forsling Selected to WJC All-Star Team
Excellent gold medal game on Monday to wrap up the 2015 World Junior Championship. Canada looked set to cruise to the easy win, but a surge by the Russians late in the second period pulled the score to 5-4 before Canada buckled down to preserve the win.
The game also featured tons of emotion, and at least one huge hit by our boy Jake Virtanen:
Virtanen finished the tournament with a goal, three assists, a plus-four, and a gold-medal memory that will last a lifetime. After five years of disappointment, it was great to see Canada roll confidently through the tournament, with barely a misstep.
The Swedes fell 4-2 to Slovakia on Monday, missing out on the bronze medal, but Canucks prospect Gustav Forsling was one of just two non-Canadians named to the tournament all-star team, along with amazing Slovak goalie Denis Godla, who was voted most valuable player of the tournament.
Godla's undrafted. I wonder how high he'll now be chosen next June?