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Florida Panthers at Vancouver Canucks – Tuesday November 19 - 7:00 pm - Sportsnet Pacific, Fox Sports Florida
Vancouver Canucks 11-8-3 fifth in Pacific Division Florida Panthers 5-12-4 seventh in Atlantic Division
The Vancouver Canucks are looking to move back into the win column when they face the NHL's 28th-place Florida Panthers on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena.
The Panthers are the only team in the NHL that has never won a game at Rogers Arena/GM Place. Florida's only road win against in franchise history against the Canucks came in their very first NHL season—a 2-1 win in March of 1994 at the Pacific Coliseum.
Since Peter Horachek took over as head coach from Kevin Dineen on November 8, the Panthers have gone 2-3. The strange part is that their wins came against strong Western Conference teams—the Ducks and the Avalanche. Don't put those two points in the bank just yet.
The game has some intrigue thanks to the trade rumours that have been swirling around the two teams. Tonight's matchup should also be the first time that Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas have faced off since Thomas hoisted the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Stanley Cup over his head at Rogers Arena as a member of the Boston Bruins on June 15, 2011.
@strombone1 is in fine form with respect to that situation. Let the tire-pumping begin:
Just at Canadian Tire picking up a few essentials for tomorrow's big tilt....... pic.twitter.com/0XXjbBbpNt
— Strombone (@strombone1) November 18, 2013John Tortorella juggled his lines again in practice on Monday in an effort to find the scoring spark his team desperately needs. He's pulled Mike Santorelli back up to the second line, on the wing with Kesler and Higgins. Brad Richardson moves up to the third line to centre Hansen and Kassian, and David Booth was one of five players on the fourth line.
UPDATE 11:30 AM: Dale Weise is expected to draw back into the lineup after his injury. It looks like Zac Dalpe and David Booth are the scratches, and Booth is admitting that his skating is an issue:
Nux LW DavidBooth confirms he is scratched tonight vs Fla. Skating an issue. "My explosiveness isn't where it was in the past." #Canucks
— Elliott Pap (@ElliottPap) November 19, 2013Even through the scoring drought, Torts continues to play his horses. Ryan Kesler now leads all NHL forwards in average ice time, eight seconds ahead of Sidney Crosby at 22:47 per game. The twins are third and fourth, with Henrik at 22:32 and Daniel at 22:05.
The Canucks' inability to score is a trend that goes back to last season, but the problem does look different this year under Tortorella's more aggressive system. Vancouver is currently fifth in the league with 718 total shots, but 20th in goals per game, at 2.50. Last year, they finished 20th in shots and 19th in goals, with an average of 2.54 per game.
It looks like there is some merit to Torts' assertion that some of this drought can be attributed to bad puck-luck (and poor officiating). If the Canucks keep shooting at their current rate, the goals should come...hopefully soon!
After the departure of Keith Ballard last summer, the Canucks still have five former Panthers in their lineup: David Booth, Chris Higgins, Mike Santorelli, Jason Garrison and Roberto Luongo. The Panthers have just one ex-Canuck, defenseman Mike Weaver, although Ed Jovanovski is still on the roster on injured reserve. The 37-year-old managed just six games last season before undergoing season-ending hip surgery in April. He has one more year remaining on his contract after this season, with a cap hit of $4.125 million.
As far as the possibility of a trade at some point between the two teams, Elliotte Friedman asserts once again that Vancouver is interested in Shawn Matthias in his 30 Thoughts column. I'll be keeping an eye on big No. 18 tonight.
Quick Hits:
- In case you were worried:
#Canucks defenseman Yannick Weber has cleared waivers.
— News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) November 19, 2013- Look for the Canucks in the reality spotlight this winter. The NHL announced on Monday that in addition to its four-week "24/7" program leading up to the Winter Classic between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings, the league is also debuting a new reality series called "NHL Revealed: A Season Like No Other."
Airing on CBC and NBC Sports Network, the seven-part series will shine the spotlight on teams including the Canucks as they prepare for the 2014 Winter Olympics and their outdoor games, including Vancouver's Heritage Classic game against Ottawa on March 2. Since it's running on broadcast television, expect the foul language to be dubbed out. Still, this should be our chance to find out if the twins swear a blue streak behind the scenes. Torts should certainly deliver.
"NHL Revealed" will debut in Canada on January 23 on CBC.
- The Florida Panthers announced today that they're naming their press box in honour of their original coach Roger Neilson. Of course, Neilson also coached the Canucks from 1982-83 and has a statue in his honour outside the entrance of Rogers Arena.