Lots to cover today. First I'll look at Friday's win over Columbus, then preview tonight's matchup against Chicago.
Game Review: Friday November 22: Vancouver Canucks 6 Columbus Blue Jackets 2
The Vancouver Canucks earned two points for the first time in six games when they beat the undermanned Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 on Friday night at Rogers Arena.
Here are your highlights:
For a game that ended so well, the start looked like it was going to be more of the same. In his first game of the season, Matt Calvert blew around Zack Kassian and made a power move to the net to open the scoring for the Jackets at 2:47—once again, on the opposition's first shot of the game. Thirty seconds later, a near-goal by Tom Sestito was determined by video review not to have crossed the line completely. The score remained 1-0 and the sense of doom set in.
The Canucks took it to the undermanned Blue Jackets in the first period. Despite outshooting their opponents 14-4, it looked like they'd be heading into the dressing room down a goal until Daniel Sedin finally broke his goose egg with 16 seconds to go in the frame. The goal finally ended Daniel's six-game pointless streak—his longest since 2003.
Daniel would go on to add two more assists before the night was out, with Henrik also chipping in for two goals. The twins started the game on separate lines but were reunited before the end of the first period and did most of their damage together.
The Blue Jackets' last visit to Rogers Arena was on March 26, 2013. That night, Sergei Bobrovsky and Cory Schneider battled to a scoreless tie through 65 minutes before Max Lapierre finally won the game for Vancouver in the shootout.
Bobrovsky looked like a very different goaltender on Friday night. For the first time in awhile, the Canucks had a strong net-front presence, leaving Bob scrambling and flailing instead of playing his structured butterfly style of last season.
The Blue Jackets' top defenseman and leading scorer, James Wisniewski, was a late scratch before Friday's game. I suspect his absence left a hole on Columbus' back end that Vancouver was able to exploit. They probably won't have such easy access to Corey Crawford on Saturday night against Chicago.
In addition to picking up two much-needed points, the Canucks were able to use the lopsided score to their advantage. The fourth line logged some solid ice time in the third period, finishing with around nine minutes, though Tom Sestito was a little lower after picking up seven minutes in penalties following a scrap with Nick Foligno. Fourth-liner Jeremy Welsh scored his first-ever NHL goal on a nice redirect of a Ryan Stanton shot with 29 seconds left in the game, and Stanton picked up three assists to bring his point total to 10 on the season—second among rookie defensemen behind Boston's Torey Krug. Seth Jones who?
Quick Hits:
- For a glimpse at what's happening behind the scenes in Canuck-land, follow Francesco Aquilini's girlfriend Martine Argent on Twitter. Among other things, she tweets photos from the owner's suite. Last night, for the second time in a week, Pat Quinn was on hand and this time was pictured with Aquilini himself, so it appears that fractured relationship is indeed on the mend:
The wonderful #PatQuinn & #FrancescoAquilini #rogers pic.twitter.com/zsLsOGKpDS
— Martine Argent (@MartineArgent) November 23, 2013- David Booth was scratched again on Friday night and had a private audience with coach Tortorella after the game. No word yet on what will transpire here.
Torts just went into #Canucks training room with Booth. Wants to speak to him privately it looks like.
— Matt Lee (@mattlee980) November 23, 2013Game Day: Chicago Blackhawks at Vancouver Canucks – Saturday November 23 - 7:00 pm - CBC, NHL Network-US
Vancouver Canucks 12-8-4 fifth in Pacific Division Chicago Blackhawks 15-4-4 first in Central Division
Friday's win sets the stage for the Canucks to meet the Chicago Blackhawks for the first time this year with a sense of renewed confidence. They'll need to be at their best to compete with the 'Hawks, who are showing no sign of a Stanley Cup Hangover. They currently sit one point out of top spot in the NHL.
With lots of bad blood between the two teams, the game promises to be an engaging tilt. Chicago is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games but is in the midst of what they're calling the "Circus" road trip. They've been blown out in Colorado and beaten Winnipeg so far, then will go on to face Edmonton, Calgary, Dallas and Phoenix next week before heading home.
Marian Hossa was back in the lineup for the 'Hawks against Winnipeg after missing three games and made an immediate contribution at both ends of the ice. Chicago is still missing Bryan Bickell, Michael Handzus, and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, who are all out with injuries.
Patrick Kane has 13 points during his current nine-game point streak and Kris Versteeg has four points in four games since being traded back to Chicago last week.
Though he did not take the morning skate on Saturday, Roberto Luongo is starting against Chicago:
Luongo starts for #Canucks. Confirmed
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) November 23, 2013Luongo wasn't busy on Friday—he faced just 16 shots—but he generally likes to take shots on game day when he's playing. Starting goalies don't play back-to-back much in the regular season, but it does happen with some frequency in the playoffs, so it's not completely uncharted territory.
An interesting wrinkle to what promises to be an exciting game. I'll be back tomorrow with a report. Enjoy!
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