With the Vancouver Canucks in tough on their current road trip, the focus turned to Utica last night for the Comets' 2014-15 home opener.
Thanks for all the news and notes on the Comets in yesterday's comment section. The game was a good one. With Jacob Markstrom in net, the Comets beat the Adirondack Flames by a score of 3-0 in front of a sold-out crowd.
Among the spectators:
In addition:
Though I expected Jim Benning to start the season with the Canucks lineup he assembled over the summer, I'm not so sure that changes won't be made if the team continues to show obvious weaknesses—like the problems in the face-off circle.
I wonder if Benning could get Manny Malhotra back from Montreal? Probably pretty unlikely, huh?
I don't think the Canucks are keen to part with any of their young forwards, but Jacob Markstrom is quickly turning himself into a tradable asset thanks to his perfect play in the early going. That'll be something to watch.
Utica's homestand continues this weekend with games against San Antonio on Friday and Toronto on Saturday.
Now, back to our regularly-scheduled programming:
Vancouver Canucks at St. Louis Blues - Thursday October 23 - 5:00 p.m. - Sportsnet Vancouver, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks 3-2-0 fifth in Pacific Division
St. Louis Blues 2-2-1 fourth in Central Division
The Vancouver Canucks will be looking to rebound from an unfortunate start to their first road trip of the season when they face the St. Louis Blues.
Though the Blues are considered one of the better squads in the Central Division, the Canucks dispatched them with relative ease last year, winning all three games. The best of the bunch was Eddie Lack's 3-2 overtime win on October 25, 2013, on the second half of a back-to-back at the end of a tough road trip.
According to
Canucks.com, Lack's perfect record against the Blues last season won't be enough to earn him the start tonight.
Although an official announcement was not made, the early indications after yesterday's optional practice suggested that Miller would get the call for tonight's tilt.
Ryan Miller is obviously familiar with the team from the time he spent with the Blues at the end of last season, and should be motivated. He'll want to prove that his sub-par play in St. Louis last year was an aberration, as well as showing that he can bounce back from a tough game in Dallas on Tuesday.
No other lineup notes have surfaced for the Canucks. Based on Willie Desjardins' comments from yesterday's radio interview, I don't expect any significant changes.
I do hope, on the blueline, that he deploys Hamhuis and Bieksa, Edler and Tanev, Sbisa and Weber.
The Canucks will have an opportunity to take advantage of a team that's firing at less than 100 percent. The Blues are off to a humble 2-2-1 start and were shut out by Anaheim in their last game by a score of 3-0.
A nasty case of the flu is making its way through the St. Louis dressing room, which is raising all kinds of questions about tonight's lineup.
From today's optional morning skate:
Here are the line combinations as they looked at Tuesday's practice, which should offer some sort of guidance:
Alexander Steen has been one of the hardest hit by the flu. He made an appearance at the rink this morning but didn't skate, so his status probably falls somewhere between "questionable" and "probable."
Prized free-agent signing Paul Stastny suffered a shoulder injury last weekend and will not play.
Rookie Jake Allen will get the start in net for the Blues. This will be just his second start of the season, after backstopping his team to a 6-1 win over Arizona last Saturday.
Considering St. Louis' health issues, this should be a winnable game for the Canucks. Hopefully they can right the ship and give themselves a chance to squeeze a .500 record out of this road trip with a decent performance in Colorado on Friday.
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