Saturday November 11 - Vancouver Canucks at San Jose Sharks - 7 p.m. - CBC, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 16 GP, 8-6-2, 18 pts, third in Pacific Division
San Jose Sharks: 14 GP, 8-6-0, 16 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
Travis Green is making some tweaks to his lineup in preparation for the Vancouver Canucks' third game of their Pacific Division road trip, Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks.
First off—Thatcher Demko and Reid Boucher were returned to the Utica Comets on Friday to open up some roster spaces.
Anders Nilsson has rejoined the team after welcoming his new baby, but Jacob Markstrom will make his seventh straight start tonight. Nilsson's last game was the win over Washington back on October 26, more than two weeks ago.
Loui Eriksson is also expected to draw back in after missing exactly four weeks. His knee injury came against the Calgary Flames back on October 14, when Tanner Glass pushed him into the net on his first shift of that game.
“I thought it was little dirty,” Eriksson told
Ben Kuzma of
The Province on Friday. “I came at a pretty high speed and he pushed me from behind and I couldn’t really do anything."
Eriksson skated with Daniel and Henrik Sedin on Friday, so it looks like Jake Virtanen will be scratched tonight and we'll get to see the three Swedes together—as we had expected when Eriksson was signed to his big contract.
"I don’t want to talk about last year because it was such a tough year and all I can think about is the next game," Eriksson told Kuzma. "Hopefully, it turns around and I can get my confidence going. You need the bounces and pucks going your way.
"All I can do is help them (Sedins) out and get something good going together. If we can get something going, we can be a real dangerous line."
As for Virtanen...
Virtanen and the Sedins were virtually invisible in Anaheim. It'll be interesting to see if the twins can get something going with Eriksson tonight.
After sitting out during the loss to Anaheim on Thursday, it looks like Alex Burmistrov will also draw back into his spot with Sam Gagner and Thomas Vanek. That'll bump Markus Granlund back with Brandon Sutter and Derek Dorsett—and bump Brendan Gaunce to the press box.
So, this is what we have up front:
Travis Green has also shuffled his blue-line pairings after Thursday's loss.
As for the Sharks, they had a four-game winning streak snapped when they got bulldozed by the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday—a 5-1 loss. The Sharks and Canucks are tied as the fourth-best defensive team in the league, allowing 2.50 goals against per game, but unlike Vancouver in recent games, San Jose's penalty kill is excellent—second best in the league with an 88.5 percent kill rate.
The Sharks also allow the fewest shots per game—28.0—which could create a challenge for the Canucks. They've had trouble generating offense recently, recording less than 30 shots in each of their last four games.
Surprisingly, the Sharks have struggled to score this season. Vancouver currently ranks 22nd in the league with 2.67 goals per game—an improvement for the Canucks over recent years—but San Jose is 26th at 2.57 goals per game.
Some of that could be a result of the loss of Patrick Marleau to free agency. It's also because Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns is still looking for his first goal of the season.
Last year, Burns led the league with 320 shots over 82 games. He's averaging 4.2 shots per game so far this year, which puts him on pace for 346 shots—and yet he hasn't been able to find the net. Through 14 games last year, Burns had seven assists—the same as this season—but also already had six goals. So strange.
Also strange—the curious case of Jannik Hansen, who has struggled to make an impact since being traded to the Sharks at last year's trade deadline.
During his time in Vancouver, Hansen had a reputation for being frank in his interviews—and that didn't change during his radio spot on Sportsnet 650 on Friday.
Hansen has just one assist this season and has been a healthy scratch in six of San Jose's 14 games so far. He has been moved up to the third line for tonight's game and is expected to skate with Chris Tierney and fellow Dane Mikkel Boedker. Breakout time?
Defenseman Paul Martin is the Sharks' only current injury. He's not expected to play tonight.
Backup Aaron Dell will make his fourth start of the year. He's 1-2-0 so far, with a 2.45 goals-against average and .905 save percentage.
The Sharks have had the Canucks' number in recent years, winning all five meetings last season by a combined score of 17-5. Vancouver was 1-4 the previous season, with their last win coming in the Shark Tank on March 5, 2016, with Jacob Markstrom in net.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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