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Team toughness the centre of attention as Vancouver Canucks face Sabres |
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Thursday January 25 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Buffalo Sabres - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 48 GP, 19-23-6, 44 pts, seventh in Pacific Division
Buffalo Sabres: 48 GP, 13-26-9, 35 pts, eighth in Atlantic Division
The Vancouver Canucks will head into the All-Star Break looking to keep their positive momentum alive when they host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks, of course, are coming off their 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings—a game where goaltender Jonathan Quick may have been playing hurt. After reluctantly ceding the net in the second period when he gave up five goals on 19 shots, Quick announced on Wednesday that he was pulling out of this weekend's All Star festivities to rest a nagging injury. He backed up Darcy Kuemper in the Kings' 2-1 overtime win in Calgary on Wednesday, and will be required to sit out next Tuesday's game in Dallas as punishment for missing All Star Weekend.
Tonight, the Canucks will go from facing a banged-up goalie to one of the most porous defenses in the league. The Buffalo Sabres rank 28th overall in goals against, giving up an average of 3.38 goals per game. But they're coming into Vancouver after one of their best efforts of the year at both ends of the ice—a 5-0 smackdown of Edmonton on Tuesday night.
Not surprisingly after their big win on Tuesday, Travis Green is expected to ice the same lineup tonight against the Sabres.
Word is that Erik Gudbranson skated on his own on Wednesday, but isn't ready to get back into the lineup tonight.
Consumed by the glow of a multi-goal victory, I didn't talk about the lack of pushback after Trevor Lewis' hit on Brock Boeser in yesterday's blog. When the incident happened, though, I noted that without Gudbranson, I didn't expect the Canucks to make much of a physical response.
This debate is happening league-wide—not just because we're seeing speed and skill increase, but also because players are now often expected to fight even when they throw clean hits. That's a big deterrent for those who don't want to square off.
It's tough to find the right line between an exciting, physical playing style and one that doesn't put players at risk of injury.
Of course, the loss of Derek Dorsett has also created a void in the team toughness department. At the beginning of this season, Dorsett had landed in that magical sweet spot where he was being effective defensively and chipping in with goals while also conducting his usual patrols as the team's policeman. It's tough to get all that out of a single roster spot!
I presume these toughness issues are part of the reason why Travis Green seems to be encouraging players like Ben Hutton to try to add more of a physical component to their games. Whether it's at the coach's urging or of his own accord, Michael Del Zotto also seems to be doing his best to hit when the opportunity arises.
MDZ's up to 124 hits in 48 games so far this season—the most on the Canucks and tied for 16th overall in the entire league. He had 162 hits in 80 games in his rookie season with the New York Rangers, then got away from that physical style a bit before rediscovering it during his time in Philadelphia. Last season, he collected a career-high 173 hits in just 51 games.
Here's a little more on tonight's opponent—currently sitting two points out of the NHL cellar, two spots below Vancouver in the league standings.
Goaltender Robin Lehner's looking particularly Swedish today with his new look and his yellow practice jersey.
Tonight is Hockey Talks night at Rogers Arena—a terrific initiative to keep the conversation going with regards to mental health.
And I'll wrap up today with yet another nice-looking power-play point from Elias Pettersson.
He fell back in the SHL scoring race a bit due to the time he missed at World Juniors, but with a goal and an assist today, he's now at 13-25-38 in 31 games. That should pull him back into the top five overall.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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