Saturday November 14 - Vancouver Canucks at Toronto Maple Leafs - 4:00 p.m. - CBC, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 17 GP, 7-5-5, 19 pts, third in Pacific Division
Toronto Maple Leafs: 16 GP, 4-8-4, 12 pts, eighth in Atlantic Division
The Toronto Maple Leafs are playing their best hockey of the year as they prepare to host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday in the Hockey Night in Canada feature game from the Air Canada Centre.
Just a week ago, I included the Leafs in
this piece for Bleacher Report as their 2-8-2 record to start the season put them on track for potentially their worst season in franchise history.
They showed me! With a record of 2-0-2 since I wrote that article, Toronto's still in last place in the Atlantic but has climbed within three points of Boston and Florida. The team has just arrived home after road wins against two tough Western Conference foes in Dallas and Nashville and goaltender James Reimer has been on fire.
Reimer has started six straight games since Jonathan Bernier went down with a lower-body injury.
Bernier's now back in the lineup, but Reimer's expected to start his seventh game in 13 nights tonight, while Bernier will get the nod against the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Maybe he's due for a clunker?
Even with their recent success, the Leafs are not exactly an offensive juggernaut. They 27th in the league offensively while the Canucks are tied for fourth (!) and are being led in scoring by two defensemen—West Vancouver's Morgan Rielly with 11 points and Dion Phaneuf with nine.
Ex-Canuck Shawn Matthias has just one goal so far this season, but two of his three assists on the year have come in the last two games.
As for Frankie Corrado, he remains a forgotten man in the Toronto press box.
Frankie's only hockey since he was picked up on waivers by the Leafs was a seven-game conditioning stint with the AHL's Toronto Marlies, where he earned three assists and was a plus-two.
As for the Canucks—(UPDATE)—they've just recalled Hunter Shinkaruk from the Utica Comets!
Shinkaruk's tied for the AHL lead with 10 goals in 12 games. I'd love to see what he can do tonight.
The possibility of some fresh blood also helps distract me from my disappointment that apparently management didn't consider the result of my poll in Friday's blog before choosing tonight's starting goaltender.
For those of us on the Markstrom watch, here's all we have so far:
We all know how goalie controversies start to brew in this town. In my latest piece for
Canucks Army, I argue that the next round is about to unfurl.
Both goalies are participating in today's optional morning skate:
Brandon Sutter's expected to miss his second straight game.
It's another big night for the kids, as Jared McCann returns to his home region for the first time as an NHLer.
After last year's gold-medal World Junior experience, Jake Virtanen sounds like he has some very fond memories of the ACC:
Here's how the line combinations looked in practice on Friday. The Kid Line is back together!
Special teams have also seen a bit of a shakeup.
Yes, Jannik Hansen has replaced Radim Vrbata on PP1. Not only is Hansen third in team scoring with 10 points compared to seven for the struggling Vrbata, he's also the top plus-minus man on the team at plus-10, while Vrbata ranks dead last at minus-nine. Given that the Canucks' three shorthanded goals surrendered in the last five games have burned them just as much as their 1-for-18 production with the man advantage over those same five games, Hansen's speed and defensive presence could be just as valuable tonight as his suddenly soft hands.
Despite their strong road record last season, the Canucks dropped a 5-2 decision to the Leafs at the ACC last December 6. Here's hoping they'll be able to flip the script tonight.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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