Monday November 30 - Anaheim Ducks 4 - Vancouver Canucks 0
Maybe the Vancouver Canucks were suffering a hangover from Saturday night's rookie dinner? They sure didn't look ready to play when they hit the ice against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.
After Shawn Horcoff scored what proved to be the winning goal at the 1:19 mark of the first period, the Canucks might have been better off to pack their bags and head for Staples Center than to stick around and go through the motions like they did.
Such as they are, here are your highlights:
On a night when Garret Sparks became the first-ever Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender to earn a shutout in his NHL debut, the Canucks faced Anaheim's John Gibson—a goalie who did the same thing against them back on April 7, 2014.
Didn't seem like Gibby had to work all that hard to earn the third goose-egg of his career on Monday. He stopped 25 Vancouver shots on a night when the Sedins were quiet. Daniel had three shots on goal while Henrik was shotless—and got destroyed in the faceoff circle, winning just four of 20 draws on the night.
My biggest disappointment, though, was the lack of grit we saw from the fourth line last night. Adam Cracknell was reasonably prominent, credited with four shots and a couple of hits, and Derek Dorsett's night ended with him hurling his helmet to the ground as he headed down the tunnel after receiving a third-period misconduct for letting his emotions boil over at the officials, but Brandon Prust's stat line consists of two missed shots, two giveaways, and one faceoff win. He wasn't credited with a single hit and was virtually invisible on a night when the Canucks were manhandled all over the ice by the Ducks and their accidentally-on-purpose brand of physical play.
The body count?
Well, Jake Virtanen played 1:45. He was on his fourth shift of the game when he got cross-checked in the ribs by Ryan Getzlaf.
We're told the injury's not serious...
Then there's Chris Tanev.
Tanev missed the second half of the first period after that blocked shot, then returned to finish the game. But the Canucks have just announced that Alex Biega has been recalled from Utica—and Tanev missed time with both a broken finger and a broken thumb in 2013-14. Hand injuries are nothing new to him.
There was plenty of other chippy play throughout the game that I bet had the boys clutching the ice packs when all was said and done. I hope those aches and pains aren't too much of an issue tonight in L.A.
It'd be nice if the team could start December with a clean slate, but I fear the impact of their travel-heavy schedule from November will continue to weigh them down. Last night, they looked like a tired, scrambly team from front to back.
If I had to pick one image to sum up this game:
Ryan Miller's out too far, and all four of his penalty killers decided they were better off to try to block the shot than to take the man and—you know—play hockey. Maaaaybe a defenseman can get away with this, but Horvat and Burrows as well?
Yes, the team in front of him was awful on Monday, but Miller looked like a completely different goalie after his excellent outing in Dallas last Friday. I wonder if spending time with his wife and baby in L.A. impacted Miller's focus?
On Hockey Wives, most of the wives talk about how they see their main role in their families as making their husbands' home lives as stress free as possible. Meanwhile, here's Miller's wife Noureen DeWulf's latest post on her Instagram:
That came one day after the latest family portrait:
Obviously, I'm all for women being able to follow their career muses, but I wonder if Miller's new family dynamic is proving to be more challenging for him than he expected?
Miller got the hook for the first time this year after giving up Anaheim's fourth goal on a seeing-eye shot from Corey Perry at the 8:39 mark of the third period. From there, Jacob Markstrom saw just one shot in the remaining 11:21 of the game.
Markstrom is expected to get the nod tonight.
Tuesday December 1 - Vancouver Canucks at Los Angeles Kings - 7:30 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 25 GP, 9-9-7, 25 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
Los Angeles Kings: 23 GP, 14-8-1, 29 pts, first in Pacific Division
After last night, my brain is filled with unpleasant memories of how tough these California trips were two seasons ago when he-who-shan't-be-named was in charge of the team. About the only thing that happened on Monday that gave me a glimmer of hope for tonight's game was Jared McCann's feisty rebuttal on Ryan Getzlaf after the pair got tangled up during the last minute of the game—and still, he didn't get any support from his teammates.
Even the thought of Markstrom riding in to save the day doesn't inspire the kind of hope I want. His body of work is still small, but his 3.12 goals-against average and .912 save percentage so far this season rank him near the bottom of the NHL's goaltending stats—though still better than Eddie Lack's 3.28 and .874.
For their part, the Kings have been sitting at home since their last game on Saturday, a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. L.A. is now the top defensive team in the league, with just 49 goals allowed and is starting to come around offensively after a slow start. Jeff Carter leads the team with 22 points and a plus-14, while players like Marian Gaborik, Anze Kopitar and Milan Lucic have also been chipping in recently.
If you want to read more about the Kings' outstanding possession game and their dominating win over the Chicago Blackhawks last Saturday,
Chris Peters has you covered over at CBS Sports.
I was excited to see how the Canucks would match up going into Anaheim on Monday. Tonight, I'm just nervous.
Preliminary Roster Announced for World Juniors
This morning, Team Canada announced the list of 30 players who have been invited to attend the selection camp for the World Junior Championship:
None of the teenagers who are playing in the NHL this season are on the list, including Jake Virtanen or Jared McCann. But players can still be added right up to the Christmas roster freeze on December 19, and Team Canada is still very interested in the Canucks' youngsters:
It's a story to watch over the next couple of weeks, especially as we learn how seriously Virtanen was injured last night.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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