Thursday December 17 - Philadelphia Flyers 2 - Vancouver Canucks 0
The Vancouver Canucks fired 36 shots on goal but couldn't solve Steve Mason, who returned from a week of riding the pine with a 2-0 shutout of the Vancouver Canucks.
Here are your highlights:
The big news of the game: Henrik Sedin left after the first period with what's being called a lower-body injury. Needless to say, that led to some frantic line-juggling and a bunch of wingers trying to take faceoffs. Not an ideal situation for a team that's already last in the league on draws.
Bo Horvat stepped it up in the circle, going 15-9, and logged a career high 20:42 of ice time, but finished the night as a minus-2: on the ice for both Flyers goals. Adam Cracknell was a disaster on draws, winning just three of 13, and Jared McCann struggled again, winning five of 15.
The best of the wingers was Alex Burrows, whose 2-for-4 record was above the team average of 40 percent on the night.
The Canucks got off to a much better start in Philadelphia than they did on Tuesday in Minnesota, dominating play for the first 10 minutes, but were not rewarded for their improved effort. Though I was hoping for change after the terrible Minnesota game, I wasn't thrilled with the line-juggling that Willie did to start the game, specifically replacing Jannik Hansen with Alex Burrows on the one line that actually has been scoring.
Once Henrik went down, I worried that the offense would dry up completely. Sadly, I was right.
Henrik's last shift came at the end of the first period. He was the lone forward out on the second half of a 5-on-3 penalty kill, after Horvat had already taken his turn.
Willie has been using the twins a bit on the penalty kill of late, and he didn't have many options in this situation, but Henrik blocked a shot before he left the game. It didn't appear to be a big deal, but Jason Botchford reports in
The Provies that the captain has been playing hurt for awhile.
Here's what was reported after the game:
Maybe fellow Swede Henrik Zetterberg is onto something as far as tonight's game goes in Detroit:
UPDATE: The Canucks have now announced the Linden Vey has been recalled from the Comets.
Today is the last day before the holiday roster freeze. Is it possible that Jim Benning is at work on some kind of deal?
Word out of Toronto today is that the Sedin situation has cemented Jared McCann's spot with the Canucks.
Given that we'd heard a week ago that McCann was staying with Vancouver, I'm not sure that the idea of releasing him was ever up for serious discussion.
Thursday's loss marked the fourth time in the last nine games that the Canucks have been shut out, and the second straight time the team has failed to score when Jacob Markstrom has started a game—the last one was on December 5, the 4-0 loss to Boston.
Markstrom was just fine again last night but his stats still look rather grim. He has a .911 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against average, and his record in eight appearances is an ugly 1-3-2.
Friday December 18 - Vancouver Canucks at Detroit Red Wings - 4:30 p.m. - Sportsnet, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 33 GP, 11-14-8, 30 points, sixth in Pacific Division
Detroit Red Wings: 31 GP, 16-9-6, 38 points, third in Atlantic Division
The tired, broken-down Canucks will be facing a well-rested opponent when they hit the ice at Joe Louis Arena tonight. The Detroit Red Wings have been idle since losing a 2-1 home game to the Buffalo Sabres last Monday.
The Canucks will be seeing Pavel Datsyuk for the first time this season. He was sidelined after offseason surgery when the Red Wings came back to beat the Canucks 3-2 in overtime at Rogers Arena on October 24.
Petr Mrazek picked up the win in that game, but the Red Wings have been alternating their goaltenders lately, so it's Jimmy Howard's turn tonight. Howard has lost his last two starts, both in overtime. Ryan Miller will get the nod for Vancouver.
Though Detroit will be rested tonight, the team's not exactly healthy.
In addition to Johan Franzen and Kyle Quincey on long-term injured reserve, the Wings are missing Teemu Pulkkinen, with a dislocated shoulder, and Ryan Miller's brother Drew, who suffered a broken jaw. Both players have been out since early December.
Tomas Tatar was under the weather this week but is expected to play tonight. With 22 points, Tatar is tied for second in team scoring with 19-year-old Dylan Larkin—who's third in rookie scoring behind Artemi Panarin and Max Domi and, even more impressively, leads the entire NHL in plus-minus at plus-19. Quite an achievement for a teenager—Larkin's a treat to watch.
Alex Burrows Apologizes
Also from Botchford's Provies, Alex Burrows offered a sincere apology and a lengthy explanation for his comments on child abuse victim Patrick O'Sullivan, which came to light yesterday.
“Back then, I didn’t know the magnitude of it,” Burrows said. “I read his story on the Player’s Tribune last week. I saw how bad he had it. It was tough to see, for sure.
“Now, looking back, older, more mature, I can see how it would have offended him. I do regret a lot of things I said back in the day.
“I apologize if it offended him.”
Burrows went on to describe the type of player he was a decade ago, the undrafted, ECHL graduate who was looking for any angle in a desperate, at times ill-conceived, attempt to gain an edge, or even favour with his NHL coach. If he could draw a penalty, and it meant crossing the lines of civility, so be it.
“It’s tough, in the heat of the moment, especially when I first came in,” Burrows said. “I wanted to help any way I could. If I could get one guy off his game, and get in someone’s kitchen, I was willing to do it to help our team, and maybe get on the power play.
“(O’Sullivan) was a great player. He was one of those guys who could score a lot of goals. He was flashy. He had good skills. He had good hands. For sure, sometimes I tried to get in his kitchen and get him off his game.”
“At that time, I believed in doing whatever it took to stay in the league. If I had to get in people’s kitchens or get in people’s heads. I was ready to do it just to help the team.”
“Now, getting older, I realize some of it I shouldn’t have said.”
Hockey players make plenty of dumb decisions on the ice in the interest of trying to gain an edge against their opponents. Often, those dumb decisions can result in penalties or injuries. In Burrows' case, his trash talk long ago cemented a bad reputation that he'll never be able to shake.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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