After going 2-1-1 on their four-game homestand, the Vancouver Canucks take to the road for the next three contests. Tonight they take on the Arizona Coyotes, a team the Canucks just beat on Thursday night.
Matchup
Vancouver Canucks (7-10-2, 16 points) vs Arizona Coyotes (6-9-2, 14 points)
Venue: Gila River Arena, Glendale
Time: 7 pm PT
TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: TSN 1040
By the numbers
Canucks | Coyotes | |
Goals For | 2.11 (29th) | 2.53 (19th) |
Goals Against | 3.16 (25th) | 3.29 (29th) |
Power play % | 12.3 (26th) | 13.7 (24th) |
Penalty kill % | 83.3 (12th) | 76.5 (28th) |
Shots for | 29.4 (17th) | 28.2 (28th) |
Shots against | 28.5 (10th) | 34.0 (30th) |
Faceoff % | 51.4 (7th) | 48.0 (26th) |
Lineup
Despite the recent call-up of 6-foot-5 winger Joseph Labate, the Canucks will ice the same lines they used against the Blackhawks on Saturday. Ryan Miller returns to the crease after Jacob Markstrom started the last three games while he battled the flu.
D. Sedin | H. Sedin | Sutter | |||||
Baertschi | Horvat | Burrows | |||||
Granlund | Chaput | Eriksson | |||||
Skille | Gaunce | Megna | |||||
Edler | Stecher | ||||||
Hutton | Gudbranson | ||||||
Sbisa | Tryamkin | ||||||
Miller |
What you need to know
1. Rematch of the basement dwellers
The Canucks got the better of the Coyotes in their first meeting 3-2 in overtime with the winning goal coming on a penalty shot from Ben Hutton.
Ben Hutton’s penalty shot winner in overtime. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/e8hnKTcgRY
— Clay Imoo (@CanuckClay) November 18, 2016
Not much has changed for either team since then; the Canucks are 28th in the league while the Coyotes are dead last. The Canucks come into this game having earned points in three of their last four, while the Coyotes are 1-0-2 in their last three – all ending in overtime.
After tonight, the two teams won’t play again until January.
2. Streakin’ Sedin twins
Goal in four straight games for Sutter ✅ pic.twitter.com/Piv0LQOnrz
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 20, 2016
After a slow start offensively for both the Sedin twins and the Canucks as a whole, they’ve started to pick it up in the last few weeks. Daniel has been especially hot with nine points in his last eight games. That eight-game point streak is his longest since the 2010-11 season.
#Canucks point streaks:
Daniel: 9 pts (4G, 5A) in 8 GP
Henrik: 6 pts (1G, 5A) in 6 GP
Sutter: 5 pts (4G, 1A) in 4 GP— Canucks Now (@CanucksNow) November 20, 2016
With Jannik Hansen out, Brandon Sutter has been getting the minutes on the Sedins’ wing, and he hasn’t wasted his opportunity. He’s got a goal in each of his last four games and has been firing a lot of pucks on net, now second on the team with 50 shots.
If the Canucks can keep getting production from their top line, they should be due for some wins, especially when (if) the secondary scoring starts coming.
3. Vrbata bouncing back
Who knew this guy could still play?
After a disastrous 27-point season with the Canucks last year, Radim Vrbata is proving he still has gas in the tank. His six goals leads all Coyotes, and his 12 points in 17 games ranks him second to only Max Domi for team scoring.
Vrbata didn’t score in Thursday’s game against the Canucks, but he did throw nine shots on goal, and a few others that hit the post or just missed. He was noticeably dangerous. Expect the same from him tonight.
4. Canucks goaltending woes?
In all the unpredictability of last season, the one thing the Canucks could always seemingly count on to be fairly steady was their goaltending. That sentiment carried into this season when both goaltenders started the season with stellar numbers and the Canucks had a 4-0 record.
Suddenly though, the numbers no longer support that storyline. Right now Markstrom has a 2.82 GAA and .897 save percentage in 10 starts. Miller’s statline isn’t any better with a 2.92 GAA and .899 save percentage.
That’s not to suggest they’ve been bad. The Canucks defence has made a habit of allowing high quality chances, and we’re starting to see the results of these high scoring chances.
Another reason the goaltender numbers are down is likely due to the fact that the Canucks have hardly played with the lead this season. Teams that are trailing tend to throw more shots on net, even if not from a quality scoring area, so Canuck goalies are missing out on some extra saves there.
Prediction
With neither team having played since Saturday, we could see a bit of rust to start this one as both teams find their legs.
Once they do, expect the Canucks to push the pace in Arizona and come away with a 4-2 win despite a goal from that pesky Vrbata.