CANUCKS BANTER     By Andrew Chernoff    FEBRUARY 25, 2016

CANUCKS GO FOR SECOND STRAIGHT HOME WIN

GRANLUND TO PLAY AGAINST SENATORS

The Vancouver Canucks (23-24-12) entertain the Ottawa Senators (29-26-6) tonight in the second game of a five game home stand.

Canucks look for second straight home win. Vancouver is 10-13-5 at home this season, while Ottawa sports a road record of 12-16-2.

Ottawa, with former Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf, visits Vancouver in their second game of a three game Western road swing, after a 4-1 road win against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. It was Ottawa’s fourth victory in a row to match a season-high win streak from late November.

Twenty-two year-old centre Markus Granlund, is expected to make his Canucks’ debut tonight on a line with Linden Vey and Emerson Etem, after being picked up in a trade with Calgary for Hunter Shinkaruk.

“Going in, we want to see where he’s at. It’s a new situation and new linemates and we’re excited to see him play” – Desjardins on Granlund

Source: Vancouver Canucks Twitter

CANUCKS PREVIOUS GAME

Vancouver found a way to win against the Colorado Avalanche, winning 5-1 in the first of five straight home games, ending a four game losing streak all by the score of 5-2. The Canucks had gone 30 games since they last scored five goals, that coming in a 5-2 victory against Buffalo on December 7.

Jannick Hansen had two goals; Henrik Sedin, four assists; Daniel Sedin, three helpers; Adam Cracknell, Radim Vrbata and Chris Tanev, had a goal each; while Ben Hutton, Derek Dorsett and Emerson Etem, had an assist each. Bo Horvat led the Canucks in shots with 5; Chris Tanev had 4 blocked shots; and Horvat was 14 for 21 on face-offs.

Both Daniel Sedin and Jannick Hansen extended their point streaks to 5 and 3 games respectively. Sedin is 1-7=8 pts in his last 5 games; while Hansen is 3-1=4 in his last 3 games.

Ryan Miller stopped 37 of 38 shots for a .974 Sv%, for his 13th win of the season.

CANUCKS JOTTINGS

• Canucks have the second fewest wins (23) in the Pacific division, and are  10 points behind Colorado for a Western conference wild card playoff spot, with 4 games in-hand on the Avalanche.
• Canuck Point Leaders In 2016:
  • Bo Horvat: 8-8=16 in 21 games played
  • Daniel Sedin: 6-9=15 in 21 games played
  • Henrik Sedin: 1-12=13 in 17 games played
  • Chris Tanev: 3-7=10 in 21 games played
  • Sven Baertschi: 7-3=10 in 19 games played
  • Jannick Hansen: 7-3=10 in 17 games played
  • Linden Vey: 2-7=9 in 19 games played
• Power play is 4 for 15 in last 5 games for 26.7 percent, 6th best in the NHL since February 12.
• Penalty kill: 27 for 31 for 89.7 percent in last 10 games.
• Canucks are averaging 2.41 goals per game. For an 82 game schedule the estimate is Vancouver will finish with 198 goals. The least number of goals ever scored by a Vancouver team in a full season of 82 games are 192 by the 1998-99 Canucks. 
  • Vancouver need to average 2.3 goals per game over their last 23 games for a minimum 193 goals, to avoid 2015-16 being the season for the least number of goals ever scored by a Vancouver team.
• Ryan Miller has registered a .935 save percentage over his last 7 games and is 2-4-1 with a 2.00 GAA.
• Vancouver has held their opponents under two or fewer goals 24 times this season (19-2-3 record overall).
• The Canucks penalty kill ranks 15th in the NHL at 81.3%.
• Vancouver power play is 4 for 12 in the last 4 games for 33.3 percent.
• Canucks have been out shot in seven straight games and are 17-13-6 this season when being out-shot.
• Daniel Sedin needs one more goal to become the 60th player in NHL history to reach 350 career goals (will become 5th Swede to do so).
• On the injury front,  Radim Vrbata (lower body) is day-to-day.  Brandon Sutter (fractured jaw) and Alexander Edler (fibula fracture) are on the injured reserve list.
• The Canucks are 12-11-7 against Eastern conference opponents, while Ottawa is 12-7-1 against the Western conference.

PACIFIC DIVISION STANDINGS

VANCOUVER CANUCKS ADVANCED STATISTICS

FEBRUARY 1, 2016  TO  FEBRUARY 24, 2016

EVEN STRENGTH 5V5

ALL TEAM STRENGTHS

FEBRUARY 2016 RESULTS

WESTERN CONFERENCE WILD CARD STANDINGS

CANUCKS PLAYER STATS

SENATORS PLAYER STATS

STATISTICS COURTESY OF THE NHL AND VANCOUVER CANUCKS