Vancouver Takes On Toronto Tonight

Posted on November 14, 2015 by CanucksBanter

CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff November 14, 2015

Season series:

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks each won on home ice last season. Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier made 44 saves in a 5-2 win at Air Canada Centre on Dec. 6. Canucks forward Derek Dorsett had the game-winning goal and two assists in a 4-1 win at Rogers Arena on March 14.

Canucks team scope:

Center Brandon Sutter, who missed Vancouver’s 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday with an undisclosed injury, wasn’t at practice Friday and remains day-to-day according to coach Willie Desjardins.
Injured forward Brandon Prust (ankle) and defenseman Luca Sbisa (lower body) are expected to join the Canucks before this seven-game road trip concludes.
Vancouver is 1-2-1 so far, and after Saturday has stops remaining at Montreal on Monday and Winnipeg on Wednesday.
Defenseman Alex Biega was assigned to Utica of the American Hockey League.
Forward Sven Baertschi and defenseman Alexander Edler each have two goals in their past three games.

Maple Leafs team scope:

If goalie James Reimer gets the nod, it will be his seventh straight start.
Toronto starts a back-to-back, traveling to face the New York Rangers on Sunday, so it’s possible Bernier could also see his first action since Oct. 31 this weekend.
Bernier is recovered from a lower-body injury sustained against the Pittsburgh Penguins and served as Reimer’s backup Thursday in a 2-1 shootout win at the Nashville Predators.
The Maple Leafs are 3-1-2 in November and will be seeking their first three-game win streak since a six-game run from Dec. 6-16, 2014. “We said a long time ago, if we keep doing things the right way, bounces are going to go our way,” forward Nazem Kadri told The Toronto Sun after the win in Nashville.

CANUCKS JOTTINGS

The Vancouver Canucks look for a victory after losing 5 of their last 8 games.
The Vancouver Canucks are averaging 2.9 goals per game and are scoring on 14.8 percent of their power plays.
Daniel Sedin leads Vancouver with five goals, Henrik Sedin has eight assists and Jared McCann has 25 shots on goal.
Vancouver Canucks are allowing 2.5 goals per game and are killing 79.6 percent of their power play chances.
Ryan Miller has allowed 36 goals on 412 shots faced and Jacob Markstrom has given up three goals on 45 shots.
Miller has given up 10 goals in his last three games.
The Canucks are 1-5 in their last 6 games playing on 1 days rest and 1-4 in their last 5 overall.
The Canucks are 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Toronto and 12-2 in the last 14 meetings overall.
Vancouver is 1-for-19 with the man advantage over its last six games and has allowed seven power-play goals in the past five contests
All 10 of Vancouver’s losses have come by one goal – five in overtime and one in a shootout

The Canucks are in 3rd place, tied with Arizona with 19-points, in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, 3-points behind the Los Angeles Kings, who sit atop the division with 20 points. San Jose is in fourth place with 16-points. Anaheim, Calgary and Edmonton follow with 14, 13, 12-points respectively.

Los Angeles, Arizona, San Jose all have 2-games in-hand on the Flames. Canucks, Ducks, Oilers all have 1-game in-hand on the Flames.

Vancouver is among the top seven team in the Western Conference tied with Arizona with the 6th-best record. Dallas Stars lead the conference with 26-points.

Vancouver is among the top 14-teams in the NHL tied for the 7th-best with 19-points, with Arizona, Ottawa and New Jersey. Montreal leads the NHL with 28-points, just two points ahead of the Rangers and Stars; and 5-points ahead of the Blues and Capitals.

Toronto occupies last place with 12-points in the Atlantic Division of the Easter Conference, 6-points behind Tampa Bay for the final playoff position in the conference. Montreal is in top sport with 28-points, 9-points ahead of Ottawa with 19. Tampa Bay is next with 18-points. Detroit is in 4rth, and Buffalo in 5th, with 17 and 16-points respectively. Boston and Florida are tied for sixth and seventh with 15-points each.

Daniel Sedin leads the Canucks in scoring with 15-points including a team leading 10-assists. Henrik Sedin closely follows with 13-points; Jannik Hansen with 10-points including a team best +10 in plus/minus. Alex Burrows, Brandon Sutter and rookie Ben Hutton are all tied with 8-points apiece.

Top snipers on Vancouver are the Sedin brothers and rookie Jared McCann, all with 5-goals.

CAN39

Morgan Rielly leads the Maple Leafs in scoring with 11-points, followed by Dion Phaneuf with 9-points. Both Rielly and Phaneuf lead the team in assists with 8-assists. Joffrey Lupul, James Van Riemsdyk have 8-points; Leo Komarov and Tyler Bozak have 7-points each.

Top snipers for Toronto are Lupul, Van Riemsdyk and Komarov with 5-goals each.

CANUCKS AT A GLANCE

Statistics courtesy of the NHL, Vancouver Canucks and SportingCharts, with thanks.

Canucks Struggles Continue On Road Trip With 3-2 Loss To Ottawa

Posted on November 12, 2015 by CanucksBanter

CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff November 12, 2015

Vancouver Suffers Second Regulation Road Loss Of Season

Sven Baertschi got the Canucks out in front of Ottawa, with helpers from Radim Vrbata and Bo Horvat, then the Senators tied the game up on a power play goal by Bobby Ryan less than 6-minutes later. The Senators scored the go ahead goal, and only goal in the second period to make it 2-1 after two periods.

In the third period, Henrik Sedin was called for a penalty and for the second time in the game, the Senators with 2-seconds left scored a power play goal to give themselves a two-goal cushion with less than two minutes left in the hockey game.

With Ryan Miller pulled, and a power play of their own in the final minute of play, Alex Edler scored to make it 3-2 with 24-second left but the Canucks were unable to score the tying goal before time ran out.

The loss was the Canucks 10th one-goal loss of the season, and 2nd loss in regulation play on the road this season. Vancouver’s power play goal in the third period ended their power play slump of 0 for 18. Ottawa’s two power play goals on four opportunities continued Vancouver’s struggles with their penalty killing.

CANUCKS JOTTINGS

Vancouver’s power play goal in the 3rd-period ended their power play slump at 0-18.
Canucks penalty killing in their last two games is 3-7, allowing 4-power play goals.
Vancouver’s consecutive streak of shorthanded goals against came to an end tonight at two games.
With tonight’s goal, Sven Baertschi has scored in consecutive games after potting a goal against Columbus on Tuesday night.
Canucks are now 9-8-1 overall in Ottawa, and 6-3 in the last 9 meetings at the Canadian Tire Centre.

CANUCKS GAME SUMMARY

UPDATED REGULAR SEASON STATS

Statistics courtesy of the NHL and the Vancouver Canucks, with thanks.

Vancouver Looks To Keep Winning In Canada’s Capital

Posted on November 12, 2015 by CanucksBanter

CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff November 12, 2015

Struggling Senators Aim For Home Ice Win

The Vancouver Canucks take on the Ottawa Senators tonight in game four of their 7-game road trip at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Vancouver is looking to maintain its lead atop the Pacific Division, entering the game a single point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings, with 19-points.

Ottawa is looking to pull ahead of the Detroit Red Wings in the Atlantic Division into sole possession of second place. Both teams are currently tied for 2nd-place in the division with 17-points each.

The game is the first of two meetings this season between the Canucks and Senators. Ottawa will visit Vancouver on Feb. 25th. Vancouver split the season series versus the Senators last season.

The Canucks rebounded against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, to pick up their first win of the 7-game road swing, to go along with back-to-back losses in regulation play and overtime, against Buffalo and New Jersey.

The Ottawa Senators begin a 5-game home stand tonight, after losing both games of a short 2-game road trip against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Nashville Predators. The Senators have only won two of their first seven home games.

Both teams are struggling yet Vancouver enters the game on a more positive note after their win in Columbus.

The objective is clear. The Canucks are looking to win game two on their road trip, building on the momentum of their win against the Blue Jackets. And the Senators are looking to end their two game losing streak and win their third home game of the season, to start a 5-game home stand.

CANUCKS JOTTINGS

The Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators each won a 4-3 overtime games in their own arena last season
Canucks are 9-7-1 overall in Ottawa. Canucks are 6-2 in the last 8 meetings in Ottawa.
In the last five games in Ottawa, Vancouver is 3-2-0 at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Canucks are 2-8 in their last 10 Thursday games.
Senators are 2-6 in their last 8 home games.
Ben Hutton has 4-assists in his last 5-games.
Jared McCann currently ranks 7th among rookies in shooting percentage (20.0%); and tied for 5th place in rookie goals with 5-goals.
Ben Hutton and Jared McCann are tied for 8th place in total shots for rookies with 25-shots.
Ben Hutton is 2nd in assists by a rookie in the NHL with 8-assists.
Daniel Sedin has 12-points (4-8-12) in his last 12-games and currently leads the team in scoring with 15-points (5-10-15).
Alex Edler currently ranks 9th in the NHL in TOI/GP with 24:52-minutes/seconds.
Jannik Hansen leads the Canucks in +/- with a +10, followed by Chris Tanev at +9, Alex Edler, at +8, Henrik Sedin with +6. Dan Hamhuis and rookies Jared McCann are at +5. Radim Vrbata is the worst +/- at –9, followed by Yannik Webber at –6.
In 16-games this season, the Canucks have outscored their opponents 48-39; last season the Canucks outscored their opponents 236-220
The Canucks have allowed just 8-power-play goals against this season, killing 37 of 45-times shorthanded (82.2 PK%)
The Canucks 82.2% penalty kill is 11th in the NHL
The Canucks have allowed 2.44 goals against per game this season, 11th in the NHL; they are 7th in the League with 2.94 goals for per game

The Canucks are in 1rst place with 19-points, a single point in front of Los Angeles, who are alone in 2nd with 18-points in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Arizona is in 3rd spot with 17-points, three points ahead of San Jose who are tied with Anaheim in 4rth with 14-points each. Edmonton and Calgary with 12 and 11-points each are in 6th and 7th place respectively.

Arizona, San Jose, and Los Angeles both have a game in-hand on Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Anaheim.

Vancouver is among the top 5-teams in the Western Conference, and are the 5rth best team in the conference with their 19-points. The Dallas Stars are at the top of the conference with 24-points, currently sporting an 12-4 record in their 16-games, 1-point ahead of the St. Louis Blues, who have won their last 3-games.

Canucks are among the top 10-teams in the NHL, and are tied with the New York Islanders for the 5th best team in the league with their 19-points. The Montreal Canadians are the top team with 28-points, with a record of 13-2-2, all wins in regulation play. Dallas Stars and New York Rangers tied for the 2nd best overall record in the league with 24-points each, with the Rangers having won their last 6-games. The St. Louis Blues, in the midst of a 3-game winning streak are next with 23-points.

The Montreal Canadians are currently in top spot of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference with 28-points; followed by Detroit and Ottawa with 17-points each. Tampa Bay sits in 4rth-place with 16-points, followed by Boston and Florida tied for 5th and 6th position with 15-points each. Buffalo and Toronto round out the rest of the division with 14 and 10-points respectively.

The Bruins have 3-games in-hand on the Canadians and Lightening; 2-games in-hand on the Red Wings, Senators, Panthers, Sabres and Maple Leafs. Detroit, Ottawa, Florida, Buffalo and Toronto all have 2-games in-hand on the Canadians and Lightening.

Daniel Sedin leads the Canucks in scoring with 15-points, followed by brother Henrik with 12-points and Jannik Hansen with 10-points. Brandon Sutter, rookie Ben Hutton and Alex Burrows are next with 8-points each. Rookie Jared McCann has 7-points; Radim Vrbata, Alex Edler and Sven Baertschi closely follow with 6-points. Brandon Prust, Bo Horvat and Matt Bartkowski are on their skate blades with 5-points each.

Rookie Jared McCann, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin lead the Canucks are tied for the top sniper with 5-goals each. Daniel Sedin leads the team in assists with 10-assists, followed by rookie Ben Hutton with 8-assists.

Mark Stone leads the Senators in scoring with 15-points, a point ahead of Erik Karlsson, 14-points. Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris are next with 13-points each.

Erik Karlsson leads Ottawa in assists with 13, followed by Mark Stone with 12-assists. Kyle Turris is the top goal scorer with 8-goals.

CANUCKS AT A GLANCE

Statistics courtesy of the NHL, Vancouver Canucks, ESPN and SportingCharts, with thanks.

Vancouver Ends 3-Game Losing Streak With First Road Trip Win

Posted on November 10, 2015 by CanucksBanter

CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff November 10, 2015

Henrik Sedin Scores Twice In 3rd-Period,

Daniel Sedin, Jannik Hansen Get 4-Points Each,

Jacob Markstrom Stops 42-Shots

The Columbus Blue Jackets gave it all they had, and Jacob Markstrom played an outstanding game in his season debut for the Canucks, stopping 42 of 45 shots, defeating Columbus 5-3 for his first win.

Vancouver ended their three consecutive game losing streak, in winning their first game of their current 7-game road trip after consecutive losses to the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils.

Vancouver’s special teams were not so special as they gave up two power play goals, one short-handed goal; and failed to score on three power play opportunities.

The Canucks power play is now 0-16 in their last 5-games, and they have allowed shorthanded goals in two consecutive games.

The Canucks are now 1-1-1 on their road trip, as they hand Columbus their 6th-loss at home without a win, this season.

A line composed of the Sedin brothers and Jannick Hansen put the Canucks on the scoreboard in the first period after the Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead with a power play goal, with goals from Hansen and Daniel Sedin.

But before you could turn to get out of your seat and grab a beer at the period break, the Canucks allowed a power play goal to Columbus with 16-seconds left in the opening period, for a 2-2 tie at the intermission.

The score stayed at 2-2 until late in the first half of the 3rd period when the Blue Jackets scored a shorthanded goal, to go up 3-2. That is when Henrik Sedin went to work with Jannik Hansen and Brandon Sutter, taking over the game as Henrik Sedin and Sutter scored to pull a head of Columbus 4-3. Henrik added an empty net goal for his second goal of the 3rd-period to put the game away.

CANUCK JOTTINGS

Jannik Hansen and Daniel Sedin fished the game with 4-points each (1-3-4 each); Henrik Sedin had 3-points (2-1-3). Hansen was a +5, with the Sedin’s each a +3 in the game.
Daniel Sedin has 12-points (4-8-12) in his last 11 games and currently leads the team in scoring with 15-points (5-10-15).
The game was the first of two meetings this season between the Canucks and Blue Jackets. Columbus will visit Vancouver on Feb. 4th. Vancouver split the season series versus the Blue Jackets last season.
Overall the Canucks are 7-2-2 in their last 11-meetings versus Columbus, including tonight’s game.
Daniel Sedin, and Henrik Sedin tied rookie Jared McCann for the team lead in goals with their 5th goals of the season tonight.

GAME SUMMARY

2015-2016 CANUCK STATS

Winless On Road Trip, Vancouver Looks To Rebound In Columbus Tonight

Posted on November 10, 2015 by CanucksBanter

CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff November 10, 2015

Vancouver And Columbus Look To End Losing Streaks

The Canucks are currently in the midst of a 3-game losing streak, as they enter their 3rd-game of a 7-game road trip. They take on the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight, who are currently last in the Metropolitan Division and winless at home.

The Canucks hope to take advantage of the Blue Jackets misfortune and pick up their first win on the road trip after losses to Buffalo 3-2 and New Jersey 4-3.

The Blue Jackets are back at home after a 3-game road trip, where they won two games, losing one. In their last 8-games, Columbus has played 7-road games, picking up 4-wins.

Columbus pointless at Nation Wide Arena in 5-games played, hope to change that tonight against the Vancouver Canucks.

Vancouver recalled goaltender Jacob Markstrom from his conditioning assignment with Utica of the American Hockey League and reassigned goaltender Richard Bachman. Markstrom likely will start tonight.

Markstrom, 25, was recovering from a hamstring injury after playing in four preseason games for the Canucks; he was 1-0-1 with a .909 save percentage and 2.40 GA with Utica.

CANUCKS JOTTINGS:

Vancouver is 0-13 on the power play in their last 4-games after starting the season 7-35. The Canucks were 0-6 on the power play including a 5-minute power play opportunity against New Jersey.
The Canucks are 0-4 in their last 4 games playing on 1 days rest and 5-1 in their last 6 Tuesday games.
The Canucks are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in Columbus and 14-4 in the last 18 meetings overall.
Jared McCann leads Vancouver with five goals, Daniel Sedin has seven assists and Brandon Sutter has 34 shots on goal.
Rookie defenseman Ben Hutton has 7-assists, tied for 2nd among all NHL rookies.
Chris Higgins enters the game with goals in last two games.
Defensively, the Vancouver Canucks are allowing 2.4 goals per game and are killing 85.7 percent of their power play chances.
Ryan Miller has given up 10 goals in his last three games.

The Canucks are in 2nd place with 17 points, a single point behind Los Angeles in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, who are in top spot with 18-points; 3-points ahead of Arizona, who are alone in 3rd place. San Jose is currently is in 4rth place with 14-points, 1-point ahead of Anaheim in 5th place with 13-points. Calgary and Edmonton have 11 and 10-points respectively.

Arizona, San Jose, and Los Angeles both have a game in-hand on Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Anaheim.

Vancouver is among the top 8-teams in the Western Conference, and are tied for the 4rth best team in the conference with their 17-points. The Dallas Stars are at the top of the conference with 24-points, currently sporting an 12-3 record in their 15-games, 4-points ahead of the St. Louis Blues.

Canucks are among the top 15-teams in the NHL, and are tied for the 7th best team in the league with their 17-points. The Montreal Canadians are the top team with 27-points, with a record of 13-2-1, all wins in regulation play. Dallas Stars are inching their way closer with 24-points to the top spot in 2nd place.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are currently in last place in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference with 8-points, 10-points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the last playoff position in the division.

The New York Rangers are currently in top spot with 22-points; followed by Washington in 2nd spot with 20-points; Pittsburgh in 3rd with 18-points. New Jersey and the New York Islanders are tied for 4rth position with 17-points each. Philadelphia and Carolina round out the rest of the division with 13 and 12-points respectively.

The Rangers, Penguins, Devils, Flyers, and Panthers, all have 1-game in-hand on the Islanders and Blue Jackets. Washington have 1-game in hand on the Rangers, Penguins, Devils, Flyers and Panthers; 2-games in-hand on the Islanders and Blue Jackets.

Daniel Sedin leads the Canucks in scoring with 11-points, followed by brother Henrik with 9-points and Alex Burrows with 8-points. Brandon Sutter, rookies Ben Hutton and Jared McCann are next with 7-points each. Radim Vrbata, Alex Edler, Jannik Hansen and Sven Baertschi closely follow with 6-points. Brandon Prust and Bo Horvat are on their skate blades with 5-points each.

Rookie Jared McCann leads the Canucks as the top sniper with 5-goals in 13-games played. Daniel Sedin and rookie Ben Hutton are tied for most assists on the team with 7-assists each.

For Columbus, Scott Hartnell and Brandon Dubinsky lead the Blue Jackets with 11-points each; followed by Cam Atkinson, Ryan Johansen, Boone Jenner and Brandon Saad with 8-points each.

Hartnell leads the Blue Jackets with 7-goals. Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Johansen and David Savard are all tied with most assists on the team with 7-assists each.