Vancouver Visits Chicago To Start Extended Road Trip

Posted on December 13, 2015 by CanucksBanter

CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff December 13, 2015 3:45 PM PST

MAKE OR BREAK ROAD TRIP

“It’s like playoff hockey for us, and we need to recognize that. Our urgency level has to be higher. I think the guys know that, so I would expect us to be battling. Saying that, I do believe in the character of this group, and I don’t believe there are many nights that they haven’t given everything they have.” Willie Desjardins, prior to the Canucks taking on Minnesota in the first game of their last road trip.

Vancouver (11-11-8) plays the first of four games in 6 nights when they face-off against Chicago (16-10-4) this evening.

The 6-game road trip will conclude 12 days after Vancouver’s last home game, on Tuesday, December 22 against Tampa Bay. In between they play, Minnesota on December 15; Philadelphia on December 17; Detroit on December 18; Florida on December 20.

Vancouver is on a winning streak of two straight wins. The last time the Canucks won two straight games was when Vancouver defeated Arizona and Philadelphia, October 30 and November 2, respectively.

Vancouver will play its first game since losing defenseman Dan Hamhuis (facial fracture) for an estimated two months, after he was struck in the face by the puck during the Canucks’ 2-1 win against the New York Rangers on Wednesday night at Rogers Arena.

Yannick Weber will likely replace Hamhuis.

Derek Dorsett missed practice Saturday and has gone back to Saskatchewan for personal reasons. Ronalds Kenins is expected to be in Dorsett’s place in the line-up against Chicago.

Tonight marks the second of three meetings this season between the Canucks and Blackhawks. The Blackhawks visit Rogers Arena again on Mar. 27th.

The Sedin twins combined for nine points against Chicago in their first meeting of the season at Rogers Place on November 21—Daniel notched a hat trick, while Henrik posted a career-high five points, including four assists.

Goaltender Ryan Miller will get the start against Chicago tonight. Miller is 4-4-1 since November 12, with a 2.73 GAA, and .917 Sv%. He is 1-3-1 on the road during that stretch with a 3.10 GAA and .906 Sv%.

Ryan Miller, has seen action in 24 of 30 possible games this season. His record is 9-9-6, with a .914 save percentage, his highest in three seasons.

In his last two starts, Miller is 2-0-0, allowing three goals on 94 shots, with a GAA of 1.51 and a .955 save percentage, to help Vancouver break out of their 5- game losing slump. .

Corey Crawford will likely start in net, after making 25 saves against Winnipeg on Friday night, for his third shutout.

Crawford has allowed two goals on 93 shots in his past three starts, going 3-0-0 with a GAA of 0.67 and a .978 save percentage.

The Blackhawks are in 4rth place in the Central division, two points behind St. Louis in 2nd place and 10 points behind Dallas in 1rst place.

Chicago has 11 wins in 15 home games (44-GF & 25-GA), and are 4-1-0 in the last 5 games.

Patrick Kane will be looking to extend his points streak to 26 consecutive games. He has 25 points in 29 games against Vancouver.

Chicago Point Streaks:
PATRICK KANE (16-23-39 / 25 Games)

Chicago Goal Streaks:
PATRICK KANE (3 / 3 Games)

The Canucks are tied for 2nd place in the Pacific division. Vancouver is trying to keep pace with 1rst place Los Angeles in the division, where teams Nos. 2-7 are separated by just three points.

Vancouver has 6 wins in 16 road games (41-GF & 45-GA), and are 2-4-4 in the last 10 road games.

Vancouver Point Streaks:
ALEXANDER EDLER (1-2-3 / 2 Games)
HENRIK SEDIN (1-2-3 / 2 Games)
DANIEL SEDIN (1-3-4 / 2 Games)

Vancouver Assist Streaks:
DANIEL SEDIN (3 / 2 Games)
ALEXANDER EDLER (2 / 2 Games)

The Hawks power play, which scored two goals Friday, ranked fifth in the league entering Sunday at 22.2 percent. The Canucks’ penalty kill ranked 16th at 80.4 percent.

The Canucks power play, which scored a goal Wednesday night against the Rangers, ranked 14th in the NHL entering Sunday at 18.9 percent. The Blackhawks’ penalty kill ranked 15th at 81.0 percent. Vancouver leads the NHL in power play opportunities with 111.

Tonight marks Radim Vrbata’s 900th career NHL game. He becomes the 18th player born in the Czech Republic to appear in 900 or more games in his career.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin have played in 585 wins together. According to ESB, since 1990.91 the only pairs of teammates to play in more wins together are Niklas Lidstrom and Kris Draper (664); and Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom (599).

CANUCKS JOTTINGS

Daniel Sedin has 15 points (6-9-15) in the last 10 games. He recently had a seven game point streak from Nov. 14-27; it was the longest point streak of any Canucks player this season and his longest since a seven game streak from Oct. 22 – Nov. 5/13. He currently leads the team in points (33), goals (13), ppg (5) and ppp (12), gwg (3), and t-first in assists (20). He is also 5th in NHL scoring.
Henrik Sedin has 14 points (4-10-14) in the last 10 games. He recently had a six game point streak from Nov. 16-27. He also had a five game point streak earlier this season from Oct. 29 to Nov. 7. Last season, the Captain recorded points in three or more consecutive games on 10 different occasions. Henrik ranks t-first on the team in assists (20), second in points (29), and t-second in goals (9), ppg (4), and ppp (12). He is also 10th in NHL scoring.
Alex Edler leads the team in time on ice per game (24:26) and has led the team in that category in 26 of 29 games he’s played, including 16 games where he’s led all skaters in TOI. He currently ranks 18th in the NHL in TOI/GP
Forward Ronalds Kenins and defenseman Andrey Pedan were recalled Saturday night from the Utica Comets.
Kenins, 24, has played in two games with the Canucks this year and appeared in eight games for the Comets this season, registering an assist (0-1-1) and eight penalty minutes.
Pedan, 22, has appeared in 19 games with Utica this season, where he currently sits tied for second among Comets defensemen in scoring with nine points (2-7-9). He also played one game with the Canucks this year as a forward.
NHL holiday trade freeze is December 19th-27th.
Alex Burrows, Jannik Hansen, Chris Higgins, Alex Edler, Ryan Miller, Dan Hamhuis and Brandon Sutter all have no-trade clauses.
As of December 23rd, the Canucks will have spent 33 of 48 days away from Vancouver.
According to Mark Abell, Vancouver Canucks have a rough offensive match-up but a good defensive match-up, this coming week, against Philadelphia, Florida, Minnesota and Detroit, all who are in the lower half of the league in scoring.
Vancouver signed defenseman Guillaume Brisebois to a three-year entry level contract, it was announced December 10. Brisebois was selected by Vancouver in the third round, 66th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
Brisebois, 18, has appeared in 28 games for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL where he currently leads all defensemen on the team in scoring with 12 points (4-8-12).
The Canucks though will be without Dan Hamhuis who is expected to be out at least two months after surgery Friday to repair a facial fracture, coach Willie Desjardins told the Canucks website on Friday.
Vancouver continues to be without young center Brandon Sutter who has been sorely missed since November 10, 2015 and recently had sports hernia surgery on December 2 and is not expected in the line-up again until the latter part of January at the earliest.
Vancouver is also without Luca Sbisa (hand injury) and Jake Virtanen (conditioning assignment with Utica Comets).
Chris Tanev leads the team and ranks 6th in the League in blocked shots with 74. His defence partner Alex Edler ranks t-19th in the NHL with 59 blocked shots.
Alex Edler, with his power play goal on December 9, surpassed Rick Lanz for sole possession of second place for most PPG by a Canucks defenseman, with 38.
Rookie forward Jared McCann is t-14th in rookie scoring with 6-goals and 3-assist for 9-points. Among rookies, he ranks t-8th in goals; 9th in shots-on-goal with 50; 10th in shooting percentage at 12%; 12th in power play goals.
Rookie defenseman Ben Hutton is t-14th in rookie scoring with 9-points on 9-assists. Among rookies, he ranks t-4th in assists; t-18th in shots-on-goal with 34; 3rd worst among rookies this season in plus/minus with a -8; t-4rth in power play assists.
Canucks power play in relation to goals and opportunities:
- Of 4 or more opportunities: 15 for 77 in 15 games: 19.4%
- Of 3 or less opportunities: 6 for 34 in 15 games: 17.6%
The road trip this month starts with the Canuck power play 2 for 16 in its last 4 games.
Vancouver’s penalty kill has killed all 11 man advantages in the last 4 games.
VANCOUVER’S 2015.16 RECORD WHEN…

Score 4+ Goals: 7-0-0

Score 3 Goals or Less: 4-11-8

Allow 4+ Goals: 0-6-3

Allow 3 Goals or Less: 11-5-5
On 0 Days Rest: 2-1-2
On 1 Day Rest: 4-6-5
On 2 Days Rest: 4-3-1
On 3+ Days Rest: 0-1-0
Score a PPG: 6-5-6
Give up a PPG: 3-7-6
25+ Shots on Goal: 9-8-7
Less than 25 shots: 2-3-1

SEASON SNAPSHOT

CANUCKS PLAYERS STATS

BLACKHAWKS PLAYER STATS

CANUCKS-BLACKHAWKS AT A GLANCE

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

Vancouver Rallies In Final Period To Defeat New York 2-1

Posted on December 9, 2015 by CanucksBanter

CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff December 9, 2015

CANUCKS PUSH BACK,

SEDINS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE

The Vancouver Canucks (11-11-8) started off well against the Rangers (18-8-3) with their first few shifts but once New York got into the game, the opening period became dominated by the Rangers in a scoreless period. New York out shot Vancouver 15-7, as they possessed the puck the majority of the time in the Canuck end.

Miller made great saves and the Canucks received a power penalty opportunity at 18:10 of the period when Ranger Ryan McDonaugh went off for holding Henrik Sedin. Hits were even as both team had 4 each, led by Brandon Prust with two hits. In the face-off circle, New York dominated, winning 11 of 17. Henrik Sedin was 3 for 6; Bo Horvat 2 for 5; Jared McCann, 1 for 4; Adam Cracknell, 0 for 2.

In the second period, Vancouver stepped up their game as the third and fourth lines took their game to the Rangers, but neither team could find the back of the net, and game was still scoreless after two periods.

Vancouver was much better at breaking out of their own end and gaining puck possession time in the Rangers end in the middle period.

Both teams were 0-2 with the man advantage. Jared McCann stopped sure goal with his left skate near the right goal post of the Canuck net late in the period.

Rangers out shot Vancouver 8-7. Hits were 5-5 each.

In the face-off circle, Vancouver won10 of 17. After two periods, Henrik Sedin was 6 for 10; Bo Horvat, 6 for 12; Jared McCann, 4 for 8; Adam Cracknell 0 for 4.

The final period was not anything like the first two, plenty of action and plenty of interesting calls, including a penalty shot.

It all started when Vancouver killed off their third short handed situation of the night. Dominic Moore was called for hooking Henrik Sedin at 1:32, putting Vancouver on their third power play of the night.

With time running out on the Vancouver man advantage, Jarret Stoll was called for delay of game at 2:57 when he covered up the puck with his hand, putting the Rangers down two players, and a 5-3 advantage for the Canucks.

Twenty-two seconds later, Vancouver scores with the two-man advantage, as Alex Edler (6) puts a wrist shot past Henrik Lundqvist at 3:19, assisted by Henrik Sedin (19 and Daniel Sedin (20).

The intensity between the Rangers and Canucks continued and so did the penalties. Rangers receive an unsportsmanlike penalty after the Canucks scored, with Chris Krieder serving the bench penalty, keeping Vancouver on the power play.

Forty seconds later, Ryan McDonaugh is sent to the penalty box for high sticking Alex Burrows at 3:59, adding more intrigue to the Canucks man advantage, now 5 on 3, for 80 seconds.

With Alex Burrows still upset at getting high sticked, he takes a penalty 44 seconds later.

Once it all settled down, both teams were back at full strength after the Burrows penalty was killed, and it looked like things would get back to playing hockey.

Wishful thinking.

At 8:54, New York was awarded a penalty shot when Chris Tanev covered up the puck in the Canucks goal crease. Dan Boyle took the shot for the Rangers, scoring to even up the game at 1-1. It was his first career penalty shot goal.

Response from Vancouver was quick and swift, as Vancouvers top line took to the ice and scored 30 seconds later to give the Canucks the lead, 2-1. Daniel Sedin (13), on a wrist shot, buried the puck past Lundqvist, assisted by Alex Edler (11) and Henrik Sedin (20) at 9:24.

There would not be anymore goals the rest of the game. Vancouver would kill one more penalty. And both teams would battle hard the rest of the way, but Vancouver would hang on.

Dan Hanhuis got hit in the face with a slap shot, and had to leave.

CANUCKS JOTTINGS

Ryan Miller recorded his 4rth win in his last 11 starts tonight, making 32 saves for a .970 SV%.
Vancouver’s penalty kill was 5 for 5 tonight, and did not allow a power play goal against on their 4 game home stand, going 12 for 12; and are 19 for 21 in their last 7 games.
The Canucks were 1 for 6 on the power play for the second straight game. They have 21 power play goals on 111 opportunities this season in 30 games; 11 power play goals in 53 opportunities at home in 14 games.
Alex Edler had 1 goal, on the power play; 1 assist; 6 shots; and 2 block shots.
Derek Dorsett and Radim Vrbata led Canuck forwards in shots with 3 each.
Canucks fourth line of Prust-Cracknell-Dorsett had 5 shots, 4 hits and 3 block shots.
Henrik Sedin had 2 goals and had a plus/minus of +1.
Daniel Sedin had 1 goal and 1 assist; had a plus/minus of +1; 2 shots and 1 block shot.
Chris Tanev had 3 block shots.
In the face-off circle: Henrik Sedin was 11 for 22: 50%; Bo Horvat, 8 for 16: 50%; Jared McCann, 5-9: 56%; Adam Cracknell, 2 for 6: 33%; Jannick Hansen, 0 for 1.
Canuck defenseman had 9 block shots; the forwards had 7 block shots.

NEXT GAME UP: AT CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2015

GAME REVIEW

CANUCKS AT A GLANCE

CANUCKS PLAYER STATS

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

Vancouver Looks To Leave For Road Trip With Win Against Rangers

Posted on December 9, 2015 by CanucksBanter

CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff December 9, 2015

CANUCKS LOOK TO EXTEND WIN STREAK AT HOME

The Vancouver Canucks (10-11-8) hope to build on their 5-2 win of Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres when they take on the New York Rangers (18-7-3) tonight at Rogers Place.

“This is a good test. They’re a skilled team. We want to focus on our consistency and build off last game” – Desjardins

Source: canucks.nhl.com

Tonight marks the first of two meetings between these two teams this season. The two teams meet again in New York on January 19, 2016.

The Canucks are 5-3 against the Rangers at home in the last 8 games played and 10-6-0 overall since 2000. Vancouver is 2-3-0 in the last five home outings versus New York.

The game is the last of 4 games on the Canucks home stand, winning one and losing two, in the first three games. Vancouver begins a 6-game road trip on Sunday, December 13 against Chicago, ending on Tuesday, December 22 against Tampa Bay. In between they play, Minnesota on December 15; Philidelphia on December 17; Detroit on December 18; Florida on December 20.

Vancouver is 3-5-2 in their last 10 games, and 4-6-3 at home this season.

The Canucks’ last game was on Tuesday night against Buffalo, a 5-2 win, that ended a five game winless streak. Ryan Miller recorded his 3rd win in his last 10 starts, making 32 saves for a .941 SV%. Radim Vrbata, scored three goals; Brandon Prust had a goal and an assist; Daniel Sedin had two assists; Henrik Sedin, a power play goal. Adam Cracknell had two assists; Canuck defensemen had three helpers.

The Canucks currently are tied with San Jose for 2nd place in the Pacific division with 28 points, a point ahead of Arizona and Anaheim; four points in front of Edmonton and Calgary.

The Rangers begin a 3-game Western Canada road swing tonight against Vancouver, which continues Friday against Edmonton, ending Saturday against the Calgary Flames.

Rangers are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games (2-4-1 in their last 7 games), and are 6-3-2 on the road this season.

New York last played on December 6, at home against Ottawa, winning 4-1, after losing a couple of 2-1 defeats to the New York Islanders and Colorado, respectively.

New York is currently in 2nd place in the Metropolitan division with 39 points, a point behind Washington; two points ahead of 3rd place New York Islanders.

CANUKS JOTTINGS

Vancouver’s penalty kill has not allowed a power play goal against on their 4 game home stand, going 7 for 7 in their last three games; and are 14 for 16 in their last 6 games.
Forward Brandon Prust scored his first goal of the season on Monday night against Buffalo, his first in 50 games, dating to Feb. 3 when he was with the Montreal Canadiens.
Daniel Sedin has 20 points (8-12-20) in the last 14 games. He recently had a seven game point streak from Nov. 14-27; it was the longest point streak of any Canucks player this season and his longest since a seven game streak from Oct. 22 – Nov. 5/13. He currently leads the team in points (31), goals (12), assists (19), ppg (5) and ppp (12).
Henrik Sedin has 18 points (6-12-18) in the last 14 games. He recently had a six game point streak from Nov. 16-27. He also had a five game point streak earlier this season from Oct. 29 to Nov. 7. Last season, the Captain recorded points in three or more consecutive games on 10 different occasions. Henrik ranks second on the team in points (27), goals (9), and assists (18).
Alex Edler leads VAN in time on ice per game (24:25) and has led the team in that category in 25 of 28 games he’s played, including 15 games where he’s led all skaters in TOI. He currently ranks 18th in the NHL in TOI/GP.
Chris Tanev leads the team and ranks t-5th in the League in blocked shots with 71. His defence partner Alex Edler ranks t-15th in the NHL with 57 blocked shots.
With five goals against Buffalo on Monday night, Vancouver doubled its’ goal production of the five previous games. They now have 10 goals scored in their last 6 games.
Canucks are led in plus/minus by Jannick Hansen with +8; followed by Daniel and Henrik Sedin at +5 each. Radim Vrbata is -14; Bo Horvat, -13; and Yannik Weber, -11.
Derek Dorsett leads all Canucks in hits this season with 70, followed by Adam Cracknell with 57; Matt Bartkowski, 56; and rookie Jake Virtanen has 53 hits.
In the face-off circle, Bo Horvat leads Vancouver with a face-off win percentage of 50.7% overall (55.6% Home; 47.2% Away); Henrik Sedin, 49.9% overall (55.2% Home; 45.8% Away); Adam Cracknell, 39.8% overall (44.2% Home; 36.5% Away); rookie Jared McCann, 32.6 overall (28.9% Home; 35% Away).
Vancouver as a team, has the worst face-off win percentage in the NHL at 47 per cent. The Canucks at home are 51.0 per cent in face-offs (17th in the NHL); on the road Vancouver is 43.8% in face-offs (30th in the NHL).
On the power play, Vancouver is 13th in the NHL in face-off win percentage at 56.7 per cent overall (6th in the NHL at home at 63 per cent; 51.8 per cent on the road).
Canucks assigned forward Jake Virtanen to the Utica Comets on a conditioning assignment.
D Luca Sbisa (hand) and F Brandon Sutter (sports hernia surgery) are on the injured reserve list.

SEASON SNAPSHOT

CANUCKS PLAYER STATS

RANGERS PLAYER STATS

CANUCKS-RANGERS AT A GLANCE

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

Vancouver Cuts Down Buffalo For 5-2 Victory

Posted on December 8, 2015 by CanucksBanter

CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff December 7, 2015

CANUCKS END 5 GAME WINLESS STREAK

The Vancouver Canucks (10-11-8) took to the ice at Rogers Place tonight against the Buffalo Sabres (11-14-3), and battled, pushed back for a deserved 5-2 win.

Vancouver received secondary scoring from a line other than the Sedins and Jannick Hansen.

Radim Vrbata, scored three goals; Brandon Prust had a goal and an assist; Canucks defensemen had three helpers by Dan Hamhuis, Ben Hutton and Alex Edler.

Adam Cracknell had two assists, with Chris Higgins and Derek Dorsett each getting a helper each.

The Sedins were not left out of the offensive showing by Vancouver as Daniel had two assists and Henrik scored a power play goal.

Ryan Miller recorded his 3rd win in his last 10 starts, making 32 saves for a .941 SV%.

Vancouver led 2-1 after the first period; 4-1 after the middle period, enroute to their win.

CANUCKS JOTTINGS

The Canucks were 1 for 6 on the power play; and killed all 3 shorthand opportunities they faced tonight.
Vancouver’s penalty kill has not allowed a power play goal against on their 4 game home stand, going 7 for 7 in their last three games; and are 14 for 16 in their last 6 games.
With the five goals tonight Vancouver doubled its’ goal production of the last five games. They now have 10 goals scored in their last 6 games.
Derek Dorsett led all Vancouver players with 5 hits and was +1 in plus/minus.
Derek Dorsett leads all Canucks in hits this season with 70, followed by Adam Cracknell with 57; Matt Bartkowski, 56; and rookie Jake Virtanen has 53 hits.
Radim Vrbata had 6 shots and was a +3 tonight.
Only two Canucks were negative in plus/minus tonight: Jannick Hansen at -2 and Henrik Sedin at -1.
Canuck defensemen had 9 of 10 blocked shots in the game. Alex Burrows was the only forward to block a shot.
In the face-off circle, Adam Cracknell led the team, 9 for 12: 75%; Bo Horvat, 7-12: 58%; Jared McCann, 4 for 11: 36%; Henrik Sedin, 8 for 22: 36%; Derek Dorsett, 1-1:100%; Radim Vrbata, 0-1: 0%. Total: 29 for 59: 49.15%

NEXT GAME UP: NEW YORK RANGERS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015

GAME REVIEW

CANUCKS AT A GLANCE

CANUCKS PLAYER STATS

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

Buffalo Stands In Way Of Canucks’ End To Five Game Winless Streak

Posted on December 7, 2015 by CanucksBanter

CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff December 7, 2015

CANUCKS NEED TO BATTLE AND PUSH BACK

The Vancouver Canucks (9-11-8) take to the ice at Rogers Place tonight against the Buffalo Sabres (11-13-3).

Tonight marks the second of two meetings between these two teams this season. The two teams previously met in Buffalo on Nov. 7 (2-3 L).

The Canucks are 3-2-0 against the Sabres in the last five games played and 4-1-0 in the last five home outings versus Buffalo.

The game is the third of 4 games on the Canucks home stand, having lost the first two as part of a five game winless streak, in which they have been shutout twice and have less than eighteen shots (16,16,17) in three straight games.

The Canucks currently sit in 5th place in the Pacific division with 26 points, two points ahead of Edmonton and four points in front of Calgary.

Buffalo is currently on a three game Western Canada swing on their current road trip which ends on Thursday against the Calgary Flames.

The Sabres are in 7th place in the Atlantic division with 25 points, two points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Vancouver’s last game was against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night, a 4-0 loss. Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves with an .818 SV% in his latest start. The Canucks are 2-5-3 in their last 10 games, and 3-6-3 at home.

The Canucks lost their fifth straight National Hockey League game Saturday when they dropped a 4-0 decision on home ice to the Boston Bruins. It wasn’t so much that they lost — we’re getting used to that. It was how they lost. The Canucks barely put up a fight in what their coach had called a “must game.”

Source: ‘Frustrated’ Vancouver Canucks, struggling on both offence and defence, looking to ‘get that swagger back’, National Post, December 7, 2015

For the Sabres, they visited Edmonton last night, and lost to the Oilers 4-2. The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games and 5-5-2 on the road.

FIVE GAME SKID REVIEW: November 26-December 7

During their 5 game winless streak, Vancouver is 0-3-2. Goals For:5. Goals Against: 16. Shots For: 110 (36, 25, 16,16,17) for 4.55 per cent shots turned to goals. Shots Against: 151 (30, 34, 40, 22, 25) for an .894 save percentage.
Their power play is 2 for 18: 11.1 per cent, 23rd best in the NHL.
Penalty kill has allowed 4 goals on 18 times short handed, for 77.8 per cent, 22nd best in the NHL.
Face-off win percentage, the worst in the league at 41.5 per cent.
As for the Plus/Minus (+/-) factor. During their 5 game winless streak, only one Canuck is in the plus, and that is Luca Sbisa at +1:
- There are 13 players in the minus, and 9 players at zero.
- The worst is Radim Vrbata at –6. There are three at –5: Alex Edler, Yannick Weber, and Jared McCann; four players at –4: Alex Burrows, Bo Horvat, Chris Tanev, and Chris Higgins; three players at –2: Derek Dorsett, Dan Hamhuis and Ben Hutton; two players at –1: Ronalds Kenins and Jake Virtanen.

Tickets to Saturday’s blowout against the Boston Bruins were selling for as low as $12 each shortly after the puck dropped. Monday’s home game against the Buffalo Sabres is currently being sold as low as $30 a ticket, but that may drop even more closer to game time.

“It’s just the inconsistency,” said Tony Ell of Showtimetickets.com. “People want to get behind a consistent product.”

Traffic inside the Canucks official store was far from crowded on a Sunday a few weeks before Christmas.

Source: Demand for Canucks tickets sink to lowest levels in over a decade-globalnews.ca, December 7, 2015

CANUKS JOTTINGS

Since November 1, the Vancouver Canucks are the worst team in the NHL, with a record of 4-9-4 in 17 games played.
Their wins since November 1, are the least during that time, putting them dead last at 30th in the NHL.
During that time they have 40 goals for, 18th in the NHL; 53 goals against, tied with the Arizona for the second most allowed during that span, with Winnipeg the worst with 56 goals against.
Face-off win percentage during their last 17 games, puts them dead last in the NHL at 43.9 per cent.
Overall for the season, the Canucks face-off win percentage is 46.9 per cent in 28 games, worst in the NHL.
Canucks are 4-1 when Brandon Prust has a fight.
Daniel Sedin has 18 points (8-10-18) in the last 13 games. He recently had a seven game point streak from Nov. 14-27; it was the longest point streak of any Canucks player this season and his longest since a seven game streak from Oct. 22 – Nov. 5/13. He currently leads the team and ranks in the top-10 in the League in points (29), goals (12), ppg (5) and ppp (11).
Henrik Sedin has 17 points (5-12-17) in the last 13 games. He recently had a six game point streak from Nov. 16-27. He also had a five game point streak earlier this season from Oct. 29 to Nov. 7. Last season, the Captain recorded points in three or more consecutive games on 10 different occasions. Henrik ranks in the top-10 in the NHL in points (26), assists (18), and ppp (10).
Alex Edler leads VAN in time on ice (24:22) and has led the team in that category in 24 of 27 games he’s played, including 14 games where he’s led all skaters in TOI. He currently ranks t-17th in the NHL in TOI/GP.
Jake Virtanen ranks t-third on the team and third among NHL rookies in hits with 53.
Chris Tanev leads the team and ranks fifth in the League in blocked shots with 69. His defence partner Alex Edler ranks t-14th in the NHL with 56 blocked shots.
Radim Vrbata is the worst Canuck in plus/minus with -17, closely followed by Bo Horvat at -13.
Jannick Hansen is the best Canuck in plus/minus with +10, followed by Henrik Sedin at +6.
Derek Dorsett missed practice yesterday but is expected to be able to play tonight.
Ryan Miller will get the call in net tonight against his old club, while blue-liner Alex Biega is expected to draw into the line-up as well likely in place of either Yannick Weber or Matt Bartkowski.
Miller will start his 23rd game of the season. He has a 2.59 GAA; .910 SV%; and one shutout.
In his last 9 starts, Ryan Miller has won only 2 games, with a 3.17 GAA and .898 SV%.
The Sabres could go with back-up netminder Linus Ullmark tonight after Chad Johnson went the distance last night. Ullmark is winless in his last five starts but did beat the Canucks back on November 7.

Are the Canucks the worst team in the NHL?

You can certainly make the case without much effort. They’re currently on the worst streak. They have the lowest winning percentage of any NHL team. They can’t score and they’re having trouble defending.

But here’s the most sobering part. Look at the NHL standings and find a team you can point to and confidently say: “The Canucks are better than these guys.”

Source: Willes’ Musings: Are the Canucks the worst team in the NHL?, The Province, December 7, 2015

SEASON SNAPSHOT

“We haven’t come out with some of the games I thought we’d come out with,” coach Willie Desjardins told the Canucks website after practice Sunday. “I like our group, I still do. … We’ve been inconsistent and when you’re inconsistent, guys lose confidence in each other so we have to start at the basics and we have to work through it and we have to get back on track.”

Vancouver has scored five goals in five games.

“I’ve seen this team play some amazing hockey and we have to get back to that, we have to get that swagger back, that confidence back,” forward Brandon Prust said. “We have a great team here.”

Source: canucks.nhl.com

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

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