By Andrew Chernoff

October 28, 2016

Game Time: 7:00 PM PST
Location: Rogers Arena
TV: Sportsnet 1, Sportsnet 360
Radio: TSN 1040

What’s Up?

Vancouver (4-2-1=9 pts) play the second game of a three game homestand tonight at Rogers Arena against division rivals, Edmonton Oilers (6-1-0=12 pts).

Canucks start their 3rd of 16 back-to-back series this season against the Oilers, hosting the Washington Capitals tomorrow night.

Canucks are 2-1-1 in back-to-back series this season.

Vancouver comes into the game with a home record of 4-1-0, looking for their fifth home win of the young season.

Vancouver suffered their third straight loss, second consecutive regulation loss of the season at Rogers Arena on Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators 3-0, ending a four game winning streak on home ice.

Canucks sit in 10th place in the NHL  and are in 3rd place in the Pacific division, with 9 points, 3 points behind the Oilers, and a single point behind the San Jose Sharks.

Starting goalie Ryan Miller, stopped 25 of 27 shots in the game against the Senators.

Miller, after three starts, has a 1.97 GAA and a .933 SV%. He is now 1-2-0 for the season.

Defenseman Tory Stecher and forward Jayson Megna made their regular season debuts on Monday night. For Stecher, it was his first regular season game in the NHL.

Vancouver’s goaltender tandem of Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom are 5th best in the NHL, with a 2.29 GAA and a .918 SV%.

Leading scorers:  Henrik Sedin (3-2=5 pts), Brandon Sutter (1-4=5 pts), Daniel Sedin (2-2=4 pts), Loui Eriksson (0-4=4 ts), Bo Horvat (3-0=3 pts), Markus Granlund (2-1=3 pts) and Jannik Hansen (1-2=3 pts).

Scratches: #55-Alex Biega; #88-Nikita Tryamkin, #40-Mike Zalewski

Canucks injured: #8-Chris Tanev; #14-Alex Burrows; #15-Derek Dorsett; #17-Anton Rodin; #41-Tom Nilsson. 

Points streaks: none

The Edmonton Oilers extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday. Benoit Pouliot scored twice, Cam Talbot made 34 saves and the Oilers. Patrick Maroon and Milan Lucic also scored for the Oilers, off to their best start since opening 8-1-0 during the 1985-86 season.

The Oilers are in first place in the Pacific division, with 12 points.

Edmonton have the 9th best goaltending duo in the NHL, with Cam Talbot and Jonas Gustavsson, with a 2.43 GAA, and .927 SV%.

Talbot is 5-1-0, with a 2.49 GAA, and a .927 SV% and 1 SO. Gustavsson is 0-1-0, with a with a 0.00 GAA, and a 1.000 SV%.

Edmonton leading scorers: Connor McDavid (4-7-=11 pts); Jordan Eberle (3-3=6 pts); Leon Draisatl (2-4=6 pts); Milan Lucic (3-2=5 pts).

Edmonton special teams are: 4 for 22: 18.2 percent on the power play overall(17th in the NHL); and 23 for 26: 88.5 percent on the penalty kill overall (8th in the NHL).

Vancouver special teams are: 3 for 24: 12.5 percent on the power play overall (23rd in the NHL), with 31 shots for, 9 shots against, 1 shorthanded goal against; and 15 for 18: 83.3 percent on the penalty kill overall (13th best in NHL), with 24 shots against, 2 shot for, 1 shorthanded goal for.

Vancouver has allowed only 16 goals against, while Edmonton has surrendered 17 as well.

What’s at stake:

More of the same. Canucks have not done well against Edmonton in the last six games:

• Vancouver is 0 for 17 on the power play in their last 6-games against Edmonton going back to the 2014-15 season, with them 0 for 10 at Rogers Arena in four of the six.
• Vancouver averaged less than a goal a game against the Oilers last season (9 GF in 5 GP).
• The last season the Canucks were able to generate any offense against Edmonton was 2014-15 when they had 21 GF in 5 GP.

What a difference a couple of seasons, and a different roster, make.

The Canucks rising up to the challenge of battling this young Oilers talent laden team head on, and capitalizing on scoring opportunities, without sacrificing their defensive game, is key to Vancouver being able to win their 5th game of the season.

Vancouver being predictable and playing like they have the last three games, would be the worst thing Canucks could do: their game plan too obvious; no surprises or adjustments on the ice to hoodwink the Oilers.

The biggest surprise, the biggest adjustment, Canucks could make tonight, that would hoodwink their opponents: battle toe to toe with the Oilers, holding them up in the neutral zone and on the blue line, making them pay with the body or the stick.

• Vancouver so far this season are only averaging 1.8-goals a game in 5 previous home games, and their power play at Rogers Arena is 1 for 16: 6.2 percent (28th in the NHL).
• Meanwhile, the Oilers enter the game, averaging 4-goals a game in 2 earlier road games, and their power play is 2 for 6: 33.3 percent (5th in the NHL).
• Vancouver have 130 shots for in five home game, with 9 goals to show for it: 1 goal for every 14 shots. Edmonton has given up 3 goals on 66 shots in two earlier road games: 1 goal against for every 22 shots.
• Canucks have given up 126 shots in their five home games, with 9 goals against: 1 goal against for every 14 shots. Edmonton has 8 goals on 61 shots in their road games: 1 goal for every 7.6 shots.
• Vancouver is averaging 26 shots for; 25.2 shots against at home. Edmonton is averaging 30.5 shots for; 33.0 shots against on the road.

Vancouver have problems scoring, especially in the first two periods; their power play is pathetic. They seem to play well on defense though. Their penalty kill is decent.

The question I have in this one for the Canucks is how hard they’ll be playing. They have a big time showdown with the Washington Capitals on Saturday, and they will focus on that game too.

The worst thing for Vancouver is playing for the Capitals on Saturday night, because they could find themselves with a six game losing streak at the end of the weekend.

Edmonton, playing just that much better, most likely to win against Vancouver, mimicking  their record and place in the standings.

Pregame Notes

Regular Season Game 8, Home Game 6

Records:
Edm: 6-1-0 (Road: 2-0-0)
Van: 4-2-1 (Home: 4-1-0)

Team    SF    SA     PP        PK     PIM   
Edm       202   234    4-22     23-26     69
Van         174   194    3-24     15-18       43

Team        CF               CA           SCF          SCA      HITS
Edm       370(286)    429(316)    158(118)     155(115)   160
Van        343(261)     372(294)    148(108)    141(110)   115

Note: 5v5 stats in parenthesis for CF & CA
SCF=scoring chances for; SCA=scoring chances against.

Potential Canucks Lineup:

#22D. Sedin-#33H.Sedin-#21Ericksson
#60Granlund-#20Sutter-#36Hansen
#47Baertschi-#53Horvat-#9Skille
#46Megna-#50Gaunce-#18Virtanen

#23Edler-#51Stecher
#27Hutton-#44Gudbranson
#5Sbisa-#63Larsen

#30Miller
#25Markstrom

Canucks At A Glance:

• In their last 10 games against Edmonton, Vancouver is:
  • 7-3-0 with 30 GF. 29 GA, 1 SO; 24-30 on PK,  4-35 on PP
• Last season Vancouver against Edmonton was:
  • 2-3-0 with 9 GF, 14 GA; 10-14 on PK, 0-14 on PP
• After 7-games this season:
  • Canucks have:
    • 174 shots for (27th); 194 shots against (18th); 95 blocked shots (20th); 115 hits (27th); 78 missed shots (13th); 53 giveaways (7th); 35 takeaways (23rd).
  • Vancouver:
    • Has a face-off winning percentage of 47.6 percent, 26th best overall in the NHL
    • Has the 6th best save percentage in the NHL at .918.
    • Has the 8th best shot against average in the NHL with 27.7 SA/G.
    • Has the 30th best shots for average in the NHL with 24.9 SF/G.
• Canuck defensemen have a joint 2G-6A for 8 PTS, after 7-games this season.
  • Last season after seven games, Canuck defensemen had 2G-10A for 12 PTS.
• Canucks forwards have 12G-18A for 30 PTS, after  7-games this season.
  • Last season, after seven games, they had 15G-20A for 35 PTS.
• Vancouver goals by period:
  • First period: 1-goals for (30th in NHL); 7-goals against (25th best in NHL)
  • Second period: 4-goals for (22nd in NHL); 4-goals against (4th best in NHL)
  • Third period: 7-goals for (20th in NHL); 5-goals against (2nd best in NHL)
  • Overtime: 2-goals for (2nd in NHL); 0-goals against (1st in NHL)
• Troy Stecher’s 22:35 TOI in his NHL debut on Oct. 25 vs OTT was second most for a defenceman making his NHL debut this season; Nikita Zaitsev (TOR) played 23:57 on Oct. 12 vs OTT
• Alex Edler leads the NHL in blocked shots with 26
• Jacob Markstrom is 7th in the NHL with a 1.95 GAA; Ryan Miller is 8th with a 1.97 GAA
• Bo Horvat ranks t-7th in the NHL for shooting percentage (37.5)
• Brandon Sutter is t-21st in the NHL with 67 faceoff wins
• The Canucks have the fewest penalty minutes in the NHL with just 43
• The Canucks rank t-4th in the NHL with just 16 goals allowed
• Vancouver’s 2.22 GAA/GP is the fifth lowest in the NHL
• The Canucks have allowed the fewest shots per game at 24.9
• Vancouver is the 1st team in NHL history to win their first three games of a season while never leading in regulation in any of those games (Oct. 15-18).

Advanced Stats:

• Vancouver has the 24th best CorsiFor% (5 on 5) in the NHL: 47.03 percent, and the 23rd best CorsiFor% (All Strengths): 47.97 percent.
• Canucks have the 18th highest SCF (All Strengths): 148; and 10th lowest SCA (All Strengths): 141.
• Vancouver has the 20th highest SCF (5 on 5): 108; the 12th lowest SCA (5 on 5): 110.
• Canucks are 18th in Corsi 5 on 5 (Zone Start%): 48.13 percent.
• Individual CorsiFor% (5 on 5):
  • Top Forwards:
    • Derek Dorsett: 5 GP: 50.94 percent
    • Markus Granlund: 7 GP: 50.6 percent
    • Henrik Sedin: 7 GP: 50.29 percent
    • Daniel Sedin: 7 GP: 50.0 percent
  • Top Defensemen:
    • Erik Gudbranson: 7 GP: 49.7 percent
    • Ben Hutton: 7 GP: 49.21 percent
    • Luca Sbisa: 7 GP: 45.89 percent

They Said It….