Canucks Hope To Reclaim Home Ice Advantage Tonight Against Division Rivals Calgary Flames

By Andrew Phillip Chernoff | CanucksBanter

November 12th, 2024

The Vancouver Canucks (7-3-3, 4rth Pacific Division) are looking to redeem themselves when they host Pacific Division rivals Calgary Flames (8-5-3, 3rd Pacific Division) tonight at Rogers Arena in the second game of their 6-game homestand.

Last Game

The Flames defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on November 11, Dustin Wolf made 28 saves, and Mikael Backlund, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Kevin Rooney scored for the Flames.

The Canucks welcomed the Edmonton Oilers on November 9th in the opening game of their homestand. Vancouver struggled defensively in a 7-3 loss to the Oilers.

Vancouver has been embarrassing in their previous two games at home, and need to demonstrate Canucks pride and professionalism by reclaiming home ice advantage for all Canucks—one and all!!

Team Trends

Calgary

• The Flames are 3-2-3 on the road
  • Calgary has suffered two consecutive non-regulation road losses
• The Flames’ power play has been struggling, ranking 27th in the league with a 72.3% success rate
• The Flames have a penalty kill success rate of 72.3%
• The Flames have points in four straight games (2-0-2)
• Ex- Canuck is a legitimate threat against Vancouver tonight. Andrei Kuzmenko has 1 goal and 8 assists

Vancouver

• Canucks have a 1-2-3 record at home.
• The Edmonton loss was the second consecutive home game Vancouver has given up 6 or more goals, with the other being a 6-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on October 30th.
• Vancouver has a power-play at 19.5 % success
• Canucks penalty kill is at 82.9% success

Key Players

Calgary Flames

• Rasmus Andersson leads the Flames with 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists), and Jonathan Huberdeau is a standout with 10 points (6 goals, 4 assists)

Vancouver Canucks

• J.T. Miller has 5 goals and 6 assists; Quinn Hughes has 3 goals and 12 assists. Conor Garland 4 goals and 7 assists; Elias Pettersson is leading the team with 17 scoring chances over his last four games

Goaltending

• Calgary Flames: Dan Vladar is expected to start, with a 3-3-2 record, a 2.60 goals-against average, and a .906 save percentage
• Vancouver Canucks: Kevin Lankinen is the obvious choice to start: 7-1-2 record, 2.61 GAA, .905 SV%. But Arturs Silovs just might be Head Coach Rick Tocchet’s choice.

Key Matchups

• Power Play: The Flames‘ power play has been struggling, ranking 27th in the league with a 15.2% success rate. Canucks are at 19.5% success for 15th in NHL.
• Penalty Kill: Flames are in 27th place at 72.9% success while Vancouver are 11th in NHL at 82.9%.
• Defensive Play: Canucks’ head coach Rick Tocchet wants to see his defensemen be more physical and protect their crease better, clearing rebounds and blocking out in front of their net.
• Game Face-Off: Tocchet wants his players to be shot out of a canon with the game face-off. Canucks have given up the first goal of the game for 7-consecutive games: 1-3-0 @ Home and 3-0-0 @ Road. It’s time to change that and set the pace.

Team Stats

Prediction

The Flames are playing the final of back-to-back games, with the previous game last night, a tough win against the Los Angeles Kings.

Calgary will have to be careful how they manage their pace of the game as they look to build on their recent win. 

The Canucks will be fresh with no excuse not to dominate the Flames from the opening game face-off.

Vancouver needs to thwart Calgary at every twist, slice, and turn. Taking advantage of Calgary not being a hundred percent effective in execution of their game plan in their second game in two nights.

Pressuring them, taking the body, and controlling puck possession in all three zones. If not controlling it, at least getting in their way.

The Canucks will be looking to improve their home record and capitalize on the Flames weak and wobbly legs at some point. How soon that will be depends on how aggressive but disciplined Vancouver is in not getting penalities by pushing Calgary too far.

With the support of the fans cheering them to victory, Vancouver will bring Calgary to task,  ready to rumble with their best, putting them in a losing state, to go home with gloomy face.

Or at the final buzzer, Vancouver will leave the ice in disappointment with a job left undone, the fans unable to comprehend, but knowing game 3 will arrive and another chance to make it right.

Source: nhl.com, statmuse.com