[Hyack]

The Canucks tie the score 2-2 with Goldobin's 2nd of the year at 17:31 of the 2nd, a beautiful back hand shot, assists to Hutton and Markstrom. Shots on goal are now 28-18 in favour of the Kings. The Kings will start the 3rd with 30 seconds left on the PP.

[Hyack]

Nic Doud scores his first at 41 seconds into the 3rd, assists to Granlund and Hutton. The Kings then take a 4-3 lead with goals at 2:22 and 6:49. The Kings out shot the Canucks 36-25. The Canucks end this home stand on Tuesday when the Anaheim Ducks come to town.

[N_Fiddledog]

Good game though.

[N_Fiddledog]

From the World Juniors tournament:

$1:

CANUCKS’ FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT

Two years after selecting Brock Boeser with the 23rd-overall pick, the Vancouver Canucks appear to have found the 20-year-old sniper someone to play with him.

Elias Pettersson, who was Vancouver’s fifth-overall pick in 2017, headed into the tournament as one of the top scorers in the SHL in Sweden with 35 points in 26 games. The 18-year-old has continues that offensive production at the world juniors, where he leads all scorers with four goals and six points in three games.

“I think he started off ok,” said Team Sweden head coach Tomas Monten. “He feels a lot of excitement coming here.

Maybe some pressure as well. I think he’s a player that can do that (score big goals). He also can create space for his teammates.”

http://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/wo ... cacf2cac76

[Strutz]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

From the World Juniors tournament:

$1:

CANUCKS’ FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT

Two years after selecting Brock Boeser with the 23rd-overall pick, the Vancouver Canucks appear to have found the 20-year-old sniper someone to play with him.

Elias Pettersson, who was Vancouver’s fifth-overall pick in 2017, headed into the tournament as one of the top scorers in the SHL in Sweden with 35 points in 26 games. The 18-year-old has continues that offensive production at the world juniors, where he leads all scorers with four goals and six points in three games.

“I think he started off ok,” said Team Sweden head coach Tomas Monten. “He feels a lot of excitement coming here.

Maybe some pressure as well. I think he’s a player that can do that (score big goals). He also can create space for his teammates.”

http://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/wo ... cacf2cac76

Now it will be matter of his transition from the SHL to the NHL.

[Hyack]

Anaheim at Vancouver

40

DUCKS (18-14-8) at CANUCKS (16-18-5)

The Anaheim Ducks will try to win for the fifth time in six games when they visit the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

The Ducks look to win their third straight game for the second time this season. Goaltender Ryan Miller, who played three seasons with the Canucks from 2014-17, will start for Anaheim. Miller made 13 saves in 51 minutes in a 4-1 win against Vancouver on Nov. 9 before exiting with a lower-body injury, and was sidelined until Nov. 25.

Vancouver defenseman Christopher Tanev will return after missing seven games with a groin injury. Goaltender Anders Nilsson will start for the Canucks, 2-8-1 in their past 11 games. It will be Nilsson's first start since he allowed six goals on 31 shots in a 7-5 loss against the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 19.

Ducks forward Rickard Rakell has scored a goal in five straight games, and has eight points (six goals, two assists) in that streak.

Canucks forward Thomas Vanek has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past five games.

Perry, who has been out since Dec. 11, skated for the first time with the Ducks on Tuesday and could return later this week. … Baertschi, injured on Dec. 9, is expected to return during a seven-game road trip that begins Saturday at the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Getzlaf has four assists in his past two games, and 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) in his past nine games. … Silfverberg has five points (one goal, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Boeser has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past five games.

Game time 7:00pm PT

[Hyack]

Anaheim will take a 2-0 lead into the 2nd period with goals at 56 seconds into the 1st period and another at 13:44. Both teams are 0/1 on the PP and the Ducks are out shooting the Canucks 12-11. One piece of good news is the return of Chris Tanev, out for 7 games due to a groin injury. Baertschi, out since Dec 9 is expected to return during the Canucks' upcoming 7 game road trip. Still no news about Horvat, sidelined since Dec 5 with a fractured foot.

[Hyack]

The Ducks increased their lead to 3-0 at 5:00 into the 2nd period. The Ducks are now 0/3 on the PP while the Canucks are 0/2. Shots on goal are now 23-18 in favour of the Canucks. The Canucks are now ranked 28th in the NHL while on the PK and surprisingly enough ranked 8th in the league while on the PP.

[Hyack]

Two 3rd period goals by Anaheim at :20 and 7:21 gives the Ducks a 5-0 win. Shots were 31-27 for the Canucks who went 0/4 on the PP with the Ducks going 0/2. This ends their 4 game home stand with a 1-3-0 record. They now start a 7 game road trip on Saturday in Toronto followed the next day in Montreal.

[Hyack]

Vancouver at Toronto

41

CANUCKS (16-19-5) at MAPLE LEAFS (24-16-2)

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Travis Dermott will make his NHL debut against the Vancouver Canucks at Air Canada Centre on Saturday.

Dermott, 21, the Maple Leafs' second-round pick (No. 34) in the 2015 NHL Draft, was recalled from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League on Friday. He had 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) and was plus-15 in 26 AHL games this season.

Toronto is 1-2-1 in its past four games after going 3-1-0 in its previous four.

The Canucks, playing the first of seven consecutive games on the road, look to avoid their third straight loss. Vancouver is 1-5-1 in its past seven games and 2-9-1 in its past 12, and has been held to one goal or fewer in six of its past 12 games.

Canucks forward Brock Boeser has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past six games. He leads all NHL rookies in goals (21) and points (38).

Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past eight games.

Sutter is skating on his own in Vancouver, and Canucks coach Travis Green said he's hopeful Sutter could return at some point during the road trip.

Vanek has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past six games. … Nylander has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games. … Matthews has six points (five goals, one assist) in his past six games.

Game time 4:00pm PT

[Hyack]

The Leafs win it 3-2 in the SO, Boeser scored his 22nd and Gagner scored his 7th in the 3-2 SO loss. The Canucks play Montreal tomorrow night.

[N_Fiddledog]

Damn eh?

Gave up another 2 goal lead.

Oh well, at least the BGV line was clicking again.

I liked some of the supporting cast too.

Can't wait until Bo, Baertschi and Sutter get healthy again.

Two lines, maybe 3. Woo Hoo! We'll be just like a real hockey team.

[N_Fiddledog]

Poor Chris Tanev.

No steak for him for awhile.

[Hyack]

Halfway through the season with 41 games played the Canucks are stuck down in 28th place with only 38 points, tied with Montreal, one point ahead of Ottawa and one point behind Edmonton. One wonders where we would be if Horvat, Sutter, Baertschi and Tanev were not on the disabled list since the start of December. Even with everybody healthy and playing I think it's too far gone in the season for the team to make the playoffs this season. One can only hope for the team to regroup, stay healthy, and do the best they can for the remaining 41 games.

[N_Fiddledog]

Hyack Hyack:

Even with everybody healthy and playing I think it's too far gone in the season for the team to make the playoffs this season.

That's the thing. Even when he gets hurt Bo helps the team. We might have to finish in the bottom ten now. That might not be a bad thing.

This is supposed to be an exceptional draft year. You can't go wrong if you pick in the first ten. Plus you get a chance at the lottery. If the impossible were to happen and the Canucks got lucky, perhaps they might win the draft lottery. Give them Rasmus Dahlin and that's it. Plan the parade route.

In the meantime, the period when everybody was healthy, revealed we have a foundation to build on.

Then the World Juniors showed us we already have help coming. And there's more than what we saw there.

I forgive the hockey Gods for all the injuries. Things are still going to turn out all right.