[Hyack]

Colorado at Vancouver

60

AVALANCHE (31-23-4) at CANUCKS (23-30-6)

The Colorado Avalanche open a three-game road trip against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Tuesday without defensemen Erik Johnson and Anton Lindholm.

Johnson, who leads the Avalanche in average ice time (25:43), and Lindholm each sustained an upper-body injury in a 4-2 loss against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.

Colorado recalled defensemen Andrei Mironov and David Warsofsky from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Monday.

Colorado has lost two straight games and is five points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Vancouver goalie Anders Nilsson will start after making 44 saves in a 6-1 win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday, which was the Canucks second win in the past eight games (2-6-0).

Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon leads the Avalanche with 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists) in 50 games.

Canucks left wing Daniel Sedin has five points (two goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak.

Colorado coach Jared Bednar said Bernier is in concussion protocol after leaving following the second period of a 6-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. … Bachman was called up from Utica of the American Hockey League to back up Nilsson because Markstrom has a minor injury. … Gagner will miss his seventh game but is expected to play against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.

Rantanen has six points (one goal, five assists) in past 11 games, after 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in his previous 17 games. … Horvat has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past four games.

Game time 7:00pm PT

[Hyack]

It was not a good night for the Canuck's penalty killers. There was no scoring in the 1st period with both teams going 0/1 while on the PP. Vancouver scored 4 times in the 2nd, one on the PP, Colorado then managed 3 goals, all of them while on the PP, giving the Canucks a 4-3 lead going into the 3rd period. Colorado scored the only goal of the period, once again while on the PP, bringing the score to 4-4 and leading to OT. Daniel took a hooking penalty at 3:23, leading to another PP goal by Colorado to win the game 5-4. Colorado out shot the Canucks 34-28 and went 5/6 on the PP against the Canucks 1/3. The Canucks start a 3 game road trip on Friday when they pay their first visit to Las Vegas.

[stratos]

Dang I was listening on the radio while heading into work. 2nd period Canucks went up 3-1 and I'm like they got this. Pulled into work and turned off the game. I think I heard the best part where the scored a PP goal and less than a minute another goal.

[Hyack]

Vancouver at Las Vegas

61

CANUCKS (23-30-7) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (40-16-4)

The Vegas Golden Knights try for their ninth win in 13 games and the best record in the NHL when they host the Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

The Golden Knights, 4-1-0 in their past five games and 8-4-0 in their past 12, lead the Nashville Predators by one point for the top record in the Western Conference, and with a win would pass the Tampa Bay Lightning for the best record in the League. Vegas trails Tampa Bay by one point.

The Canucks are 2-6-1 in their past nine games and have lost six of their past seven road games. Vancouver trails the St. Louis Blues by 19 points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Center Sam Gagner will return to the Canucks lineup after missing seven games with an ankle injury.

Canucks forward Bo Horvat has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past five games.

Golden Knights forward Ryan Carpenter has scored all six of his goals this season in his past nine games, and has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past five games.

Holm will make his NHL debut. … Neal and Theodore are game-time decisions for the third straight game.

Baertschi has four points (one goal, three assists) in a three-game point streak … Smith has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past nine games. … Marchessault has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his past nine games.

Game time 7:30pm PT

[Hyack]

Vegas wins the game 6-3, out shooting the Canucks 34-33 and being held to 1/2 on the PP, while the Canucks only managed 1/3. Goals by Baertschi(14) and Vanek(17) in the first period and a 3rd period goal by Daniel(16) was all the scoring for the Canucks. Sunday has the Canucks playing in Arizona, followed by a visit to Colorado on Monday.

[Hyack]

Vancouver at Arizona

62

CANUCKS (23-31-7) at COYOTES (18-33-10)

Goalie Darcy Kuemper will make his debut for the Arizona Coyotes when they host the Vancouver Canucks at Gila River Arena on Sunday. Arizona acquired Kuemper on Wednesday in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings for forward Tobias Rieder and goalie Scott Wedgewood.

The Coyotes are 5-1-0 in their past six games. They have allowed two goals or fewer in five of their past six games.

Vancouver is on a two-game losing streak (0-1-1) and is 2-7-1 in its past 10 games. The Canucks have allowed four goals or more in six of their past eight games.

Vancouver (53 points) is in seventh place in the Pacific Division, 20 points behind the Anaheim Ducks for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Arizona (46 points) is in eighth place in the division, 27 points behind Anaheim.

Canucks forward Daniel Sedin has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past six games.

Coyotes forward Derek Stepan has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past nine games.

Panik (lower body) will be a game-time decision. He did not play Saturday in the Coyotes' 2-0 win against Anaheim at Gila River Arena.

Baertschi has five points (two goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak. … Horvat has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past six games. … Keller has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games, but no points in his past three.

Game time 6:30pm PT

[Hyack]

The Canucks, out shot by the Coyotes 42-27 still managed to win the game with a 3-1 score. Vancouver opened the scoring at 2:16 of the first period with a PP goal by Daniel, his 17th, assists to Pouliot and brother Henrik. Arizona tied the score with a PP goal at 9:18 of the third only to have Daniel score his 2nd of the night, his 18th at 11:43, assists to Boeser and Stecher. The Canucks Archibald then scored a SH goal at 14:08, assists to Sutter and Stecher to bring the score to 3-1. The Canucks held Arizona to 1/6 while on the PP and were 1/4 themselves. The Canucks end this 3 game road trip tomorrow in Colorado.

[Hyack]

Vancouver at Colorado

63

CANUCKS (24-31--7) at AVALANCHE (32-24-5)

Goalie Semyon Varlamov will start for the Colorado Avalanche against the Vancouver Canucks at Pepsi Center on Monday to open a four-game homestand after playing 13 of the past 16 on the road.

The Avalanche have gone 5-8-2 since winning 10 games in a row and are 10-1-0 in the past 11 at home.

Colorado is four points behind the Calgary Flames for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

The Canucks won for the first time in three games Sunday, 3-1 against the Arizona Coyotes. Vancouver is in seventh place in the Pacific Division, 18 points behind Calgary for the second wild card into the playoffs.

Vancouver acquired forward Brendan Leipsic on Monday from the Vegas Golden Knights for defenseman Philip Holm. Leipsic has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 44 games.

Canucks forward Daniel Sedin has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past seven games.

Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past three games.

The Canucks didn't have a morning skate ... Nilsson could start after Markstrom played Sunday ... The Avalanche claimed defenseman Mark Alt on waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers. He will join the team this week ... Lindholm skated with a non-contact jersey. He's missed three games.

Boeser has an assist in three consecutive games ... MacKinnon has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past three games.

Game time 6:00pm PT

[Hyack]

Colorado opened the scoring while on the PP at 19:36 of the 1st, they then took a 2-0 at 7:52 of the third. With Markstrom on the bench, Daniel scored his 19th at 18:44 assists to Edler and Henrik. Colorado then scored, again with Markstrom pulled, at 19:15 to give them the 3-1 win. Vancouver out shot Colorado 32-28 and kept them to 1/5 while on the PP with the Canucks going 0/2. Wednesday has the team starting a 5 game home stand when they host the NY Rangers.

[Hyack]

Canucks acquire Motte & Jokinen from Blue Jackets

...in exchange for Thomas Vanek

Vancouver, BC - Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the club has acquired forwards Tyler Motte and Jussi Jokinen from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for forward Thomas Vanek.

Motte, 22, has split the 2017.18 between the Columbus Blue Jackets (3-2-5 in 31 games) and the Cleveland Monsters (9-2-11 in 17 games). He split his rookie professional season in 2016.17 between Chicago Blackhawks (4-3-7 in 33 games) and the Rockford IceHogs (10-6-16 in 43 games).

A native of St. Clair, Michigan, Motte played three seasons at the University of Michigan, registering 105 points (50-55-105) in 107 games from 2013-16. He tallied a career-high 56 points (32-24-56) in 2015.16, earning First Team All-Big Ten honours and was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award that season. He also represented Team USA at the 2016 IIHF World Championships and won a bronze medal at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championships.

Motte was originally selected by Chicago in the fourth round, 121st overall, at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Jokinen, 34, has registered seven points (1-6-7) in 46 games this season split between Edmonton (0-1-1 in 14 games), Los Angeles (1-4-5 in 18 games) and Columbus (0-1-1 in 14 games). In 2016.17, Jokinen played with Florida, serving as an alternate captain and posting 28 points (11-17-28) in 69 games. The 6-0, 198-pound forward has appeared in 937 career NHL games with Dallas, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Florida, Edmonton, Los Angeles and Columbus accumulating 553 points (187-366-553). In addition, Jokinen has played in 54 playoff games, posting 32 points (17-15-32).

Internationally, Jokinen has appeared in over 170 games with Finland national teams, winning silver medals at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy and the 2016 World Hockey Championship in Russia. Overall, he has played in two Olympics Games (2006, 2014), eight World Hockey Championships (2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016), two World Junior Hockey Championships (2002, 2003) and one World U18 Hockey Championship (2001).

A native of Kalajoki, Finland, Jokinen was originally selected by Dallas in the sixth round, 192nd overall at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.


Canucks acquire Leipsic from Golden Knights

...in exchange for defenceman Philip Holm

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the club has acquired forward Brendan Leipsic from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for defenceman Philip Holm.

Leipsic, 23, has registered 13 points (2-11-13) in 44 games with the Vegas Golden Knights this season. In 2016.17, Leipsic recorded 51 points (18-33-51) in 49 games with the Toronto Marlies finishing second on the team in scoring and tied for second in assists. The year prior, Leipsic scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game on Feb. 13/16 versus Vancouver. In 50 career NHL games split between Vegas and Toronto, the 5-10, 180-pound forward has recorded 16 points (3-13-16).

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Leipsic was originally selected by Nashville in the third round, 89th overall, at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

[N_Fiddledog]

Nucks management is taking some flack for not getting draft picks, but I guess if nobody's offering them you don't get them.

I'm intrigued by Leipsic. They say he's fast and feisty. Shades of Matt Cooke? A mini-Marchand? He's small, but so was Rick Rypien and even Derek Dorsett if you consider the monsters he was often tangling with.

But they say Leipsic can be an instigator. We could use another Burrows. Even a little one.

Here he is in action.

[Hyack]

There is a connection between Leipsic and head coach Travis Green, as the two were together with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks during the 2012-13 season. The 23-year-old had 13 points in 44 games this season.

It’s a low-risk move for the Canucks. They get a young and speedy forward in exchange for a defenceman who is no guarantee to be an NHL regular. For now, Canucks fans should be happy about this deal. The need for speed was real, and they have it for now.

More

[Strutz]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

Nucks management is taking some flack for not getting draft picks, but I guess if nobody's offering them you don't get them.

Well they may not have received any but at least they didn't give up any future picks.

Sorry to see Vanek leave though.

[Hyack]

Strutz Strutz:

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

Nucks management is taking some flack for not getting draft picks, but I guess if nobody's offering them you don't get them.

Well they may not have received any but at least they didn't give up any future picks.

Sorry to see Vanek leave though.

From what I saw of the attempted trades involving the Canucks, there were no offers made concerning the Canucks acquiring a draft pick from any team.

[N_Fiddledog]

Vanek's a free agent in the summer. The Canucks can buy him back if they want.

But he says he wants term. How many years would they be prepared to sign him for with all the choice prospects the Canucks have or will soon have in the minors moving up and looking for a spot on the Big team's roster soon?