A two-game roll, that’s what the Canucks are looking for. It’s a humble, modest goal, but one has to start somewhere.
Coming off a 4-2 win over the visiting Minnesota Wild on Saturday night, Vancouver will try again to be an inhospitable host. The win ended an 0-3-and-1 skid.
That same night, with a late goal from future Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Kane, Detroit edged the Kraken in Seattle 4-3. The Red Wings are just one point out of playoff spot in the Eastern Conference while the Canucks sit six points out in the west. They’re next-to-last in the Western Conference with 25 points, one ahead of the Nashville Predators.
With just four wins, seven losses, and three post-regulation points in November, followed by two losses to start December, Vancouver buried itself. A win against the inconsistent, middling visitors from Motown would offer a slight glimmer of hope.
The Canucks were missing seven players off the roster due to injury over the weekend, including top line centre and co-leading scorer Elias Pettersson, who was a late scratch for the game against Minnesota. “Petey” struggled with an upper body injury and skipped the match after skating in warm-ups. We’ll see if he’s ready to go Monday.
In his absence, young Finnish centre Aatu Raty had his finest NHL game to date with his first ever three-point night. The 23-year-old has played in 74 big league games.
Saturday’s other glory story was the 28-save effort from 25-year-old rookie goalie Nikita Tolopilo. The Belarusian continued to defy his skeptics by picking up his second win in three starts this season.
The Red Wings are healthy, a rarity this season in the NHL, with just bottom-six centre Mason Appleton listed as day-to-day.
Detroit has the edge in special teams in this match-up, statistically superior in both the power play and penalty kill departments. Their 24.5% success rate on the PP jumps out.
Detroit is looking to avoid missing the playoffs for the tenth consecutive season, a remarkable streak for a franchise that made the postseason 25 straight years leading up to the current streak. The struggles have taken some getting used to for the fan base there and for GM Steve Yzerman.
Canucks fans are used to mediocrity for the most part. Another win might give them hope for some sort of resurgence.
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