Through 22 games, the Vancouver Canucks have gone 15-6-1 to start the season, a start that has caught many in the hockey world by surprise. Even more encouraging is the fact they rank 7th in the NHL and second in the Western Conference with 2.95 goals per game. It’s been a wonderful start for the Canucks, and starting Friday they head on a seven game Eastern road trip that will finish off the month of November and kick off December. Here’s a preview of each game along with a difficulty score for each team (ranking scale will be out of 10.)
Canucks Road Trip Preview (Part 1)
Vancouver Canucks @ Columbus Blue Jackets (11/27/14, 4:00 PM PST)
To say the Blue Jackets have underwhelmed would be a vast understatement. Going into the 2014-15 campaign, many considered them one of the top Eastern Conference clubs due to their deep forward group and strong goaltending. However, injuries have hit them hard this season. Not just to bottom-six, depth players either, they’ve had injuries to the likes of Sergei Bobrovsky, Fedor Tyutin, Brandon Dubinsky and Nathan Horton, key pieces for the Blue Jackets. I know people don’t like to use injuries as an excuse for the failures of a hockey team, but this is one case where it would be perfectly acceptable. Columbus has gone four consecutive games without a victory, and currently sit in last place in the Metropolitan division.
The last meeting between these two clubs was 6-2 Canucks blowout win in Vancouver, with the Canucks getting goals from Daniel Sedin, Zack Kassian, Alex Edler, Jeremy Welsh, and two from captain Henrik Sedin. The only other meeting between these two franchises last season was a 3-1 Jackets victory in Columbus back in October 2013. Marian Gaborik, R.J. Umberger and Ryan Johansen netted goals for the Jackets that evening, showing just how different the team’s current roster is as compared to Columbus teams the Canucks have faced in the past.
While the Jackets are certainly not a powerhouse, they are a hard working bunch of players that can keep the score close. However, this shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for the red-hot Canucks.
Difficulty Score: 5
Vancouver Canucks @ Detroit Red Wings (11/30/14, 11:00 AM PST)
The Red Wings’ early success may come as a surprise to some. After all, Detroit does rely heavily on their veterans, such as Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall, to run the show. The youth have contributed, with the likes of Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist producing points at a solid clip. Another key to the Red Wings early success has been the tremendous start of goaltender Jimmy Howard, who has posted a 2.09 goals against average and a .920 save percentage through 18 games.
The last meeting between these two teams was February 3rd 2014, when the Red Wings shutout Vancouver 2-0. The Canucks managed a mere three shots in the final period. After the game, former head coach John Tortorella called David Booth Vancouver’s best player, and stated that that was a “good thing for him, a bad thing for the team”.
Detroit may not be the powerhouse they once were, but they’re hardly a pushover. This one could be tough.
Difficulty Score: 8
Vancouver Canucks @ Washington Capitals (12/2/14, 4:00 PM PST)
The Canucks kick off the month of December against a team whom they’ve already beaten once this season in the Washington Capitals. On the 26th of October, the Canucks took down the Capitals 4-2, largely due to three goals in succession off the sticks of Henrik Sedin, Nick Bonino and Luca Sbisa.
The Capitals’ bread and butter over the past few seasons has been their powerplay, and that hasn’t changed this season. The Capitals currently rank 2nd in the NHL on the man advantage, with a 27.9% efficiency rate, and have not allowed a single shorthanded goal against so far. They sit in third place in the Metropolitan division at the time of this writing, with eight ROW’s (Regulation and Overtime wins.) That said, they sit in the bottom half of the league on the penalty kill (17th) with a success rate of 83.8%, and have given up more goals than they have scored when the score is within one.
This game should be fairly close, after all, these two clubs have an identical +65 shot differential at the time of this writing, but it’s not quite the type of game that should be used as a measuring stick for the Canucks.
Difficulty Score: 7.5
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