| Canucks (40-23-2) |
Avalanche (37-22-6) | ||||
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AT |
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| Time | 6:00 PM PST |
TV | Sportsnet Pacific |
| Season Series | 3 - 1 Canucks |
Last Meeting | 5-2 Canucks (11-20-09) |
| The Enemy | Mile High Hockey | Scoring Leaders | H. Sedin: 26-59-85
Stastny: 12-49-61 |
| Canucks | Category | Avalanche |
| 3rd | Conference Position | 6th |
| 6-4-0 |
Last 10 | 6-4-0 |
| 3.20 (3rd) |
Goals Per Game | 2.88 (9th) |
| 2.52 (8th) |
Least Goals Against Per Game | 2.54 (9th) |
| 1.30 (2nd) | 5 On 5 GF/GA | 1.14 (6th) |
| 21.3% (5th) | Power Play % |
17.7% (18th) |
| 80.9% (20th) | Penalty Kill % |
82.7% (12th) |
| 30.4 (12th) | Shots Per Game | 27.1 (30th) |
| 29.1 (9th) | Least Shots Against Per Game | 31.9 (25th) |
| 80% (4th) | Winning % When Scoring First | 68.8% (15th) |
| 86.4% (3rd) | Winning % When Leading After 1 | 81.5% (8th) |
| 45.7% (5th) |
Winning % When Trailing After 1 | 45.5% (6th) |
| 96.2% (3rd) | Winning % When Leading After 2 | 81.8% (20th) |
| 34.6% (2nd) | Winning % When Trailing After2 | 23.5% (5th) |
| 51.1% (9th) | Faceoffs % | 47.6% (28th) |
| 15.7 (26th) | Least PIM's Per Game | 13.2 (17th) |
| +37 (3rd) | + / - GF/GA | +20 (5th) |
The Canucks have only played a division rival once (a 6-2 loss to Minny) since January 21. They are 12-6 against NW division foes. More after the jump.
Many had expected Craig Anderson to board the suck boat by now but he has not. Problem there is that the Canucks have his number this season:
-a 5-2 win on November 20.
-an 8-2 killing of the Avs on November 14 that saw Anderson get chased from the net after 39:00 played, easily his worst performance of the season.
-a 3-0 to the Canucks on November 1
-to his credit (finally) a 3-0 Avs win on October 3.
So far, Vancouver is nearly his worst enemy, but make no mistake, Anderson is the real deal. Check out his game-by-game stats here.
Let's see who's cookin' for the Avs lately. In their 4 games since the Olympic Break:
-Chris Stewart has 5 goals and 4 assists. Good god.
-Paul Stastny has 7 assists
-T.J. Galiardi has 3 goals and 2 assists
-New Av Peter Mueller has 1 goal and 3 assists. He ain't slowing down on his new team. Not on a line with Hejduk and Duchene.
-Matt Duchene has 1 goal and 2 assists
-Canuck "killer" Milan Hejduk has 2 goals. Not gonna kill anybody that way, Milan.
Who is this Chris Stewart guy?
-NHL player of the week...named yesterday..no shit.
-drafted in the 1st round in the 2006 draft by the Avs
-has 24 goals and 51 points in 60 games for the Avs this season. Money money, yeah yeah
This will be no easy task for Vancouver. Sure I say that nearly every time we play them and we beat their asses this season, but I get this feeling that this game will be different. If Vancouver beats the Avs in regulation tonight, they will hold the NW Division lead by 4 points. Wouldn't that be sweet?
A funny stat, considering that the Canucks are now nicknamed the Comeback Kids, is that the Avs are 20th in the NHL when leading after 2 periods.
Stats be damned. Luongo has to outplay Anderson. The Sedins have to start rolling. Even though Colorado's PP is ranked 18th there is no point in giving them too many chances. Check out the Avs' scoring depth.
Alright...a couple clips to get you into the groove:
The last meeting between the 2 teams (highlights):
Henrik Sedin's first career hatty came against Colorado in November:
Rypien fights McLeod:
Rypien, where have you gone???
OLD SCHOOL: Joe Sakic AND Trevor Linden score hat tricks in the 1996 playoffs, in the same game. Bite me, Corey Hirsch. Sakic won that war.