| CANUCKS |
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COYOTES | |||
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AT |
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| Time | Tues. 6:00 PM PST |
TV | Sportsnet Pac. |
| Season Series | 2-1 Canucks |
Last Meeting |
2-1 Canucks Feb.13/12 |
| The Enemy | Five For Howling | Scoring Leaders |
H. Sedin: 13-53-66 Whitney: 18-39-57 |
| Canucks |
Category | Coyotes |
| 40-16-7 | Season Record | 32-21-9 |
| 1st |
Conference Position | 3rd |
| Lost 1 |
Streak | Won 5 |
| 22-10-3 |
< Road Record / Home Record > |
16-10-4 |
| 7-1-2 |
Last 10 | 9-0-1 |
| +49 |
Goals For / Against +/- | +9 |
| 3.11 (3) |
Goals Per Game Average |
2.58 (17) |
| 2.35 (6) |
Goals Against Per Game Average |
2.40 (7) |
| 1.23 (5) |
5 On 5 GF/GA | 1.08 (8) |
| 21.4 (2) |
Power Play % |
13.4 (30) |
| 86.3 (5) |
Penalty Kill % |
84.2 (8) |
| 52.2 (3) |
Faceoffs % | 49.7 (19) |
| 1366 (18) |
Hits |
1547 (6) |
| 767 (27) |
Blocked Shots |
797 (22) |
| 447 (18) - |
Giveaways |
411 (21) |
| 413 (18) - |
Takeaways |
363 (24) |
| 13.4 (27) |
PIM's Per Game Average |
8.3 (1) |
| NHL.com |
I was liking what Cody Hodgson was bringing in the tertiary scoring role. He was putting up enough points that I thought he could slide into any of the top 2 scoring centers roles should something happen to Hank or Kes and we could get by. Now we rely on Sammy Pahlsson, Malhotra or Lapierre to fill those roles if injury should occur. Yeah....no. There is an immediate gun pointed at Mike Gillis should the scoring go way down. But the first direction of the pointed gun should not be at GMMG. No, it should be at the players themselves. The Sedins are inconsistent, even with all those points. Pulling off a 4 point night and then disappearing for another 3 games in unacceptable. Line 2, especially Ryan Kesler need to do more. Mason Raymond needs to do more (he's getting there). Chris Higgins needs to do more (he's getting close). Pahlsson isn't going to put up more points than Jannik Hansen. Hansen has already achieved more points this season than Sammy ever has in a single season. But maybe Sammy will benefit playing with a speedy Higgins and Hansen. You just never know until you experience it.
All I know is that the Canucks head into Glendale to face the hottest team in the NHL. The Dogs are smokin right now and have taken over the Pacific Division. We know how Canucks-Coyotes games
go: tight checking and mostly boring. The Coyotes love to clog up the neutral zone. The exact kind of games the Sedins suck at. No room 5 on 5. Oh and look at that: Phoenix is the least penalized team in the NHL. Huh. So fuck the chances of many powerplays, which is happening a lot lately anyway.
So this can go bad. The Canucks can be held off the scoresheet and the wails and finger pointing will commence immediately. But really, this team has not put out a full 60 minute all that often and gets bailed out by goaltending quite often. Too often. With under 20 games to play, it's time to shape up, boys!
I look forward to seeing the new guys in action.
PROJECTED ROSTERS
David Booth - KesLORD -Mason Raymond
Jannik Hansen - Sammy Pahlsson -Chris Higgins
Zack Kassian - Manny Malhotra - Maxim Lapierre
Dan Hamhuis - Kevin Bieksa
Alex Edler - Sami Salo
Marc-Andre Grangini - Aaron Rome
Whitney - Hanzal - Vrbata
Korpikoski - Vermette** - Doan
Boedker - Langkow - Torres
Bissonnette - Gordon - Pyatt
Yandle - Aucoin
Ekman-Larsson - Rozsival
Chris Summers - Michael Stone
INJURIES
The Coyotes are missing a handful of decent players: Kurt Sauer, David Schlemko, Derek Morris, Rotislav Klesla, Kyle Chipchura and Gilbert Brule, who is questionable for Tuesday's game.
The 4 main Canucks injuries are all out for the rest of the season: Keith Ballard, Andrew Ebbett, Steve Pinnizzotto and Aaron Volpatti. (TSN)
TRENDS
- Coyotes are 4-0 in their last 4 games following a win.
- Coyotes are 4-0 in their last 4 games playing on 2 days rest.
- Coyotes are 6-0 in their last 6 home games.
- Coyotes are 10-1 in their last 11 overall.
- Coyotes are 10-1 in their last 11 vs. Western Conference.
- Coyotes are 6-1 in their last 7 after allowing 2 goals or less in their previous game.
- Coyotes are 4-1 in their last 5 when their opponent scores 2 goals or less in their previous game.
- Coyotes are 7-3 in their last 10 Tuesday games.
- Canucks are 12-4 in their last 16 vs. a team with a winning record.
- Canucks are 11-4 in their last 15 in the fourth game of a 4-in-6 situation.
- Canucks are 8-3 in their last 11 road games.
- Canucks are 2-5 in their last 7 vs. Pacific.
- Much more at Covers.com.
VIDEO
Last meeting between these 2 teams:
Marc-Andre Gragnani's first NHL goal:
Zack Kassian's first NHL goal:
Sammy Pahlsson shootout goal:
The title of this post is brought to you by When In Rome: