Canucks At Avalanche Preview: Do It Right

CANUCKS		AVALANCHE
	AT

TIME:	Sun. 5:00 PM PST	TV	Sportsnet Pacific
SEASON SERIES:	1-0 Canucks	LAST MEETING	3-0 Canucks, Jan. 30/13
THE ENEMY	Mile High Hockey	SCORING LEADERS	H. Sedin: 8-20-28 Duchene: 12-19-31

AVALANCHE	CATEGORY	CANUCKS
11-15-4	SEASON RECORD	16-9-6
26	POINTS	38
15th	CONFERENCE POSITION	4th
Lost 1	STREAK	Won 3
3-7-0	LAST 10	5-3-2
9-5-1	HOME RECORD / ROAD RECORD	8-4-3
2.53 (20)	GOALS PER GAVE AVERAGE	2.61 (17)
3.20 (27)	GOALS AGAINST PER GAME AVERAGE	2.52 (10)
0.89 (21)	5 ON 5 GF / GA	1.12 (9)
14.9 (24)	POWER PLAY %	12.9 (29)
80.2 (18)	PENALTY KILL %	81.2 (16)
50.7 (14)	FACEOFF WINS %	47.2 (28)
767 (10)	HITS	661 (20)
524 (2)	BLOCKED SHOTS	359 (28)
133 (24)	MINOR PENALTIES TAKEN	125 (21)
NHL.COM

Vancitydan posted an excellent recap of the Canucks - Kings game earlier (Canucks Copulae) and the key words he used to described that game were "low event". It was a less-pretty more gritty and more consistent win by the Canucks over the Stanley Cup Champs. Dan also mentioned that it would be less likely that we'd see the same type of style game on Sunday against the Avalanche since they play a much more wide open style that what L.A. plays or can play. I agree with his assessment, and as long as the Canucks keep pulling out character wins, I don't really give 2 shits how they go about it. However....

The power play is now tied for worst in the League with..Buffalo. Yea. And the lack of scoring depth shows on the goals-for category. 9 goals in their last 5 games. So they rely heavily on super goaltending, which Cory Schneider has given them in their current winning streak. That's why it was great to see the Canucks play a much-better team D against the Kings. If they are not going to be able to score goals with a depleted lineup, then they have to keep the puck out of their own net. And that is not just on the goaltender. It's 2007 all over again. So, I am not encouraging run and gun hockey from this team unless they start scoring more goals. And maybe run and gun is possible against a last-place team, but don't bank on it. It's the second game of a back-to-back on the road after an emotional game against the Cup champs. The Canucks are gonna be tired.

-A single point earned and the Canucks will take back the Northwest Division.

-The Avalanche are also playing their 2nd game in as many nights. They lost to Dallas on Saturday night.

-The Canucks are 1-0 without Alexander Edler and play their best defensive game of the year. Trade the BUM!

-Last I heard, Manny Malhotra was working with the Chicago Wolves. Maybe he should be with the Canucks showing them how to properly win faceoffs.

PROJECTED ROSTERS

Luongo Schneiderman!

Sedin - Sedin - The Invisible Burrows

Raymond - Schroeder - Hansen (kick ass)

Higgins - Lapierre - Ebbett

Gordon - Sestito - Weise

Hamhuis - Garrison

Alberts - Bieksa

Ballard - Tanev

FOR THE AVALANCHE

Varlamov

Landeskog - Duchene - Hejduk

McGinn - Stastny - Parenteau

Mitchell - O'Reilly - Jones

Kobasew - Olver - Aaron Palushaj

Hunwick - Johnson

O'Byrne - Hejda

Stefan Elliott - O'Brien

TRENDS

• Canucks are 9-3 in their last 12 games playing on 0 days rest.
• Canucks are 42-15 in their last 57 vs. Northwest.
• Canucks are 31-12 in their last 43 in the third game of a 3-in-4 situation.
• Canucks are 1-10 in their last 11 Sunday games. Oh god, not again..
  
• Avalanche are 20-44 in their last 64 vs. Northwest.
• Avalanche are 14-38 in their last 52 games playing on 0 days rest.
• Avalanche are 1-4 in their last 5 overall.

SCORE-PREDICTING WIZARDS UPDATE

Only PeaceJo and team pinnelli scored points last game for picking Mason Raymond to score the winner. Congrats!

Twin Terror: 10

Bobby Canuck: 9

patrik e: 7

andrew21nz: 6

raincity: 6

FormerHab: 5

gmonk33: 5

Meat Mayos: 4

Nathaniel Perlow: 4

PeaceJo: 4

marcness52: 3

westy99: 3

acg515: 2

ChuckinNux: 2

DeathdogIGBL: 2

EvianBubble: 2

Geordie Nuck: 2

ktownfan: 2

Pheenster: 2

Sean Zandberg: 2

seedvt: 2

Tengeresz: 2

vancitydan: 2

YorkAveOrca: 2

beardstache: 1

BW79: 1

dshaps: 1

Kent Basky: 1

KYCanuck: 1

missy: 1

NS_Cix: 1

nucksandpucks: 1

radepalma: 1

Sandwich76: 1

Smoboy41: 1

team pinnelli: 1

Tangent: 1

Thursday: 1

Twitchy2010: 1

Vancouverguy: 1

VIDEO

The last meeting:

One thing about Shane O'Brien: He's loyal to the team he plays for, and his former teams be damned:

The title of this game preview post has been brought to you by Salomon skis and Soundgarden:

GO CANUCKS GO!