Canucks Game Preview

GAME DAY: Canucks @ Carolina

Everything is better! Well, probably not... but we did see a game that is much more of what we saw back in the first couple months of this season, as the Canucks dominated a pretty sad Philadelphia Flyers team. No chance to rest though, as they are in Carolina for the rubber match against the Canes.

By Kent Basky Jan 16, 2015, 1:54pm PST

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Time	Friday 5:00 PM PST	TV	Sportsnet
Season Series	1-0 Canucks	Last Meeting	4-1 Canucks Oct 28/14
The Enemy	Canes Country	Scoring Leaders	D. Sedin: 9-29-38 E. Staal 13-13-26

Canucks	CATEGORY	Hurricanes
24-14-3	SEASON RECORD	14-24-5
51	Points	33
7th	Conference Position	15th
Won 1	Streak	Won 1
2.76 (14)	Goals For Per 60 (GF60)	2.05 (29)
2.57 (13)	Goals Against Per 60 (GA60)	2.56 (12)
20.5 (9)	Power Play %	17.7 (18)
87.3 (3)	Penalty Kill %	86.8 (4)
48.3 (22)	Faceoff Win %	51.5 (10)
10.5 (20)	PIM / GP	7.7 (2)
49.4 (21)	Corsi For %	51.9 (10)
100.4 (15)	PDO	97.7 (26)

You'd be foolish to think that last night's win against the Flyers mean that everything's gonna be okay, but the fact that a good number of the people identified in yesterday's preview stepped up with strong performances is definitely encouraging. From the Sedins getting the PP rolling, to Nick Bonino's highlight reel spin-o-rama, to Jannik Hansen forgetting that he can't score on breakaways, the Canucks turned in one of their strongest performances of the year, let alone best road games.

Ryan Miller was pretty damn good last night, so much so that we could see Miller go again tonight against the Canes, and with them not playing again til Monday in Florida, they just might keep him going so he stays fresh. More good news as Dan Hamhuis returns tonight, which should solidify the D even more, provided Hammer's shaken off the funk he was in before injuring his groin 22 games ago. One who will not be playing again tonight is Zack Kassian, who today we learned is officially on the trading block, as the Canucks look to either ditch an underachieving disappointment, or repeat history trading away a future potential Cam Neely/Todd Bertuzzi type player. Either way, we know the Canucks' fan base won't let us down, returning to their lament of trading away Superstar Cody Hodgson for Kassian, and bashing management for the return on a trade that's yet to happen. That's how we roll...

Difficult to say how this one will go tonight. The Canes are pretty much rock bottom when it comes to scoring, but good special teams and goaltending seem to have gotten them the handful of wins they do have. Either way, the Canucks should come out exactly as they did against Philly and take it to them to get some momentum before next week's Florida back to back.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

*Tosses the title track from Cynic's 'Kindly Bent To Free Us' into the room and runs, leaving you to figure it out...