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They can only finish as good as 3-3 for this six game road trip, and as I mentioned before it kicked off, that wasn't going to be good enough to help any playoff aspirations they may have. With injuries to 3 of their top scorers, a point separation between them and the teams they're chasing that's starting to look larger even when it doesn't change and the trade deadline looming, the Canucks are going to need to start thinking harder about the latter and nothing else.
Canucks |
CATEGORY |
Blues
|
| 25-26-6 | SEASON RECORD | 30-22-5 |
| 56 | Points | 65 |
| 6th | Division Position | 3rd |
| Lost 1 | Streak | Won 5 |
| 2.30 (27) |
Goals For Per 60 (GF60) |
2.84 (10) |
| 2.84 (20) |
Goals Against Per 60 (GA60) |
2.88 (23) |
| 15.5 (27) | Power Play % | 21.3 (7) |
| 79.3 (23) | Penalty Kill % | 84.5 (5) |
| 51.8 (7) | Faceoff Win % | 50.2 (14) |
| 8.1 (25) |
Shooting % | 10.3 (6) |
| 48.7 (22) |
Corsi For % | 49.9 (17) |
| 99.0 (21) |
PDO | 99.9 (16) |
Stats from NHL.com and www.hockey-reference.com
THE OPPOSITION
Sometimes, firing a coach doesn't have much of an impact on a team until further down the road. In the case of the St Louis Blues, that doesn't appear to be the case. Since Mike Yeo took over for Ken Hitchcock on Feb 1st, the Blues have won 6 of 7, and let in a paltry 8 goals, with 3 shutouts. Jake Allen and Carter Hutton, who had been bearing much of the blame for the Blues struggles this season, really seem to be responding to Yeo behind the bench.
They appear to have all that worked out now, and are looking more like they plan on solidifying their playoff spot when even a wild card spot seemed to be iffy just a few weeks ago.
THE CANUCKS
They're saying that Bo Horvat will be a game time decision, which is good news for a Canucks team that so obviously missed him against Pittsburgh on Tuesday. If you wanted to prove that he truly is the force that drives this team now, all you need do is look at this game without him. They looked lost down the middle, and despite a few good chances never really were a threat to the Penguins.
They could also get Brandon Sutter back tonight, which once again, would help immensely. After seeing Ryan Miller perform admirably in that loss to the Penguins, the Canucks go back to Jacob Markstrom, looking to win his 2nd straight start. That means we will probably see Miller start Saturday against Calgary, and then back to Markstrom Sunday against the Flyers.
And just to remind any of you still holding out hope, the odds are getting far too great:
CGY & LAK still play 4 more times. Minimum of 8 points doled out there. Makes #Canucks hill even steeper than it appears
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) February 16, 2017
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Death-tinged thrash at it's finest from REVOCATION: here's Fracked, from the album 'Revocation'.