Wednesday Nov. 9 - Montreal Canadiens 5 - Vancouver Canucks 2
Saturday Nov. 12 - Vancouver Canucks at Toronto Maple Leafs - 4 p.m. - CBC, Sportsnet Pacific
The good vibes from a stolen win in Ottawa didn't last long for the Vancouver Canucks. One night later, an early goal allowed snowballed into a 3-0 first-period deficit that proved insurmountable. Luke Schenn and Nils Hoglander each tallied their first goals of the year in the third period, but the Canucks fell 5-2 to the Montreal Canadiens.
For the most part, it was the Canadiens' kids who got the job done. Captain Nick Suzuki got the ball rolling on a power play less than a minute into the first period. Arber Xhekaj also picked up his second of the year and Kirby Dach scored a pair, while Mike Hoffman chipped in his fourth of the year. And the Canucks outshot the Canadiens 33-29 in the game, so give Sam Montembeault credit for another strong game. Even without Carey Price, Montreal is solid in net this year, and that's allowing them to let their young defense corps learn on the fly while carrying big responsibility.
And after Spencer Martin delivered a big night in net in Ottawa on Tuesday, it's getting harder not to notice that Thatcher Demko continues to play below the standards that we've come to expect from him. He gave up five goals on 29 shots on Wednesday and has given up at least three goals in every game he has played so far this season.
Last year, he put up a 2.72 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and 10.5 goals saved above expected. In 10 games this year — no longer a small sample size, really — he's at 1-7-2 with a GAA of 4.01, an .874 save percentage and minus-8.9 goals saved above expected,
per MoneyPuck. That ranks him second-lowest in the league, better only than poor Elvis Merzlikins in Columbus.
And that's with a reliable backup this season, who should be helping Demko get an optimal workload. Something is definitely up.
Does it go back to the end of last season, when he was worked into the ground during the playoff push before missing the last three games with an undisclosed issue? Demko did admit that he had a procedure during the offseason, but never did say exactly what had been wrong. Is there something physical that has been lingering — or, perhaps, something new that has come up this season? It's perfectly plausible that he might be trying to play through something that came up in preseason or during one of the early games.
And the Canucks are heading into back-to-back games this weekend — in Toronto on Saturday, then Boston on Sunday. Those starts will be split. Would Boudreau consider playing Martin under the bright lights of Hockey Night in Canada on Hall of Fame weekend, or will he hearken back to Demko's brilliant 53 and 38-save performances last season, when the Canucks swept their season series against the 115-point Leafs?
The Canucks do have a schedule advantage against the Leafs this weekend: Toronto is also hosting Pittsburgh on Friday night, while the Canucks are enjoying a rare two-day road trip break.
They've practiced on Friday. And, understandably, the lineup has been shuffled after Wednesday's loss.
Part of that is by necessity. If you missed it, it's now confirmed that Tanner Pearson is on the shelf after he was injured in Montreal.
That timeline is long enough that the Canucks should be able to put him on long-term injured reserve if they choose, although they haven't done so as of Friday morning.
It has been a rough start to the year for Pearson. After putting up a respectable 34 points last season, he has just one goal and four assists in 14 games this year. With the new additions to the forward group, it's probably not especially surprising that he has seen his ice time drop by more than two and a half minutes a game, from 16:03 to 13:30, and hasn't played a consistent role, even seeing some time on the fourth line.
Pearson has never had more than 30 penalty minutes in a season but is up to 21 already this year. And maybe it's recency bias, because he was in the box serving a hooking minor when Suzuki scored on Wednesday, but it seems like many of his minors have turned into goals against the beleaguered penalty kill.
He's also sitting at a team-worst minus-nine so far this season — and while we're peeking at plus-minus stats, it's worth noting that yes, our hero Luke Schenn leads the team with a plus-seven heading into the weekend games, with Ilya Mikheyev (+5) and Elias Pettersson (+4) representing the top forwards.
The Canucks recalled Sheldon Dries on Thursday to slide into Pearson's roster spot. But it looks like Boudreau will use the injury to get both Hoglander and Vasily Podkolzin back into the lineup at the same time.
To be fair, they both played in Montreal, while Dakota Joshua was scratched. So he's the player who looks like he'll officially draw back in. And after what I just mentioned about Mikheyev's strong plus-minus number, it's interesting that he is being moved off Elias Pettersson's wing and assigned to play with Miller and Boeser.
On the blue line, it looks like Jack Rathbone's two-game opportunity has come to an end. He played just over 13 minutes both nights, and while he tallied an assist and was a plus-one in Ottawa on Tuesday, he finished as a minus-two in Montreal on Wednesday.
Very quickly, here's what's up with the Leafs:
Now with a 7-4-3 record, they've righted the ship after some bumps in the road in late October, and are now 3-0-2 in their last five games. But they're dealing with injuries to both their regular goalies, so Erik Kallgren is getting the start against Pittsburgh on Friday. He has already appeared in six games this season, with a 1-1-3 record and .890 save percentage.
After Ilya Samsonov went down last week, Keith Petruzzelli was signed to an NHL contract, but has not yet played any minutes. And after Matt Murray was placed on injured reserve with an adductor strain on Oct. 15, with a timeline of roughly a month, he was back on the ice with the Leafs early this week. He hasn't been activated as I type this on Friday morning, but there's a chance that he might draw back in on Saturday.
And while it seems like Mitch Marner was in the eye of the storm when the Leafs were on their four-game winless streak late last month, he actually tops the team scoring race heading into Friday's game, with 16 points. John Tavares is having a resurgent season, with a team-leading eight goals and 15 points, and 2022 Hart Trophy winner Auston Matthews is sitting at a point-a-game pace, even though he has just six goals so far this year.
The Leafs have also been dealing with some injuries on defense. And while Jake Muzzin remains out long term, the rest of the blue-line corps is now healthy — including former Canuck Jordie Benn, who has been sidelined with a groin issue. He is now back on the roster, but hasn't played a game yet for his new team.
The Leafs are now the fourth Canadian team that Benn has been a part of, which seems like a lot. I wonder which player has suited up for the most Canadian franchises in NHL history?
One final note — of course, it's Hall of Fame weekend in Toronto and the Canucks are well-represented, with the Sedins and Roberto Luongo. Henrik is scheduled to miss the festivities on Friday, but should be there for the rest of the weekend.
I wondered why Henrik wasn't present for Kevin Bieksa's night last week: guessing his Covid diagnosis is probably why.
He did do a Zoom with Daniel for the media earlier this week, and seemed to be okay. So hopefully he's on the mend and everyone is able to enjoy this very special weekend.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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