Vancouver Canucks Goalie Ryan Miller Returning to Game Action vs Capitals

Vancouver Canucks starting goaltender Ryan Miller will return to game action tonight against the Washington Capitals after missing eight games with a groin injury.

When the Vancouver Canucks’ starter Ryan Miller left a shootout against the Florida Panthers on December 20th, 2015, the first diagnosis was “cramps”. Those cramps turned out to be a legitimate groin injury that kept Miller out for almost a month. Luckily, he is ready to return to game action.

As Miller told Ben Kuzma of The Province, his injury was a rather unique situation, and it came more suddenly than the goalie is used to.

"“But it was a unique situation. I got cramped up and it wasn’t as preventable. It was Florida, it was warm and it’s more that I didn’t feel good in Detroit (Dec. 18) and got dehydrated and that was a shootout game. It (injury) was also at the end of a road trip and we had been travelling a lot and it kind of builds up.“I’ll know next time to be extra cautious about the hydration. It’s how you feel, and I didn’t feel it in my calves and that’s usually the first telltale sign that you’re getting that sensation in your body.”"

Miller could not have picked out a tougher game for his return.

Tonight’s opponent, the Washington Capitals, are currently first in the league with a 32-7-3 record. Their star player, Alexander Ovechkin, just scored goals No. 500 and 501 in his 801st game for the club. It was his 26th tally of the 2015-16 season.

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It was also Ovechkin who decided the last meeting between the two teams (Oct. 22nd, 2015), scoring the 3-2 game winner with 4:55 left in regulation.

Canucks vs. Capitals will be a match-up between the second-best offensive team and the eigth-worst defensive group. Washington is scoring 3.31 goals per game while Vancouver has 2.79 goals against per game. But the Caps are not all about offence either. In fact, they are the team with the fewest goals against (90) in the entire league and one of only three teams to have surrendered less than 100 goals through 42 games.

However, the Canucks are not completely harmless. After beating the Florida Panthers 3-2 in overtime, they should carry a lot of momentum into tonight’s game, as they broke the Panthers’ 12-game winning streak and ex-Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo‘s nine-game winning streak. Emerson Etem had a great debut, Bo Horvat is back on track and Jake Virtanen scored his first since returning from the World Junior Championship. There will be a lot to watch out for.

Related: 10 Thoughts Following the Canucks vs. Panthers Game

Keys to the game as per The Canuck Way writer David Joun:

1. Shut Ovi down
2. Get everything on Holtby
3. Discipline

It sounds simple, but we can be sure that it won’t be. Still, if the Canucks want to beat the best team in the league, they will have to pressure Ovechkin as soon as he touches the puck and throw everything they have at Holtby. This is almost like a Corsi 101 class — shoot more than the opponent and you will likely end up winning the game.

In order to achieve that, discipline will also be an extremely important factor. The Capitals score on 26.6 percent of their power plays. In other words, they score at least on every fourth man advantage.

Next: Canucks @ Capitals Game Preview and Predictions

Winning this game won’t be an easy task, but if the Canucks follow these three steps, they might get a little bit closer to achieving that task. Good luck to Ryan Miller in his comeback — he’ll need it.

*Team stats via NHL.com