Scenarios: Canucks' Eastern Road Trip

As Chicago once said (the band, not the city), “Everybody needs a little time away.” This is very much true for the Canucks, who sometimes feel suffocated by the same old routine of their Pacific Division opponents. Often a road trip is the perfect cure for what ails you. The Canucks currently sit at 17-8-1 against Eastern opponents, and have an excellent 17-11-2 road record. It’s not that they don’t like the Pacific Division, it’s just that sometimes they’re all out of love. When that happens, you know it’s time to head east, relax, get yourself a nice pina colada and escape. Oh, and play some hockey games.

The Canucks showed their love for the East on Thursday night by winning a thrilling overtime game against the Rangers. Then they proved that New Jersey is unpleasant by losing to the Devils last night. Can they find some success as they continue their trip through the East Coast (or, as I like to call it, “the Worse Ocean Coast”)? And can they find some success at home against the Blues and Sharks? To answer that question, we’ll play my favorite game, Scenarios. We’ll look at three scenarios: the best case, the worst case, the most likely. Unfortunately due to time constraints this week we’ll have to skip the least likely scenario. In case you’re wondering, it would have involved Alex Biega, a mysterious and beautiful archeologist, and dinosaurs running rampant in downtown Vancouver.

Best Case Scenario

I’ve come to peace with the fact that the Canucks are looking at a playoff spot this year. In fact, given the way they’ve been playing lately, I’m excited to see how they’ll end the season. It can’t be worse than the last two playoff performances, right? So we’ll assume a “best case scenario” involves them winning games, not losing them.

Besides their success against Eastern teams, the Canucks have shown a few positive trends over the last week and a half. For one thing, they’ve been winning. You really can’t underestimate the psychological power of putting together a few wins, especially when your team is dealing with significant injuries. They have also been scoring more regularly, putting in no less than three goals in the five game stretch from February 11 to 19 (21 goals total in that time). Bo Horvat has begun to show a level of comfort in the NHL that matches his effort level, leading to more scoring and possession driving play. Other players, such as Ronalds Kenins and Alex Biega have stepped into gaps in the lineup and performed admirably. Our love for Kenins is no secret here on TCW. This is still a flawed team, but it has again become an exciting and entertaining team to watch.

So what of the next five games? The Islanders and Bruins will be tough. But for some reason the Canucks seem to be able to beat the Bruins in most situations that aren’t a seven game series for a trophy. I think they’ll beat them on Tuesday. The Islanders will be tougher to handle. It’s the kind of game the Canucks might be liable to drop, especially if they’re looking ahead to the Bruins game. The Sabres shouldn’t be hard to beat, given their style of play lately. That leaves the Blues and Sharks. In a best case scenario, at home with a little momentum, I think they beat them both. Those two games will be important to their playoff hopes, and the Canucks will rise to the challenge.

Best Case Scenario: 4-1

Worst Case Scenario

Or maybe they don’t rise to the challenge. After last night’s loss to the Devils, maybe they’re feeling a little deflated, like when you put a balloon in the freezer. After all, it is pretty cold in New Jersey. The injuries could start to catch up to them pretty quickly. With Edler, Tanev and Bieksa injured, the Canucks are already having serious difficulties breaking out of their own zone, and preventing goals when they’re in their own zone. If things start to fall apart they could fall apart quickly. A loss in Long Island would be likely, then a win in Buffalo. I still think the Canucks can beat the Bruins, partly because they’re just not the same powerhouse team this year as in previous years, and partly because I really don’t like the Bruins. But then the Canucks could come home and, like they’ve shown us so far in 2015, struggle to show consistency in their own rink. Losses to the Blues and Sharks would not be out of the question.

Worst Case Scenario: 1-4

Scenarios: Canucks’ Eastern Road Trip Equals Wins

By Dan Donkers | Feb 22, 2015