Vancouver Canucks Week #11 Outlook: Uphill Momentum

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Nov 2, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Jared McCann (91) checks Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn (22) during the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

@Philadelphia Flyers (12-12-6) Thursday, December 17th

Leading Scorer: Claude Giroux (11 Goals, 28 Points)

Keys to the Game:

  1. Suppress the shots and shoot more
  2. Shut the star down
  3. Remember you are playing tomorrow

More from The Canuck Way

The Flyers are facing some injury struggles of their own. Top defenceman Mark Streit is out, and so is centre Sam Gagner. That means Giroux will get all the points, eh? He now leads the team in goals and assists. Needless to say, shut him down, and the rest is easy. The next leader on the scoring race is Jakub Voracek who only has a goal and 15 assists through 30 games.

The Flyers also have allowed the second-highest number of shots per game this year, averaging 32.4 shots against per game. Watching Alain Vigneault’s Rangers play the other night, I remembered the days when Vancouver shot everything towards the net and things happened. It’s time for the Canucks to do just that.

But the Flyers also shoot a lot. They sit eighth in shots for per game, above teams like the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins. If the Canucks want to rest their goaltenders and their injury-ridden defencemen, the will have to keep the shot count against low. Next-up are the tough Red Wings, and they will always play the opposition tough.

Next: @Detroit Red Wings