Vancouver Canucks game preview: Boeser hits the Jackpot

James Neal and local rookie Dylan Ferguson lead the charge against the Vancouver Canucks. The Golden Knights arrive to play their first regular season game at Rogers Arena. Here are the lineups, predictions and more.

Last week put a scare in Vancouver Canucks fans. Terrible losses to the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks left us wondering if the team would be swept by all three California teams. In Tuesday’s game, the Canucks were down 2-0 early and it did not look pretty.

However, the Canucks fought back (literally in the case of Derek Dorsett), grinding out a 3-2 comeback win. Henrik Sedin scored and both revamped power play units cashed unit. Anders Nilsson returned to form after the two-goal deficit and the Canucks snatched a win they desperately needed.

Now, the Canucks need to shift focus as they prepare to face the Vegas Golden Knights at home. Today’s contest will be the Golden Knight’s first official visit to Rogers Arena after the Canucks lost 9-4 in a preseason contest to Vegas.

I had this whole storyline of two former Canucks making their return to Rogers Arena, but sadly, things have changed. Luca Sbisa is currently sidelined with an undisclosed injury and Jason Garrison has been waived by the Golden Knights.

Fortunately, this leaves the feel-good story of Dylan Ferguson in the spotlight. The 19-year-old native of Lantzville, B.C. (that’s on the Island for those that don’t know) is the fifth goaltender deployed this season by the Golden Knights. Maxime Lagace was pulled late in an 8-2 stomping by the Oilers and Ferguson had to fill in.

Later, we learned that Lagace was hurt. While Malcolm Subban is close to returning, it looks like Ferguson will once again get the start against the team he grew up watching.

Again? Ferguson was in goal for the that preseason game mentioned earlier. However, this time, the Canucks will have all their starters against the Kamloops Blazers netminder. It will certainly be an exciting moment for him, especially considering what Irfaan Gafaar had learned:

Vegas Golden Knights

Overview

2017-18 Record: 10-6-1

Goals For: 59

Goals Against: 53

Injuries (from Rotoworld): Luca Sbisa (undisclosed, sidelined), Oscar Dansk (lower body, day to day), Malcolm Subban (lower body, day to day), Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion, day to day), Reid Duke (shoulder, out indefinitely), Clayton Stoner (lower body, day to day), Mikhail Grabovski (concussion, out indefinitely), David Clarkson (back, out indefinitely)

Who’s on Offence

David Perron is leading the way offensively, with 15 points. The former member of the St. Louis Blues has embraced his new found top six role with the Golden Knights. His line that includes James Neal and Erik Haula have combined for 38 points and are a part of the first power play unit for Vegas.

Speaking of James Neal, he is leading the Golden Knights in goals, scoring 10 of them in 17 games. Neal is set to eclipse his 2016-17 totals of 41 points in 70 games. He is dangerous with the puck and leads the Golden Knights in shots on goal.

Who’s on Defence

Colin Miller may be tucked away on the third pair, but he is a source for offence. The former Bruin has 10 points, with seven of them on the power play. Of the five Golden Knights defencemen to play at least 200 minutes at five on five, Miller boasts the best Corsi for percentage among them.

Who’s in Net

Well, my intro basically covered this part, but likely, Dylan Ferguson gets the start. He may have only played nine minutes and 14 seconds on Tuesday, but he only let in one goal (on two shots). To be fair, that game was already out of hand by the time he made his debut. The real test for Ferguson will come tonight against the Canucks.

Projected Lineup

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

David Perron—Erik Haula—James Neal

Oscar Lindberg—Cody Eakin—Alex Tuch

Will Carrier—Pierre-Edouard Bellemare—Tomas Nosek

Nate Schmidt—Jon Merrill

Brayden McNabb—Deryk Engelland

Colin Miller—Brad Hunt

*lineups courtesy of the dailyfaceoff

Keys to Victory

Vancouver Canucks

1. Get to Ferguson early. The young goaltender will be nervous for this game, so take advantage of that. A couple early goals will test his mental strength and if he is not up to the task, a win will be a breeze.
2. Shots, shots, shots. The Canucks need to pepper this goaltender. I know this isn’t Jonathan Quick we are up against, but the team is more likely to beat the inexperienced netminder with a tsunami of shots.
3. Special teams. The Canucks punished the Kings with the power play and held down the fort on the penalty kill. The power play has a brand-new look to it, so let’s see it put the pressure on. The Golden Knights have the 15^th best power play, but also have the sixth worst penalty kill. Use this to your advantage.

Vegas Golden Knights

1. Shut down the Horvat line. The Canucks rely heavily on this line for offence at even strength. The Sedins looked good in the game against LA, but your primary focus should be on Horvat, Boeser and Baertschi.
2. Put the Edmonton game behind you. It was an ugly game. Forget about it. Focus on disrupting the Canuck’s game. Team defence is important. The Canucks are not a flawless team.
3. Stay out of the penalty box. The Canucks power play isn’t among the best in the league, but the Golden Knights have a poor penalty kill. A parade to the sin bin will result in a long night for Dylan Ferguson. Don’t hang your goalie out to dry.

Predictions

Scott Rosenhek

The Canucks are going to pepper Dylan Ferguson tonight. I think 40 shots may be a conservative estimate. The new power play will show they are the real deal and obliterate the Golden Knights penalty kill. Brock Boeser will score two goals while Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi get a goal each. James Neal will have a pair of goals, but it won’t be enough. Tommy Gun pots in an empty netter to ice the game.

Harman Dayal

The Canucks capitalize on an inexperienced Dylan Ferguson with Lagace out. The Sedins and Eriksson have another solid night together with sustained offensive zone time.

Alex Hoegler

They regained their form in LA, and now face a beaten up Vegas team. Boeser scores twice.

Drew Nazareth

The Canucks feast upon a 19 year old junior goalie making his NHL debut in his hometown. Look for Dorsett to score, though analytics will tell you that he got lucky for the eight time this year.

Isha Jahromi

My fellow Vancouver Islander will stand on his head and the Canucks will break twitter by coming up short against a team they must win against. The B53 line will get a point or two but The Golden Knights will be eager to pounce on the Canucks mistakes, which were easily exposed in the LA game.

Next: Vancouver Canucks are dropping in power rankings

Tyler Shipley

Hard to fault Vegas when they’ve got the grocery boy playing goal. The real question is how do we only score four goals?