Vancouver Canucks preview: The Kings are dead, long live King Boeser

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The surging Los Angeles Kings are coming to Vancouver for their second game of the season series. Here are both teams’ lineups, predictions and keys to victory.

Defeating the Los Angeles Kings was once considered a badge of honour, especially when it came to the playoffs from 2012-2015. However, times have changed, and the Kings had fallen off for a few seasons. This year, the Kings are an exceptional team near the top of the standings and the Vancouver Canucks sit at the opposite end of the spectrum.

The short-lived rivalry is dead and gone, but the Kings Twitter account gives us our seasonal reminder as to why we don’t like the Kings. Although, the Vegas Golden Knights have done well to annoy the rest of the NHL with their social media account.

Our last meeting with the titans of the West was the only bright spark of that awful road trip in California. The Canucks took a 3-2 decision with Anders Nilsson stealing the game with 29 saves. How fitting that he will get the nod for the second of four games this year against LA.

Vancouver bounced back from an awful stretch of games going into the Christmas break with a win over the Blackhawks on Thursday. Keep in mind that the Canucks had the fortune of facing a rookie goaltender while finally receiving some solid goaltending of their own.

Travis Green will have to pull out all the defensive stops to squeak out a win. Does this mean that Nic Dowd could play more than Brock Boeser? Absolutely. It happened on Thursday, despite Boeser’s line producing four goals with a fifth on the power play from Sam Gagner. Jake Virtanen played his usual 10 minutes and Nikolay Goldobin had 35 seconds of ice time in the third period.

If you haven’t caught on yet, I’m not thrilled for the upcoming trap-fest tonight. Let’s break down the starters, injuries and predictions.

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Vancouver Canucks

Overview

2017-18 record: 16-17-5

2017-18 record vs Kings: 1-0-0

Goals for: 103 (21st in the league)

Goals against: 121 (27th in the league)

Injuries (from Rotoworld): Brandon Sutter (Groin; day-to-day), Bo Horvat (Ankle; week-to-week), Sven Baertschi (Jaw; week-to-week), Chris Tanev (Groin; day-to-day)

Who’s on offence

You know it’s not one of my previews with addressing our king of the Canucks, Brock Boeser. He is a superstar, and no one can deny that (I’m looking at you Edmonton and Toronto fans). The Flow has 21 goals on the season, eclipsing every single Canuck that played last season before the turn of the new year. Boeser is tied for fourth in goals scored among NHL players. He took back the rookie scoring lead with a vengeance and the only player on the Kings with more points is Anze Kopitar. The Kings captain is only two points ahead of Boeser.

Thomas Vanek has been inflating his trade value in his last four games. With 10 points in that span, including Thursday’s five-point effort. Unfortunately, Vanek only has 11 points in the month of December. He has been streaky, but is taking full advantage of his chance to play with Brock Boeser during these injuries. Tommy Gun is on a high (not that kind of high—get your mind out of gutter) right now. He is fun to watch, and I like how he mentored Boeser in his own way. It’s icing on the cake to trade to a contender and bring him back for next season.

Who’s on defence

More from The Canuck Way

Ben Hutton and Troy Stecher have had rough seasons to say the least. With four and two points, respectively, our hopes for a couple offensive top four defencemen have been dashed.

Hutton makes a lot of sloppy plays, despite having positive analytics that indicate he has a hand in driving play. Stecher makes the occasional gaffe, but the lack of offence is more concerning.

Much of this has to do with reduced ice time and fewer opportunities on the power play, especially for Stecher. Part of their poor play is their responsibility, but their coach is not doing them any favours. These two are young defencemen who need responsible veterans to insulate them and teach them how to defend more effectively.

Alexander Edler should be paired with Stecher and Hutton should be paired with Chris Tanev when he is healthy. Michael Del Zotto and Erik Gudbranson do nothing to help either defencemen. If Green is going to bury them with tough defensive assignments, then he needs to give them a chance to succeed. The team is not good and having an Edler-Tanev pairing when everyone is healthy has done nothing to help the Canucks win more games.

Who’s in net

Anders Nilsson has fallen back to Earth. His GAA is up to 3.39 with a .906 save percentage. Earning a second win against this tough LA Kings squad would be a good bounce back. The game is no easy task, as I expect him to be under siege. However, Nilsson can earn some trust from his coach, who was rather belligerent with him last practice.

Travis Green gives Anders Nilsson some excellent advice at Canucks practice. pic.twitter.com/NUfP9hQg3d
— Squire Barnes (@sbarnesglobal) December 28, 2017

The Canucks goalies need to be better, but did you consider it was too convenient that both goalies happened to play this badly at the exact same time? Maybe the team’s issues are far deeper than their goaltending. Food for thought.

Projected lineup

Daniel Sedin—Henrik Sedin—Loui Eriksson

Thomas Vanek—Sam Gagner—Brock Boeser

Nikolay Goldobin—Markus Granlund—Jake Virtanen

Alex Biega—Nic Dowd—Brendan Gaunce

Alexander Edler—Derrick Pouliot

Michael Del Zotto—Erik Gudbranson

Ben Hutton—Troy Stecher

*lineups courtesy of the daily faceoff

Los Angeles Kings

Overview

2017-18 record: 22-11-5

2017-18 record vs Canucks: 0-1-0

Goals for: 109 (tied for 13th in the league)

Goals against: 88 (3rd in the league)

Injuries (from Rotoworld): Jeff Carter (Lower body; out indefinitely), Christian Folin (Upper body; day-to-day)

Who’s on offence

Anze Kopitar has returned to form. With 40 points in 38 games, the Slovenian is tied for 11th in NHL scoring. He is everything for the Kings’ offence, since the next highest point total on the team is 29 points from Dustin Brown. LA is scoring by committee, having four players with at least 10 goals. Kopitar is in great form and doesn’t look close to being finished, which is good because it makes his $10 million cap hit hurt a lot less.

Tyler Toffoli is having a down season. With 25 points in 38 games, he is still fourth on the Kings in scoring. In fairness to Toffoli, he did not get prime opportunities on the top line for long. Players like Dustin Brown, Adrian Kempe and Tanner Pearson got longer looks with Kopitar. Toffoli is missing his second line center with Jeff Carter’s injury and losing Marian Gaborik hurt the team’s forward depth early on. Time will tell, but I think Toffoli will improve on his measly 34-point season last year.

Who’s on defence

Drew Doughty. King of the Roxy in Vancouver. All kidding aside, Doughty remains the best option on the blue line for the Kings. Los Angeles will be in a tough place because his contract is nearly up and Doughty wants a huge pay raise. The Kings may not be able to afford him considering cap space isn’t plentiful. It happens when a team wins a couple Stanley Cups. I will be very interested to see how this situation plays out for Los Angeles.

Who’s in net

Jonathan Quick has the fourth best save percentage and fifth lowest GAA in the NHL. The Kings clearly missed him last season when they lost him to an injury. Quick is usually a tough customer to beat due to his skill and ability to avoid penalties when he takes swings at the Canucks. If the Canucks fail to put enough pressure on him, Quick could coast to an easy win.

Projected lineup

Tanner Pearson—Anze Kopitar—Dustin Brown

Alex Iafallo—Adrian Kempe—Tyler Toffoli

Marion Gaborik—Nick Shore—Trevor Lewis

Andy Andreoff—Torrey Mitchell—Jonny Brodzinski

Jake Muzzin—Drew Doughty

Kurtis Macdermid—Alec Martinez

Derek Forbort—Kevin Gravel

*lineups courtesy of the daily faceoff

Keys to victory

Vancouver Canucks

Flawless goaltending. A huge ask, given the recent play of both goalies, but this is how they must win. Couple this with boring team defence and Travis Green will get the 1-0 win he desperately desires (based on his player deployment).
Even strength scoring form everyone. The Canucks can’t rely on Boeser’s line to produce four goals and live on the power play for the rest. LA boasts the league’s best penalty kill, so power play goals may come few and far between.
Pray that the Kings take them lightly. LA has the fourth best record in the NHL and have been one of the juggernauts of the West this season. However, the Roxy tends to do a number on Drew Doughty when he plays in Vancouver, so the game could go either way.

Los Angeles

Get to Nilsson early. Unlike Jacob Markstrom, Nilsson won’t give up as many soft opportunities. If the Canucks fall down a few goals within the first five minutes, there is no way they are mounting a comeback.
Suffocate the Canucks. Sending shot after shot after shot will be how you beat Nilsson. Not even he can stop over 40 shots if his team won’t play in front of him. Green’s system is easy to read and gum up in the neutral zone.
Play physical and fast. The Canucks rely on speed, but are not among the elite in the NHL. Take the physical side of the game to them, because Alex Biega seems to be the only player hitting back. Canucks have had little push back this month, so continue to beat them down.

Predictions

Scott Rosenhek

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Travis Green is will have his dream come true. The Canucks are going to cling to a one goal lead for as long as they can, even if it takes most of the game. King Boeser will score the loan goal and Nilsson will put a performance of a lifetime on display. Another terrible game for Hockey Night in Canada, but a win’s a win, right? Even if this hurts our lottery odds down the line.

Alex Hoegler

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Next: Canucks prospects at the World Juniors

They took it to a superior Blackhawks team, and they match up well with an older and slower Kings team. Boeser (who else), nets the winner.

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