Vancouver Canucks: 3 keys to victory over the Colorado Avalanche

Canucks fans got to celebrate the incredible All Star Weekend featuring Brock Boeser. With the brief break over, it’s time for the rest of the team to put their focus back on the ice. The fans need see some hope from this roster and Boeser can’t do it alone.

After the weekend, some could say Brock Boeser has arrived. If you don’t pay attention to the Vancouver Canucks, then I guess that’s true. Boeser is making noise this season, but really put his stamp on the league with this All Star weekend.

Boeser won the Accuracy Shooting challenge, and his famous shot broke the league’s new light-up targets. The Burnsville native put on a show during his two games on Sunday, en route to a Pacific Division win. Boeser earned the MVP (through fan votes), collected a total of $550 000, won a car and even adopted a puppy. It doesn’t get much better than that, except it does. Boeser was named the first star of the week.

It’s no secret that Boeser gives fans the brightest hope for the future. However, there are still 33 games left to play. I hope the team doesn’t repeat what they did last year after the All Star break. The Canucks went into that break with a 3-0 loss to the Arizona Coyotes, who were 29th in the league at the time.

After the break, the Canucks went 7-23-2 to end the season in the most pathetic effort during the Jim Benning era. I am not alone in having this fear. Jeff Paterson gave people a reminder of what happened last year on TSN 1040 this morning.

Another break gives another fresh start for the team. The season’s been difficult for Travis Green, but I think he has handled it well considering what he has to work with. I may disagree with him on certain lineup decisions, but he his making the best out of a bad situation. Hopefully, his squad is hungry and ready to go against the Avs. Here are the lineup notes and keys to victory.

Vancouver Canucks

2017-18 record: 19-24-6 (28th overall)

Goals for: 127 (26th in the NHL)

Goals against: 156 (27th in the NHL)

Lineup notes

Erik Gudbranson (still day-to-day; back; from Rotoworld)

Score first, score early

The Colorado Avalanche are holding the last Wild Card spot in the West. They will be going at 110% from the first puck drop. The Canucks need to shake some of that confidence. Scoring quickly and getting an early lead should do the job.

Los Angeles fell victim to this in the unexpected 6-2 rout in Vancouver. Jonathan Quick just couldn’t find himself during that game after an early lead buried his team. That’s how the Canucks must beat down the Avs. Vancouver can’t match them gun for gun, but the Canucks have the opportunity to play spoiler in this game.

Colorado has the edge on goaltending, so it is best to beat them early before they settle in and lock down the game. Getting that lead out of the gate will give the Canucks a cushion. This team will need to weather the storm of Nathan MacKinnon, who has torn apart this league since the Matt Duchene trade. MacKinnon has 48 points in his last 35 games. Green’s style of “prevent-defence” won’t hold up for long. The boys in blue will need a lot of goals before they can get out while the getting is good.

Stay out of the penalty box

A break can make players a little rusty. When you are taking on a fast team like the Avalanche, this could lead to stick infractions and lazy defensive penalties. Colorado has the 11th best power play in the NHL. That’s not why you should be concerned.

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Vancouver has the sixth worst penalty kill in the league. It will be hard enough to contain this team at even strength. Don’t take any dumb penalties that will give the Avs easy goals on the man advantage.

Lastly, Vancouver needs to stay out of the box for the sake of Jacob Markstrom. His inconsistent play puts a huge question mark on the outcome of the game. Fans wonder which Jacob Markstrom will stand in the crease tonight. Unfortunately, we are conditioned to expect at least one soft goal. And against the Avs, those goals are just back-breaking.

Play aggressively in the neutral zone

The middle of the ice is going to be crucial in this game. Vancouver is not as fast as Colorado, so it’s a waste of time to chase the puck. What they can do is use the system from Travis Green to their advantage.

They need to clog up passing lanes, force turnovers and make offensive zone entries difficult. The Canucks can’t afford to turtle into their own zone and use the “bend, but not break” approach. I think the season has shown you that the Canucks aren’t good enough to do that.

Travis Green doesn’t want the Avs to pin the Canucks in for a minute or two. Flipping the puck out is not working. The team is under pressure and is forced to ice the puck. The issues on not just with the defencemen; the forwards to need to work with them more effectively.

This aspect of the game will be the most important thing for Green to manage. At the end of it, there is only so much he can do as a coach. The Canucks will have to dig deep within and prove to the fans that they are not close to being finished.

Next: Canucks shouldn't have many untouchable players

Tonight could be a blowout, a back and forth shootout or a gutsy defensive effort. That’s the thing; the Canucks can be unpredictable, for better or worse. The expectations are low. It’s about time this team started surprising people again.