Vancouver Canucks gameday: Road trip ends vs. Winnipeg Jets
By Alex Hoegler
A difficult six-game road trip for the Vancouver Canucks ends Thursday when they take on the powerhouse Winnipeg Jets. Can they head back home with eight of a possible 12 points?
Vancouver Canucks simply have to be happy with how the team has fared on this six-game road trip, as they’ll head back to Rogers Arena this weekend with no fewer than six points.
Road wins against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins have displayed this team’s character.
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The blue line has endured a remarkable turnaround (for now, anyway), goalie Anders Nilsson has won three straight and the team was able to get by Pittsburgh without rookie sensation Elias Pettersson.
But the Canucks couldn’t ask for a much tougher finish to this lengthy road trip: A clash with the Winnipeg Jets — widely considered the team to beat in the Western Conference this season.
Mark Scheifele and co. saw a 4-1 third period lead evaporate against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, and they fell 5-4 in overtime.
No doubt the Jets will come out angry and firing against a Canuck team that’ll be without its top scorer. It’ll be interesting to see how the young Canucks handle the Jets from the get-go.
The Jets swept Vancouver in the season series last year, yielding just three goals. No doubt the Canucks will have to score more than one goal if they want to finish this road trip with a 4-2-0 record.
Two days after keeping the Penguins’ offensive juggernaut in check, the Canucks defence must deal with a star-studded Jets team. Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey lead the team with five points apiece. Scheifele, Patrik Laine, Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers can change the game at any moment. Perhaps no team matches Winnipeg in terms of speed, depth and all-around star power and talent.
The Canucks will need the likes of Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat to lead the way in this one. The former has come around after being held pointless in his first two games. Boeser is now on a four-game point streak. The goal for Vancouver? Simple: Let Boeser use that slick wrist shot from the left circle.
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Vancouver has nothing to lose in this game, really. There’d be no shame in winning half of the games on this road trip, and leaving Winnipeg with a victory is no easy task in today’s NHL. The Canucks just need to play another full 60 minutes and give it their best against one of the league’s top units.