Vancouver Canucks: Looking ahead at the November schedule

The Vancouver Canucks have struggled in November last year, and they’ll be challenged with a brutal slate of games this season.

We’re less than two weeks away now from the Oct. 2 season opener, where the Vancouver Canucks will visit the Edmonton Oilers — with the home opener against the Los Angeles Kings taking place seven days later.

I recently look a look at Vancouver’s October schedule, which looks friendly on paper. They’ll only go up against three playoff teams from 2019 in the opening month of the season — the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals.

Well, the November schedule looks to be much less forgiving. After visiting the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 30, the Canucks will continue the dreaded California road trip with contests against the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks on Nov. 1 and 2, respectively.

Sure, the Kings and Ducks missed the playoffs last season, but they’re two of the most physical and punishing teams in the league. This is never a fun road trip, and the only silver lining is that Vancouver gets it out of the way early in the season.

After their road trip against the Sharks, Vancouver will endure a brutal stretch of opponents — beginning on Nov. 5 when they host the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. After that, the Canucks hit the road for a two-game road trip against their former rivals in the Chicago Blackhawks and the powerhouse Winnipeg Jets.

All of this back-and-forth traveling isn’t ideal, especially this early in the season. The Canucks will then head back home for a difficult four-game stand. It begins with a contest against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 10, where brothers Quinn and Jack Hughes will square off.

Then, the Canucks will welcome three Central Division powers who all made the playoffs last season: The Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche. All three teams figure to contend for the Stanley Cup. Talk about an adventurous three-game homestand!

If you thought things were already difficult for the Canucks this month, well, it gets worse. They’ll start a six-game road trip in Dallas on Nov. 21. Five of the six contests here are against playoff teams from last season. So yes, this isn’t shaping up to be a very “easy” month for the Canucks.

After Dallas, the Canucks stop in Nashville and Washington on Nov. 21 and 23, respectively. The club will then travel to Pennsylvania to take on the Philadelphia Flyers (Nov. 25), before clashing with Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins two days later.

Finally, the November schedule will close out with another meeting with Connor McDavid and the Oilers on Nov. 30. — the first of a home-and-home. Even if the Oilers continue to struggle this year, McDavid still poses a problem to the Canucks. At least they get another game against No. 97 out of the way early.

Whatever happens, it’s at least safe to bet that the Canucks won’t be as bad as last year in the November. They lost eight games in a row and 10 out of 11 to close out the month.

Even though the schedule looks brutal right now, the Canucks will surely top the three wins they posted in November last season. You know Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat won’t allow another terrible November slump to take place on their watches.