Canucks gameday: California road trip begins in Los Angeles

Following a dominant effort against the Florida Panthers, the Vancouver Canucks begin their road trip with a showdown against the Los Angeles Kings.

The Vancouver Canucks took three of four possible points on their short two-game homestand, but now it’s time to begin the dreaded California road trip.

Except, the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks aren’t playing like the perennial Pacific Division heavyweights this season. Maybe the road trip to California won’t be so bad anymore.

For example, the Ducks are barely above .500 with an 8-6 record. That is thanks in large part to goalie John Gibson. The Sharks are 12th in the Western Conference with a 4-8-1 record, while the Kings sit dead last a 4-8 record.

Vancouver enters this road trip with a tremendous opportunity to distance themselves from at least two of the Pacific Division foes. They last met the Kings three weeks ago at Rogers Arena, where Elias Pettersson and company cruised to an easy 8-2 victory.

Wednesday marks for second of four regular season meetings between the two.

Players to watch

J.T. Miller: What more can we say that hasn’t already been said about this guy? The 26-year-old is second in team in scoring with 13 points (six goals, seven assists). His Corsi For percentage is up to 63.1. The guy is playing at an All-Star level right now.

Anze Kopitar: The Kings have been struggling offensively, but the two-time Selke winner remains as dominant as ever. Kopitar leads Los Angeles with 11 points on the season.

Alexander Eder: Absolutely amazing. At 33 years of age, Edler is playing the best hockey of his career. He has nine points on the season, having recorded three assists in Monday’s victory over Florida. Edler seems to only be getting better with age.

Drew Doughty: The franchise star has performed below expectations up to this point, but Doughty can still take over a game on any given night. He posted a minus-three meeting in the Oct. 9 contest against the Canucks. Will things go more smoothly tonight?

Prediction: 4-2 Canucks

The Canucks have gone 7-1-1 over their last nine games, and they’re 3-0-1 over their last four. You get the feeling that they’re due for a loss , but I don’t see it happening tonight at the Staples Center.

Vancouver showed three weeks ago that they’re faster, deeper, more skilled and simply better in just about every aspect. The Kings are last in the Western Conference for a reason: The goaltending has been below average, and they don’t have enough speed or scoring depth in their lineup.

With that, the Canucks will come away with a 4-2 victory, thanks to a pair of goals from Bo Horvat. It’s then on to Anaheim.