Game #48 Vancouver Canucks vs LA Kings

Home sweet home. The Vancouver Canucks played at Roger's arena for the first time in 3 weeks as they faced off with division rivals LA Kings. The teams split the first 2 games of the season with the visitor's winning each game. Erik Gudbranson missed his third straight game with a bad back. The Canucks are hoping Guddy is good enough to start skating tomorrow. Michael Chaput cleared waivers and was sent down to the minors. It is looking likely the Sedin Twins will sign for at least another season. Their decision will affect the trade deadline decisions so surely the Canucks will want to know if the twins are coming back or not. A contract doesn't necessarily need to be done but signing the Sedins should be relatively easy as the twins are lifelong Canucks and don't want to play anywhere else. Now onto the game recap.

Game Highlights

• huge 6 goal output by the Canucks tonight led by a pair each from Loui Eriksson  (oddly enough his first 2 at Roger's arena in a year; his other 6 goals this season were scored on the road) and rookie sensation Brock Boeser, who is now in the top 100 in all-time team scoring, which says a lot about our inept history
• Sven Baertschi and Thomas Vanek scored the other two Canucks goals on the night
• Starter Jacob Markstrom  had a solid night stopping 30 of 32 in the victory. 
• Kings starter Jonathan Quick had a bad night right from the get-go, giving away the puck on Eriksson's opening goal. Quick was pulled after allowing 5 goals on 19 shots
• Dustin Brown was being his usual dirty self accidentally/on purpose nailing Daniel Sedin, who has a history of concussions, in the head with the puck nowhere near them. Luckily Daniel finished the game
• the Canucks PP had a good night, converting on 3 of 7 opportunities.

My Take

• This game was a great response to the 1-0 loss vs Winnipeg 2 nights earlier
• This was the second consecutive game where Markstrom had a good night in net. Of course, the Canucks were scoring early and often so Markstrom but he didn't. The first goal was a one-timer by a ridiculously wide open Alex Iafallo and the second on a nice PP screen by the aforementioned Brown
• I liked that the Canucks kept the foot on the gas pedal the whole night and didn't try to sit on the lead
• This was the second game having the full healthy team available. It will be interesting to see who is scratched on a given night. 
• The playoffs are likely a longshot bur the Canucks should be playing meaningful games down the stretch this year if they can get on a roll.
• The injuries and their affect on the lineup really highlighted the lack of depth in the lineup. When Horvat was out, the Canucks won just 4 times in 6 weeks. Of course, they were also missing key forwards Brandon Sutter and Baertschi, but it was when Horvat went down that the Canucks really couldn't match up to their opponents most nights. The Sedins just can't be relied on to carry the team as they did in years past. Boeser was providing the bulk of the scoring.