Canucks Team Report

INSIDE SHOTS

The Canucks are as healthy as they’ve been all season with the return of top-line winger Daniel Sedin(notes) from a broken foot Sunday.

They can only hope the overconfidence and loose play that plagued them early in the season doesn’t also come back.

The last time the Canucks were this healthy—other than Pavol Demitra(notes), who has been out all season—they lost the first three games of the season miserably, looking far too overconfident and satisfied with themselves after a stellar 7-0-2 run through the preseason. The work ethic and tight defensive play that had long been their identity didn’t return until the ailments started piling up, starting with Sedin in the fourth game. That allowed them to get by despite losing 113 man games to injury.

It wasn’t until they were hurt and desperate that the odd-man rushes and back-door tap-ins disappeared.

“This situation brought us together and got us playing the type of hockey we need to play,” Ryan Kesler(notes) said in advance of Sunday’s game. “When we did have everyone, we weren’t playing the way we should. I think when Daniel gets back, we all understand what we have to do to win and we can’t lose sight of that again.”

Most important, the Canucks appear to know they can’t afford to stop working hard—on defense or in trying to score at the other end.

“That’s something we have to guard against, not getting too confident,” veteran defenseman Willie Mitchell(notes) said recently. “It’s been a little bit of an issue with us and something we can be better at. It’s always good to have that element of fear of an opponent, so when you don’t have a full lineup you have that ingrained in you and (it) causes you to bring the best out of you. When we get guys back, we’re going to have as a leadership group to make sure we have that consistency. Our game as a team is going to get better, and we don’t have to play it simple.”

The tendency with all their offensive players back, however, might be to get too cute at times. But the best sign that might not happen might have been the defensive play since star goalie Roberto Luongo(notes) returned from a fractured rib three games ago. Rather than assuming their captain and best player would be there to bail out their defensive mistakes, as they did early in the season, the Canucks have continued to play a tighter style.

“We can’t just assume it’s all going to come together when everyone’s back,” Luongo said before Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Chicago. “We have to work hard and continue to play our systems as well as we have. That’s how we have to win, and it doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup.”

Considering they are just one game above .500 and below the Western Conference playoff bar and have a record-setting 14-game, six-week road trip from hell to contend with before and after Vancouver is host to the Olympics, the Canucks know they can’t afford anymore prolonged slumps this season.

“Whether we’ve had injuries or not, I don’t think anyone on the team should be satisfied with our record,” Luongo added. “I’m not. Even though we kept our heads above water, I think the sentiment is we could have done better. We have a lot of weapons on this team and a lot of depth.”

Blackhawks 1, Canucks 0:   The Canucks created more than enough scoring chances Sunday and played well enough defensively to beat a Blackhawks team playing for the second time in as many nights. But the Canucks couldn’t put a puck past seldom used second-year Finnish backup Antii Niemi, in part because they struggled to get the puck off the ice on their best chances in tight. Niemi, who has a sketchy catching motion but great footwork, made his best saves with his pads, robbing Ryan Kesler of one empty net and sure goal by throwing out his right pad in the first period, stopping Steve Bernier(notes) on a breakaway in the second, and using his left pad to deny Alex Burrows(notes) in tight early in the third period. He got a break when Kesler’s net drive hit the butt end of his stick on the goal line early in the game, and again when Alex Edler rang a shot off the post with six minutes left. But for the most part Niemi was full value for the shutout and victory, Chicago’s seventh straight despite playing the night before in Edmonton.

“We’ve got do a better job getting in front and not letting him see,” lamented Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who finished with 16 saves, including a couple of highlight-reel stops of his own. “And when we get those rebounds in close we’ve got to put them high because nowadays all the goalies cover low.”

Luongo couldn’t cover on the winning goal 1:12 into the third period, though it’s tough to blame him after defenseman Brian Campbell(notes) slipped a check on the wall and carried the puck into a crowded crease. It went off the skate of Jonathan Toews(notes) in the scramble and straight to Bryan Bickell(notes), who deposited his first goal since 2007 into an empty net with Luongo already down and out on the play. “They had nothing all night, then get a cheesy one in the third,” said a frustrated Kesler, who was on the ice for Bickell’s goal and was turned away several times by Niemi. “It hits a couple legs and goes right on (Bickell’s) tape for a tap-in from the blue. It’s frustrating. I definitely thought we should have one this one tonight. We dominated the game.”

NOTES, QUOTES

• LW Daniel Sedin admits it was hard to deal with the first significant injury of a nine-year NHL career, fighting through nearly six lonely weeks of boring rehabilitation and struggling against the urge to try to come back too soon from the broken foot he suffered during an Oct. 7 game. That might explain why he tried to come back two weeks earlier, only to be forced back to the sidelines until returning for Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Chicago. The good news though, is the Canucks shouldn’t have to wait nearly as long for Sedin to start contributing regularly again, not when he’s being reunited with lifelong linemate and identical twin brother Henrik. In fact, despite Henrik recording 18 points—including an eye-popping 10 goals for the pass-first center—in 18 games without Daniel, coach Alain Vigneault believes his top line is instantly better with twins’ unique cycling game back together.

“Yes, Henrik did get the same number of points, but his game and the way he gets his points, especially the time he spends in the other zone, was not nearly as efficient as it was when his brother is there,” Vigneault said. “When they spend so much time in the other zone, the other team is spending energy defending without the puck. … That’s part of our game we expect and we need. It’s going to be good to have those two guys back.”

It should also benefit linemate Alex Burrows, who was dropped from the top unit for long stretches after Daniel was hurt and has struggled with nagging hip and hip flexor injuries. Burrows has scored just two goals since Daniel got hurt, and one of the goals was an empty-netter. Burrows, who was better in picking up a key assist Friday against Colorado, scored most of his career-best 28 goals after joining the Sedins late last season.

• C/RW Pavol Demitra appears to be ahead of schedule in his comeback from a second shoulder surgery, and the top-six forward was expected to take a big step toward returning by skating on his own sometime before Sunday’s game against Chicago—the team he originally hurt the shoulder against during last year’s playoffs. Demitra tore his rotator cuff in the front and back when he tried to check Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell into the end boards early in the second-round series and had surgery to repair the damage in the offseason. He was hoping to be back in October, but recurring pain required a second operation,and pushed his return to January or even February. Now there’s some talk he could be back by the end of December.

“That’s what we’re looking for, and we’re hoping it’s before that,” general manager Mike Gillis told the Vancouver Province. “For him to skate means he has to have the least amount of pain because you never just skate. There’s a puck there and you’ve got to play with it and it affects the shoulder.”

• D Willie Mitchell can’t seem to stay out of the spotlight against the Chicago Blackhawks. During last season’s playoffs, the Canucks’ shutdown defenseman made disparaging remarks about pint-sized Chicago star Patrick Kane’s(notes) unwillingness to venture into high traffic areas after the first game, comments Kane mentioned after scoring three goals in the Game 6 elimination of the Canucks. This season it’s a clean but wicked check on Chicago captain Jonathan Toews in the first meeting that has the focus back on Mitchell, who stepped out of the penalty box and into Toews with a thunderous but clean hit that left the latter barely able to get off the ice and out with a concussion for two weeks. It sparked the Canucks to a come-from-behind 3-2 win and was the talk of the town as the two prepared to face each other again for the first time Sunday. But Mitchell, who seemed genuinely concerned about Toews’ health after the last game and has since spoken to him about the incident, didn’t want to talk much about it. “It’s just hockey, it was on the ice, it was a clean hit,” Mitchell, who didn’t leave his feet or lead with his elbow, said Saturday. “Ask Jon about it. He’ll tell you that, too.”

Quote To Note:   “Ever since the regular season started, he’s skating the puck out of our zone, he’s joining the rush when that opportunity is there. Everything we want our defensemen to do, he’s doing it. He’s been real dependable defensively. I think he’s been our best plus-minus player. We’re real happy with his contributions.”—Canucks coach Alain Vigneault on D Christian Ehrhoff(notes), who was acquired from San Jose late in the summer and leads the defense in scoring with five goals and 15 points and the entire team with a plus-11 rating before Sunday.

ROSTER REPORT

Goaltenders:   Roberto Luongo, Andrew Raycroft(notes)

Defensemen:   Willie Mitchell, Alexander Edler(notes), Christian Ehrhoff, Sami Salo(notes), Kevin Bieksa(notes), Mathieu Schneider(notes).

First Line:   Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin(notes), Alex Burrows.

Second Line:   Mason Raymond(notes), Ryan Kesler, Mikael Samuelsson(notes).

Third Line:   Steve Bernier, Kyle Wellwood(notes), Jannik Hansen(notes).

Fourth Line:   Tanner Glass(notes), Ryan Johnson(notes), Rick Rypien(notes).

Player Notes:  

• LW Matt Pettinger(notes) was the odd man out with Daniel Sedin returning from a broken foot Sunday against Chicago. Pettinger, who was signed as a free agent with the Canucks missing six forwards to injury on Nov. 2, was sent down to Manitoba of the American Hockey League after first clearing waivers to make room on the 23-man roster for Sedin’s return. Pettinger was actually pretty good, picking up a goal and an assist in his seven games while providing good energy and effective penalty killing. He was arguably a lot better than enforcer Darcy Hordichuk(notes), who was a healthy scratch for a third straight game on Sunday, but the Canucks want to have that element of toughness that Hordichuk is capable of bringing as a 13th forward playing part-time.

• LW Alex Burrows figures to benefit as much as anyone from the return of top-line winger Daniel Sedin, who missed 18 games and more than six weeks with a broken foot. Burrows, who scored only twice in Daniel’s absence (once in the first game and the second into an empty net), was back on the top line with Daniel and twin brother Henrik for Sunday night’s game against Chicago and, while he didn’t score in the 1-0 loss, he had and created several great chances against the Blackhawks, picking up where he left off while scoring his career-best 28 goals on the No. 1 line late last season.

• C Kyle Wellwood had one of his better games in a so far disappointing season against Colorado on Friday night, picking up an assist for just his second point of the season and winning 12 of 16 faceoffs. But his brief three-game stint on the second line ended with the return of top-line winger Daniel Sedin on Sunday against Chicago, dropping Wellwood back down to the third line. The good news is that with the Canucks finally getting close to complete healthy up front, Wellwood actually has decent linemates on the third unit in Steve Bernier and Jannik Hansen, a rarity early this season.

• D Shane O’Brien(notes) was a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game because 40-year-old veteran Mathieu Schneider appears to have asserted himself. Schneider has been in the lineup regularly following a slow start after missing the first three weeks recovering from shoulder surgery. That means O’Brien, who got into trouble for barking about a benching last season, will likely only play if another defenseman is injured or when the aging Schneider is scheduled to get a break in back-to-back games. So far, however, O’Brien appears to have learned his lesson and is staying quiet.

• LW Mason Raymond’s point streak was snapped at three games, ending his run at a goal and four assists in that stretch. Still, Raymond had five goals and 10 points in his previous 10 games and looks nothing like the slumping sophomore who went 26 games without scoring while suffering through a confidence crisis last season. He created a handful of good scoring chances Sunday against the Blackhawks in a 1-0 loss.

Medical Watch:  

• C/RW Pavol Demitra appears to be ahead of schedule in his comeback from a second shoulder surgery, and the top-six forward was expected to take a big step toward returning by skating on his own Sunday.

• LW Michael Grabner(notes) will be out four to six weeks after breaking his ankle during the warmup soccer game under the stands before the Nov. 1 game.

• C Alex Bolduc is out indefinitely after his left shoulder popped out of its socket on a faceoff in an Oct. 28 game in Los Angeles.