Game 6 Preview: Vancouver Canucks @ Ottawa Senators
It’s a rematch of last week’s game!
When these teams met a week ago in Vancouver, things were different. The Senators had lost a pair of games in the shootout. The Canucks had just beat the high-flying Oilers. Ottawa used a shootout win to launch an Erik Karlsson-less domination of Western Canada, while the Canucks lost two more after that loss to the Sens. Vancouver looks to avenge the loss, but Erik Karlsson makes his season debut, making a win a little harder for the ‘Nucks.
A non-Karlsson unnamed defender has a “bo-bo” according to Boucher so it’s unclear if the Sens will go with 11F-7D or 12F-6D. Assuming his preference is 7D, here are the projected lines for tonight’s game:
Ryan - Brassard - Stone
Smith - Turris - Dzingel
Hoffman - Pageau - Pyatt
Burrows - Thompson
Phaneuf - Karlsson
Oduya - Ceci
Claesson - Wideman
Borowiecki
Anderson (starter)
Condon
Some thougts before tonight’s game:
- In last year’s regular season, the Sens’ biggest win came by a three-goal margin. That happened once. The Sens bested that twice over the weekend, without Karlsson in the lineup.
- That means the Sens’ best win of 2016-17 came in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, 5-1 over the Penguins
- Mark Borowiecki is tied for second on the team in individual shot attempts (via Corsica). Mike Hoffman, unsurprisingly, is first.
- Bobby Ryan looks like playoff Bobby to my eyes still. Not only is he getting the points, but his legs are moving and he seems to be hustling back on the backcheck.
- Chris Wideman is first in the league among defencemen with three goals. Cody Ceci is in a 15-way tie for second with two goals.
- The Senators are 30th in the league in their share of 5v5 shot attempts (Corsi) but 12th in the share of unblocked 5v5 shot attempts (Fenwick). In other words, the Sens are blocking a ridiculous number of shots, about 2⁄3 as many as they allow on goal.
- Brock Boeser for some reason was scratched for two games this year, even though he’s running at a point-per-game pace so far
- Michael Del Zotto leads the Canucks in time on ice. I could not have told you he played for them, and Ottawa played them seven days ago.
- With rumours the Sedins will retire at the end of this year, it may be the last time we see Henrik and Daniel play against Ottawa in their illustrious careers /
Here are some team and player stats entering tonight’s game. All stats are from NHL.com except Corsi and Fenwick are from NaturalStatTrick.com:
Team Stats
| Category | Ottawa | Senators | Vancouver | Canucks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Value | Rank | Value | Rank |
| Goals/GP | 3.80 | 7th | 2.25 | 23rd |
| Goals against/GP | 1.60 | 1st | 3.25 | 18th |
| Shots/GP | 34.2 | 8th | 28.8 | 28th |
| Shots against/GP | 29.4 | 8th | 31.0 | 12th |
| Corsi (5v5, Score and Venue adjusted) | 44.85 | 30th | 45.96 | 27th |
| Fenwick (5v5, SVA) | 51.47 | 12th | 45.73 | 27th |
Team Leaders
| Category | Ottawa | Senators | Vancouver | Canucks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Wideman/Hoffman/Brassard/Stone | 3 | Horvat/Tanev | 2 |
| Assists | Kyle Turris | 5 | Henrik Sedin | 2 |
| Points | Kyle Turris | 7 | Sedin/Sedin/Boeser/Vanek/Horvat/Tanev | 2 |
| Shots | Mike Hoffman | 22 | Bo Horvat | 12 |
| TOI/GP | Cody Ceci | 23:06 | Michael Del Zotto | 23:42 |
