Ohh, Sunday night. The Vancouver Canucks head to Detroit to take on the Red Wings. Let’s take a look at our NHL Daily Predictions.
Canucks vs Red Wings
ML: +130 / -150
O/U: 5.5
Detroit is starting to regress back to the norm after a hot start. Though they won four of their first five games, the Red Wings have now dropped three in a row. Most recently, they lost on home ice in overtime to the Washington Capitals 4-3. Tomas Tatar scored a pair in the third period to give Detroit a 3-2 lead, but T.J. Oshie evened up the score on a 6-on-4 advantage with just a minute remaining in regulation.
In extra time, the Capitals again drew a penalty, giving them a 4-on-3. If you know anything about the Washington Capitals, you already know what happened without seeing the play. Nick Backstrom drew the attention of all three penalty killers before threading the needle and finding Alex Ovechkin at the left circle for a one-timer.
It’s not like we have seen that a bajillion times before.
Roster changes are coming in this rebuilding year for the Wings. Just yesterday, the Red Wings acquired forward Matt Puempel from the New York Rangers for defenseman Ryan Sproul. Puempel is a perfectly average NHL forward, unspectacular in any one facet of the game, but a young stopgap bottom-six player worth taking a flier on.
Shortly after, the team sent Riley Sheahan to the Pittsburgh Penguins for fourth liner Scott Wilson, saving the club roughly $1.5 million.
That saved salary opened up room to bring in Andreas Athanasiou, who has now inked a one-year, $1.387 million contract with the team. Athanasiou has been threatening to bolt for the KHL for a while now. The 23-year-old scored 18 goals and 11 assists last season in 64 games. He’s one of the few kids in the Red Wings system ready for the limelight of the NHL, and will be a major boon to the top six.
Athanasiou will not be playing tonight, per Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet 650, as his immigration papers will not be ready in time.
This is stop number four on the Vancouver Canucks five-game road trip. It has produced some mixed results so far. They opened up by shutting out the Ottawa Senators 3-0 with Anders Nilsson stopping 32 shots.
Nilsson started the next game against the Boston Bruins as a reward for his strong Canucks debut. It went less well. Nilsson faced overwhelming pressure in the opening frame, allowed four goals on 17 shots in the first 11 minutes, and was yanked. Vancouver fell 6-3.
The next night, they bested the Buffalo Sabres 4-2. Derek Dorsett tallied a pair of goals and an assist a night after scoring a goal and amassing 17 penalty minutes (fight, cross-check, misconduct).
Like the Red Wings, the Canucks are in a year where not much is expected of them. They are not a young team- their average age is 27- and their vets are castoffs from other franchises trying to reclaim their careers. Those guys include the likes of Michael Del Zotto, Tomas Vanek and Sam Gagner.
Ironically, the oldest team in the National Hockey League is tonight’s home team, the Detroit Red Wings (28.7 average age). Adding Athanasiou to that group helps a bit, but the point still stands.
Former first rounder Jake Virtanen has been bumped up to the Canucks’ top line alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin. The 2014 sixth-overall pick responded in turn by collecting his first point of the season Friday night, assisting on a Daniel Sedin goal. Virtanen skated the puck into the zone, then turned his body to shield possession. He passed through the defenseman’s wickets to the tape of Henrik Sedin’s stick, who fed Daniel for the shot. Daniel potted his own rebound for the goal.
Perhaps this combination can breathe a little life into the Sedins, who are only getting older.
Erik Gudbranson will be back in the Canucks’ lineup after serving a one-game suspension for boarding.
Jakub Markstrom will likely start for the Vancouver Canucks tonight. He is 2-2-1 on the year so far. Jimmy Howard, 3-1-0, will probably be opposite him.
The tale of the tape does not look kindly on the Vancouver Canucks. They are 2-8 in their last 10 Sunday games. They have lost four of their last five trips to Detroit. Games after wins do not typically go well for this group, as they are 2-10 after their last 12 victories. Plus, they are 1-5 in the third game of 3-in-4 scenarios.
Detroit has to like their odds, as they have won six of their last seven against Western Conference Foes. They must still have that Western blood coursing through their organizational veins.
The Red Wings took three of four in the season series against the Canucks last season. Three of those four games went into extra time, twice with the Wings winning in 3-on-3, once with Vancouver winning in the shootout.
Detroit may have the edge on paper, but they will need to make things easier on their goaltender. Jimmy Howard looked spectacular in his first three starts of the season, picking up three wins and facing 35 or more shots in all three. When he started to face the East’s elite in Tampa Bay and Toronto, he struggled a lot more. He allowed three on 26 shots in a loss to the Bolts and stopped only one of four shots in 15 minutes before the Leafs chased him from the game.
Granted there really is not too much shame in getting chased by the best offensive team in the league right now, but it’s the principle of the matter. Howard will keep this team in the game, but the defense has to hold up their end of the bargain.
Trevor Daley has been awfully quiet on the Red Wings’ blue line. He will be on the top pair with Jonathan Ericsson tasked with shutting down the Sedins. Leading scorer Mike Green and Nik Kronwall will likely match up with Bo Horvat, Tomas Vanek and Sam Gagner.
Prediction: Take the Red Wings to win. Play the over, which has hit in the Wings’ last four against Western Conference opponents and five of their last six overall.
