FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME
1 Keep limiting good shots against
Through four games, the Canucks have actually done a very good job of keeping opponents’ quality shots to a minimum. They’re also doing a nice job of limiting opposing shots overall as well. That was the stated goal last year, too, but that fell apart as the season wore on. Will it be a different story this?
2 Get out your line blender
At Monday’s practice, coach Travis Green put his lines through a blender, putting Markus Granlund on the wing with the Sedins, Thomas Vanek and Sam Gagner with Bo Horvat, and Sven Baertschi and Brock Boeser with Alex Burmistrov. The Canucks are struggling to generate consistent offence — is the answer in there somewhere?
3 Making his Markstrom
Big Swedish goalie Jacob Markstrom admitted after Saturday’s game he had to be far better. “I’ve got to come up with something here,” he said. He’ll be gunning to put on a show — or maybe he’ll have to wait for his chance, with backup Anders Nilsson needing a start.
4 King Karlsson returns
Erik Karlsson will make his season debut against the Canucks. His coach says he’s the best player in the world — not Crosby or McDavid — and there are certainly a few who will say he’s not wrong. Watch out, Canucks.
5 Fix the power play
Could probably cut and paste this from now until, well, it gets fixed: The Canucks power play remains a mess and they have no hope of getting near the playoffs if they can’t get it sorted. They spent a large portion of Monday’s practice cooking up some new schemes. Of course, they’re also up against Ottawa’s league-leading penaltykill unit, which has yet to be scored against in five games.