Once-formidable ’Hawks are in the tank as well

Once upon a time, you’d check your season calendar to see when this matchup took place. Canucks-Blackhawks — what a rivalry. And while a few of the names are the same, the respective overhauls of these two onceformidable clubs have landed both well down in the standings, outside the playoff zone. Oh well, we’ll still have Duncan Keith to despise.

THE BIG MATCHUP

The tank vs. The sinking ship

Since Feb. 2, the Canucks have 11 points in 22 games. There is one team in the league that’s anywhere near that kind of ineptitude. That team is the Blackhawks, who have 14 points over the same sample size. If the Canucks are tanking, the Blackhawks are sinking. Chicago is bad, but not bad enough to sink to the bottom of the standings. This is the only race that matters for Vancouver now: the one for last overall. There are six teams in it, including the Canucks, Sabres, Coyotes, Senators, Canadiens and Red Wings.

FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. Horvat vs. the world Everyone in Vancouver has suffered without Brock Boeser, but no player more than Bo Horvat. He’s the Canucks’ topline centre and has been playing with some pretty below-average top-six talent. Some will criticize Horvat for what’s happening down the stretch, but how much can one player against the world be expected to generate? That’s how it’s looked with some of the linemates he’s had.

2. The Sedins vs. Chicago It just doesn’t quite have the same appeal, does it? It used to be one of the league’s great rivalries. But the NHL is cruel mostly because Father Time is undefeated. The Sedins are but shadows of what they once were. Heck, they are shadows of what they were in November. Henrik has gone eight games without a point. Daniel has looked a bit better recently, but not by much.

3. Keith vs. Vancouver He will go down as one of the great villains in Canucks history. His elbow on Daniel changed history. Daniel has never been the same since. Keith is still among the more under-theradar cheap-shot players in the league. He was getting ripped Tuesday when, late in a loss to the Colorado Avalanche, he launched into a dirty hip check. The Canucks will have to keep an eye on him.

4. The Canucks’ new guys At any given time, there are about seven Canucks forwards in the lineup who are trying to prove they belong in the NHL. They haven’t been doing a decent job of it. Darren Archibald has gone quiet. Brendan Leipsic has crashed to Earth. Tyler Motte has been a non-factor. Nikolay Goldobin has a good game once out of every 20, give or take a couple. The Canucks keep saying these guys are fighting for jobs next year. If they are, none of them are getting one at this rate.

5. The goalie For better or worse, this is Jacob Markstrom’s team. Lately, he hasn’t been great. In Las Vegas, a couple of things went against him early on and then he couldn’t make enough saves. You could count two goals against he should have had. There probably hasn’t been a game all year you can point to and say, “Yes, that’s the game Markstrom stole for Vancouver.” If the Canucks are going to win any games down the stretch, they could use a sensational Markstrom performance.