Canucks Army GDT #7: Canucks @ Avalanche

So far, there are no lineup changes to report for the Canucks after yesterday’s 4-1 win over the Blues. Willie Desjardins managed his bench really well last night, with no forward seeing 18 minutes of ice time, so Vancouver should be as rested as they can be playing the second leg of a road back-to-back in Colorado. The only change that may be made is Eddie Lack getting the start over Ryan Miller, who was excellent last night.

The last time Desjardins started Lack after a great game from Miller, it didn’t go well with Lack allowing 4 goals on 24 shots in a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Still, it was the right call to make given the circumstances, and sitting Miller tonight in favour of Lack gives the Canucks the greatest probability of a quality start from their goaltenders. We’re still awaiting word on who’s going to start for Vancouver, but it should be Lack. Hot hand be damned.

As for Colorado, Semyon Varlamov will return from injury tonight, playing his first game since suffering a groin injury. The Russian netminder was Vezina-calibre for the Avs last year, posting a 0.927 save percentage, but hasn’t been as spectacular this season. Still, a 0.910 save percentage isn’t terrible (Vancouver’s goalies have actually stopped a lower percentage of shots and are still 4-2 on the year), and his 3.80 GAA speaks more to how many shots the Avs give up than it does him struggling. Colorado hemorrhages shots on goal like a haemophiliac at a Gillette factory, as only Dallas and Buffalo give up shot attempts at a higher rate. 

They’ve also been one of the worst teams in the NHL at generating shot attempts for themselves, and have just a 31.8% GF% in the early going. A lot of this number is percentage driven – a PDO around 960 will surely come up – but that doesn’t change the fact that the Avs haven’t been good either. It’s far too early to say if this is the new normal for the Avs this year since Nathan MacKinnon has yet to get going and he could turn into a monster at any time, but Colorado being bad isn’t exactly something that’s come out of the blue either.

This is an eminently winnable game for Vancouver tonight, and one where we should expect them to dictate the play at the very least. Still, anything is possible and the Avs have themselves some lethal weapons in their arsenal. As always, here’s to hoping for another W tonight.