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Tale of the Tape: Canucks vs. Ducks (1.19.13)

Saturday, 19.01.2013 / 12:00 PM / Features
By Daniel Fung


Tonight’s game is presented by Budweiser.

Team Record: 0-0-0
Last Game: 1-2 OT/L vs Los Angeles (APR.22.12)

Season Series: 0-0-0
Last Meeting: 5-4 SO/W (APR.03.12)		 Team Record: 0-0-0
Last Game: 2-5 L at Calgary (APR.07.12)

Season Series: 0-0-0
Last Meeting: 4-5 SO/L (APR.03.12)

THE SET-UP

It's been 273 days since the Vancouver Canucks (0-0-0) last stepped onto the ice at Rogers Arena for a meaningful contest but the longest off-season in recent memory will finally come to an end tonight when they open the 2012.13 season by welcoming the Anaheim Ducks (0-0-0) to town.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

  • The Canucks begin their season with their roster largely intact from last season (outside of injured players) with the notable exceptions of D Aaron Rome (signed with Dallas), D Sami Salo (signed with Tampa Bay) and F Samuel Pahlsson (signed with MoDo in SEL).
  • Notable additions for Vancouver include three free agent defensemen signings in Jason Garrison, Cam Barker and Jim Vandermeer.
  • The Canucks and Ducks split the 2011-12 season series with each team winning twice. The Ducks earned a bonus point from a shootout loss in their last head-to-head meeting.
  • The last netminder not named Roberto Luongo to start a season opener for the Canucks was Dan Cloutier on October 5, 2005. He made 30 saves on 32 shots and was named second star in a 3-2 Vancouver win over Phoenix.
  • Vancouver is winless in their last three season openers (0-1-2). They are also winless in their last three home openers (0-1-2).
  • Anaheim has lost their last five season openers (0-5-0) and is winless in their last five road openers (0-4-1).
  • Ex-Duck Max Lapierre had a big night the last time Vancouver met Anaheim back on April 3, 2012. He scored once in regulation and added a shootout marker as the Canucks knocked off the Ducks 5-4. Alex Burrows also had two goals that game.
  • The Canucks were 6-4-1 in the first game of back-to-backs last season. They host the Oilers tomorrow night at Rogers Arena.
  • Andrew Ebbett and Zack Kassian combined for 14 goals and 41 points in the AHL this season with the Chicago Wolves. They will likely make up two-thirds of Vancouver's second line and skate alongside scrimmage superstar Mason Raymond (natural hat trick on Thursday) in the absence of Kesler and Booth.
  • Not to say the Canucks won't miss Ryan Kesler or David Booth, but it's worth noting they went 2-2-1 in games without Kesler last season and 12-4-2 in games without Booth (after he was acquired from Florida).

FOLLOW THE ACTION

Tonight's game faces off at 7 pm PT and can be seen coast-to-coast in Canada on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. Listen live on The TEAM 1040 Sports Radio or online at teamradio.ca.

Those away from a TV or radio can follow @CanucksGame on Twitter for live in-game play-by-play.

THE CANUCKS WIN IF...


  • They get on the board early. Vancouver fell behind first in three of four meetings against Anaheim last year. The Canucks led the league in wins last season when scoring with 42.
  • They remember to defend beyond the big two. Vancouver was masterful in being able to contain Corey Perry and Ryan Getlzaf last season (five combined points) but let Bobby Ryan (7 points) run roughshod on them. Jason Blake, Saku Koivu, Teemu Selanne and Andrew Cogliano also had three points apiece.
  • They build a lead. The Canucks only held a multi-goal lead in one of their four games against the Ducks last season. Not surprisingly, they went on to win that contest. Last season Vancouver was 33-3-1 in games that they led by two goals-or-more at any point.


THE DUCKS WIN IF...


  • They get to Schneider early. Schneider might have a few butterflies in his first official start as Vancouver's number one netminder and a few early goals on him might rattle his confidence.
  • They take advantage of the power play. Anaheim went 4-for-17 with the man-advantage last season against the Canucks scoring PPGs in three of their four head-to-head meetings.
  • They set the physical tone. The Canucks don't exactly have a reputation of being at their best in rough and tumble games but the Ducks seem to excel in those types of outings. Anaheim was ranked 15th in overall hits last season with 1,856. Vancouver came in just behind them at 18th with 1,826.

CORY SCHNEIDER

Tonight, for the first time in his NHL career, Cory Schneider will start a game – not to mention a season – knowing he is the de facto number one netminder after inheriting the job from former team captain Roberto Luongo during last year's brief playoff run.

The 26-year-old native of Marblehead, Massachusetts – who started the final three games of Vancouver's ill-fated first round playoff series against the LA Kings – posted sparking regular season numbers last year with a 20-8-1 record in 33 appearances with three shutouts to go with a 1.96 GAA and a .937 save percentage. During the lockout, he appeared in eight games for Swiss league team HC Ambri-Piotta as well as for HC Fribourg-Gotteron in the Spengler Cup.

Schneider has a career record of 3-1-0 versus Anaheim with one shutout to go with a 2.12 GAA and a .914 save percentage.

COREY PERRY

Last season was not very kind to 2011 Hart Trophy winner Corey Perry as he saw his point production plummet from the 98 points (50-48-98) he posted in his MVP season to just 60 points (37-23-60) in 2011-12. To add insult to injury, his team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second time in three years finishing a dismal 13th in the Western Conference.

Suffice to say, this shortened 2012-13 campaign will be critical for the Peterborough-native as he is headed towards unrestricted free agency and will be looking to cash in with a new contract either in Anaheim or perhaps elsewhere on the open market.

Perry managed only a modest three points (2-1-3) in four games against the Canucks last season. He has 22 points (8-14-22) and 41 penalty minutes in 26 career games versus Vancouver.

Game Notes on Canucks.com are written by Daniel Fung. Follow him on Twitter @daniel_fung or e-mail him at dfung_sports@hotmail.com.

CANUCKS LEADING SCORERS

2011.12 Regular Season

Player GP G A P +/-
Henrik Sedin
 82 14 67 81 23
Daniel Sedin
 72 30 37 67 14
Alexandre Burrows
 80 28 24 52 24
Ryan Kesler
 77 22 27 49 11
Alexander Edler
 82 11 38 49 0
DUCKS LEADING SCORERS

2011.12 Regular Season

Player GP G A P +/-
Teemu Selanne
 82 26 40 66 -1
Corey Perry
 80 37 23 60 -7
Bobby Ryan
 82 31 26 57 1
Ryan Getzlaf
 82 11 46 57 -11
Saku Koivu
 74 11 27 38 7
IN THE INFIRMARY

For the Canucks...

F Ryan Kesler (shoulder/wrist surgery) and F David Booth (strained groin) are out.

For the Ducks...

None reported.

BY THE NUMBERS

10 – Wins for the Canucks last season when appearing on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada (10-3-2).

10 – Points needed for Henrik Sedin (747) to surpass Markus Naslund (756) as the franchise's leading point scorer.

22nd – And perhaps final season for the Finnish Flash, Teemu Selanne. The highest-scoring Finn in NHL history has 1,406 career points.

80th – All-time meeting between the Canucks and Ducks. Vancouver leads the all-time series 40-28-11.

407 – Straight sellouts for Canucks hockey at Rogers Arena entering tonight's game. The streak dates back November 14, 2002 and includes 361 regular season games and 46 playoff games.

THE TWEET STUFF

@CanucksGame

- Be ready for Saturday, #Canucks fans. It's about to get real. #DJout

@BakesTakes84

- Last time Canucks opened season against Ducks was 1997 in Tokyo. New Captain Mark Messier scored in the 3-2 win. #GoodTimes

@DaveLozo

- What if all this time, @strombone1 was really Cory Schneider trolling Roberto Luongo?

DID YOU KNOW?

The 2012.13 schedule might seem eerily similar to the 1994.95 schedule but one thing the Canucks won't want to repeat is their start from the last time there was a 48-game lockout-shortened campaign. The 1995 Canucks stumbled out of the gate that year winning just one of their first eight games (1-4-3) and two of their first 12 overall (2-5-5).

The good news for that Canuck team, that was coming off a Stanley Cup run the previous spring, was they managed to pull it together in the latter half of the shortened season to finish with a 18-18-12 record – good enough for second place in the Pacific Division and a sixth place finish overall in the Western Conference.