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Tale of the Tape: Canucks @ Sharks (1.27.13)

Sunday, 27.01.2013 / 11:54 AM / Features
By Daniel Fung

Team Record: 2-1-1
Last Game: 5-0 W at Anaheim (JAN.25.13)

Season Series: 0-0-0
Last Meeting: 4-3 W (JAN.21.12)		 Team Record: 4-0-0
Last Game: 4-0 W vs Colorado (JAN.26.13)

Season Series: 0-0-0
Last Meeting: 3-4 L (JAN.21.12)

THE SET-UP

After being the first team to hand the Ducks a loss this season on Friday, the Canucks (2-1-1) will look to do the same tonight to the red hot Sharks (4-0-0) at the HP Pavilion at San Jose.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

  • The Canucks earned at least one point in all four meetings against the Sharks last season (3-0-1), including winning both games played in San Jose by identical 3-2 scores.
  • The Canucks have not lost a regulation game to the Sharks in two consecutive seasons amassing a 6-0-2 record against San Jose in their last eight outings there.
  • The Canucks have a four-game win streak at the HP Pavilion in San Jose entering tonight's game.
  • Ex-Canuck F Cody Hodgson and Sharks F Logan Couture each had three goals and four points in last year's season series to lead their respective teams. Vancouver F Kevin Bieksa and San Jose F Joe Pavelski had four assists each in the season series.
  • This is the first time this season the Canucks are facing an opponent that played the day before. Last season, Vancouver was 5-1-1 against teams that had to play the day before. San Jose blanked Colorado 4-0 yesterday.
  • The Canucks don't expect to make any lineup changes tonight despite the fact F Maxim Lapierre missed practice yesterday. F Manny Malhotra is also back with the team following the birth of his son on Thursday in Vancouver.
  • The expected goaltending match-up will see Cory Schneider go up against Antti Niemi. Schneider has a 3-1-0 career record against the Sharks with a 4.10 GAA and .922 save percentage. Niemi has a 3-6-0 career record versus Vancouver with a 3.13 GAA and .901 save percentage with one shutout.
  • Canucks' captain F Henrik Sedin will appear in his 897th career game as a Canuck tonight moving him into sole possession of second place on the franchise's all-time games played list. Trevor Linden sits atop the list having appeared in 1,140 as a Canuck.
  • Friday's win over the Ducks saw the Canucks score at least one goal in all three regulation periods. Last season, the Canucks managed that feat on 22 occasions. They had a record of 18-3-1 in those games.
  • The Sharks are off to their best start since 2008.09 when they similarly burst out of the gate with four straight wins. That year they won 13 of their first 15 contests and ended up capturing the Presidents' Trophy at the end of the season. They have never won five games in a row to start a season.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

Tonight's game faces off at 5 pm PT and can be seen on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific. 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 don't back down on offense. The Canucks are coming off their most complete game of the season as they got an early lead on the Ducks on Friday and continued to push the pace on offense even while up 3-0 in the third period finishing with 13 shots in the final frame.
  • They don't fall behind early. Vancouver scored first in all four head-to-head meetings last season en route to winning three of four against San Jose. The Sharks have gotten the early jump on their opponents in three of four outings this season.
  • Their penalty kill continues to improve. Since giving up three goals on three shorthanded situations on opening night, the Canucks have killed off nine of 11 opposition power plays. They'll need that trend to continue against the Sharks' red hot power play that is clicking at 41.7 percent (10-for-24).


THE SHARKS WIN IF...


  • Their top line continues to dominate. The trio of Thornton, Marleau and Pavelski has combined for a whopping 10 goals and 30 points in just four games played this season. Those three combined for three goals and 10 points in four games against the Canucks last season.
  • They avoid the sin bin. If the Sharks have shown one weakness so far it's been on the penalty kill where they've allowed five goals on 16 times shorthanded. Vancouver's power play, meanwhile, has been heating up scoring four times on 13 opportunities since coming up empty against Edmonton last Sunday.
  • They continue to stifle the Sedin twins. The Sharks were bested by the Canucks three times in four meetings last season despite the fact they held Daniel and Henrik to just two goals and three points combined.

DANIEL SEDIN

While his statistics aren't quite as gaudy as those of the Sharks' big guns, Daniel Sedin has been as steady as they come so far this season being the only Canuck to net a point in all four games to start the season.

If he manages to get on the scoresheet tonight, he'll equal his second-best point streak to start a season at five games. He still has a long ways to go to match his all-time best point streak to start a season which is nine games set back during the 2010.11 campaign.

Daniel was relatively quiet in the season series against the Sharks last year netting just one goal in four outings. He has notched nine goals and 28 points in 43 career games versus San Jose all-time.

PATRICK MARLEAU

Patrick Marleau has been an easy whipping boy for Sharks fans over the years but there's nobody complaining about the way he's started this season off. The former Sharks captain has been off to a roaring start netting eight goals and 11 points in just four games played.

The 33-year-old's numbers are not only impressive, they're history-making as well. Marleau has notched two goals in each of his four games played this season making him just the second player in NHL history to have four consecutive multi-goal games to begin a season. Ottawa's Cy Denneny was the first to do so back in 1917.18.

Marleau has a chance tonight to become the first player since Alex Mogilny in 1992.93 to record five multi-goal games in a row. Marleau has 21 goals and 39 points in 56 career games against the Canucks. He had two goals and three points in last year's season series.

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

2012.13 Regular Season

Player GP G A P +/-
Daniel Sedin
 4 2 4 6 0
Alexander Edler
 4 2 2 4 1
Henrik Sedin
 4 0 4 4 2
Mason Raymond
 4 3 0 3 1
Zack Kassian
 4 3 0 3 0
SHARKS LEADING SCORERS

2012.13 Regular Season

Player GP G A P +/-
Patrick Marleau
 4 8 3 11 4
Joe Thornton
 4 2 9 11 4
Joe Pavelski
 4 0 8 8 3
Logan Couture
 4 3 4 7 3
Dan Boyle
 4 2 3 5 2
IN THE INFIRMARY

For the Canucks...

F Maxim Lapierre (groin) is expected to play. F Ryan Kesler (shoulder/wrist surgery) and F David Booth (strained groin) are on the injured reserve list.

For the Sharks...

D Brent Burns (hernia surgery) and D Jason Demers (wrist) are on the injured reserve list.

BY THE NUMBERS

2 – Wins needed for Coach V to reach 400 career NHL victories.

4 – Sharks players who have recorded a point in every single game played this season: Thornton, Marleau, Pavelski and Havlat.

4.75 – Goals-per-game average for the Sharks this season. They averaged 2.67 goals-per-game last season.

6 – Points needed for Henrik Sedin (751) to surpass Markus Naslund (756) as the franchise's leading point scorer.

95th – All-time meeting between the Canucks and Sharks. Vancouver leads the all-time series 47-34-13.

THE TWEET STUFF

@BradZiemer

- Marleau and Thornton have combined for 22 points in 4 games. That's the same number all of the #Canucks forwards have in their first 4 games.

@kitshigh

- Canucks played so well last night I'm thinking of buying the team. Or Bieksa. Okay, just his jersey.

@canuckmekesler

- Problem: Canucks lose & I am too depressed to do anything productive, Canucks win & I watch highlights repeatedly for the rest of the night.

DID YOU KNOW?

Mason Raymond's two-goal effort on Friday against the Ducks was his first multi-goal outing in nearly two years. The last time he found the net more than once in a single outing was back on April 7, 2011 at Rogers Arena in a 5-0 Canucks win over the Wild.

If Raymond manages to score again tonight, he would equal a career-high goal streak at three games. The last time he scored in three straight games was from December 10 to 14, 2009.