Dec 15: Canucks at Flyers

[Iced Tea]

Canucks-Flyers Preview

GAME: Vancouver Canucks (19-9-2) at Philadelphia Flyers (18-7-4).

TIME: Thursday, 7 p.m. EST.

Injuries have not slowed down the Philadelphia Flyers. The Vancouver Canucks will give it a try.

Philadelphia looks for its 14th win in 17 matchups with Vancouver as the teams face off at the Wachovia Center.

The Flyers are 13-2-1 against the Canucks since Dec. 2, 1993, outscoring them 67-40 in that span. Both losses in that span have come in Philadelphia with the Canucks holding a 9-3 scoring advantage.

Slowly, though, the Flyers are getting healthy players back in the lineup. Robert Esche made 23 saves in his first game after missing four with a groin injury in the Flyers' 3-1 win Wednesday over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Peter Forsberg, Jeff Carter and Sami Kapanen scored in the win. Forsberg has two goals and an assist in two games after missing six with a groin injury.

He has 14 goals and 38 assists in 39 career games against the Canucks.

Still, the Flyers will be without leading scorer Simon Gagne (groin) and defensemen Joni Pitkanen (abdomen) and Eric Desjardins (shoulder).

"I don't know if we're surviving," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "When you play with some composure, you're going to win a lot of close games, especially on the road."

The Flyers have won five of their last seven games overall.

Vancouver owns the league's best home record, but has struggled on the road. The Canucks snapped a season-high three game road losing streak with a 3-2 win Tuesday over the New York Rangers.

Matt Cooke returned from a 17-game absence with a broken jaw to score the game-winner with 4:31 to play.

"Any time I can help chip in on the offensive side of the game, it's huge for us. Not just when I am coming back from injury," Cooke said.

With starting goaltender Dan Cloutier expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a knee injury, the Canucks for now will go with the combination of Alex Auld and Maxime Ouellet.

Auld's 11 wins are second in the league among rookie goaltenders behind Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers.

If Ouellet makes his Canucks' debut, he would face the team that drafted him 22nd overall in the 1999 draft. Ouellet is 2-4-1 with a 2.99 goals-against average in eight games with the Flyers and Washington Capitals.

STANDINGS: Canucks - 40 points, 1st place (tied), Northwest Division. Flyers - 40 points, 2nd place, 4 PB, Atlantic Division.

TEAM LEADERS: Canucks - Markus Naslund, 16 goals and 34 points; Naslund and Henrik Sedin, 18 assists; Wade Brookbank, 63 PIM. Flyers - Gagne, 23 goals; Forsberg, 32 assists and 42 points; Donald Brashear, 41 PIM.

SPECIAL TEAMS (through Dec. 14): Canucks - Power play: 16.5 percent (34 for 205), 18th in NHL. Penalty killing: 83.3 percent (150 for 180), 11th. Flyers - Power play: 18.6 percent (35 for 188), 12th. Penalty killing: 78.0 percent (142 for 182), 28th.

GOALTENDERS: Canucks - Auld (11-6-1, 0 SO, 2.58 GAA); Ouellet (no appearances). - Esche (11-4-2, 0, 3.05); Antero Niittymaki (7-3-2, 1, 2.94).

2003-04 SEASON SERIES: Flyers, 1-0.

LAST MEETING: Nov. 13, 2003; Flyers, 4-3. At Philadelphia, Gagne scored the game-winning goal, added an assist and Esche made 29 saves as the Flyers won their fifth straight.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Canucks - 6-8-2 on the road; Flyers - 12-4-2 at home.Link (http://www.nhl.com/scores/previews/456_2_preview.html)

The keys to winning:
1. Shut down Forsberg. A guy who should have a "Canucks killer" tatoo on his chest. He's evil, I tell you. :burning:
2. Build on the road win in New York. 6 - 8 - 2 on the road is still bad considering the Canucks home record.
3. Cooke is back and providing energy.
4. More Sedins and Carter. They are unstoppable. Bwahahahaha :wicked:
5. Bertuzzi continues to improve. The last two games have given us glimpses of the old Bertuzzi. Yaaaaa
6. I don't know if the Flyers will start Esche or Niittymaki but neither is unbeatable like Hasek or Lundqvist. Someone needs to tell Niittymaki that double letters arre so earlly 90's.
7. Another stellar outing from Auld, the Canucks' new number one goalie.
8. Improved special teams; the PK is great but the PP needs improvement.
9. Crawford has a good hair day.
10. Iced Tea has an ok hair day.
11. Iced Tea has fast food for first time in weeks.
12. Jovo plays a good game, no big mistakes.
13. Ohlund has a better outing than his last game, he made a couple mistakes that he doesn't usually make.
14. Iced Tea pays Eric Lindros' mom to call Bobby Clarke and say hello thus rattling Clarke into doing something stupid, like trading Forsberg to Columbus for Federov. :wicked:
15. If Umberger is playing, at least two Canucks must paste RJ into the boards. Just because I don't like how things went with Hamburger and the Canucks.
16. Someone needs to explain to me why the "K" in Knuble isn't silent like in knee or knitting. Knuble is Canadian so why is he messing with English grammer? He should have to sit out all games against Canadian teams. :D

[charlio lemieux]

Link (http://www.nhl.com/scores/previews/456_2_preview.html)

The keys to winning:
1. Shut down Forsberg. A guy who should have a "Canucks killer" tatoo on his chest. He's evil, I tell you. :burning:
2. Build on the road win in New York. 6 - 8 - 2 on the road is still bad considering the Canucks home record.
3. Cooke is back and providing energy.
4. More Sedins and Carter. They are unstoppable. Bwahahahaha :wicked:
5. Bertuzzi continues to improve. The last two games have given us glimpses of the old Bertuzzi. Yaaaaa
6. I don't know if the Flyers will start Esche or Niittymaki but neither is unbeatable like Hasek or Lundqvist. Someone needs to tell Niittymaki that double letters arre so earlly 90's.
7. Another stellar outing from Auld, the Canucks' new number one goalie.
8. Improved special teams; the PK is great but the PP needs improvement.
9. Crawford has a good hair day.
10. Iced Tea has an ok hair day.
11. Iced Tea has fast food for first time in weeks.
12. Jovo plays a good game, no big mistakes.
13. Ohlund has a better outing than his last game, he made a couple mistakes that he doesn't usually make.
14. Iced Tea pays Eric Lindros' mom to call Bobby Clarke and say hello thus rattling Clarke into doing something stupid, like trading Forsberg to Columbus for Federov. :wicked:
15. If Umberger is playing, at least two Canucks must paste RJ into the boards. Just because I don't like how things went with Hamburger and the Canucks.
16. Someone needs to explain to me why the "K" in Knuble isn't silent like in knee or knitting. Knuble is Canadian so why is he messing with English grammer? He should have to sit out all games against Canadian teams. :D

The keys to losing:
1. How will they ever Shut down Forsberg. A guy who should have a "Canucks killer" tatoo on his chest. He's a god, I tell you. :thumb:
2. Can hardly seem to buy a road win. Totally lucky in New York. 6 - 8 - 2 on the road is really bad considering the Canucks home record.
3. Cooke is back and providing penalty kill opportunities.
4.Please no more Sedins and Carter. They are unbearable. Stiiiinnnnky Take a bath boys.:wicked:
5. Bertuzzi continues to improve his disappearing act. The last twenty games have given us glimpses of the old man Bertuzzi has become. Yaaaaa
6. I don't know if the Flyers will start Esche or Niittymaki but neither is beatable for us. Cooke and Bertuzzi should tell Niittymaki that double letters arre so earlly 90's.
7. Another subpar outing from Auld, the Canucks' new number one goalie.
8. Improved special teams; the PK needs to be as good as the PP is.
9. Crawford has a good hair dye.
10. Iced Tea has a woman.(rubber counts you know!):D
11. Iced Tea has real food for first time in weeks. You can't live off ovaltine.
12. Will Jovo ever play a good game, with no big mistakes? Nope.
13. Ohlund has a couple mistakes that he wants to try again from last game.
14. Tired of latex ladies, Iced Tea calls Bobby Clarke for a date thus rattling Clarke into doing something stupid, like trading Forsberg to Columbus for Federov. :wicked:
15. Just because I don't like some things with my Hamburger and Canucks. If Umberger is playing, at least two goals against will be his fault.
16. Someone needs to explain to me why the "K" in Knuble isn't silent like in knee or knitting. Knuble is Canadian so why is he messing with English grammer? He should have to sit out all games against Canadian teams. :D

Just messin with ya but I couldn't resist. :laughing:

[Iced Tea]

The keys to losing:
1. How will they ever Shut down Forsberg. A guy who should have a "Canucks killer" tatoo on his chest. He's a god, I tell you. :thumb:
2. Can hardly seem to buy a road win. Totally lucky in New York. 6 - 8 - 2 on the road is really bad considering the Canucks home record.
3. Cooke is back and providing penalty kill opportunities.
4.Please no more Sedins and Carter. They are unbearable. Stiiiinnnnky Take a bath boys.:wicked:
5. Bertuzzi continues to improve his disappearing act. The last twenty games have given us glimpses of the old man Bertuzzi has become. Yaaaaa
6. I don't know if the Flyers will start Esche or Niittymaki but neither is beatable for us. Cooke and Bertuzzi should tell Niittymaki that double letters arre so earlly 90's.
7. Another subpar outing from Auld, the Canucks' new number one goalie.
8. Improved special teams; the PK needs to be as good as the PP is.
9. Crawford has a good hair dye.
10. Iced Tea has a woman.(rubber counts you know!):D
11. Iced Tea has real food for first time in weeks. You can't live off ovaltine.
12. Will Jovo ever play a good game, with no big mistakes? Nope.
13. Ohlund has a couple mistakes that he wants to try again from last game.
14. Tired of latex ladies, Iced Tea calls Bobby Clarke for a date thus rattling Clarke into doing something stupid, like trading Forsberg to Columbus for Federov. :wicked:
15. Just because I don't like some things with my Hamburger and Canucks. If Umberger is playing, at least two goals against will be his fault.
16. Someone needs to explain to me why the "K" in Knuble isn't silent like in knee or knitting. Knuble is Canadian so why is he messing with English grammer? He should have to sit out all games against Canadian teams. :D

Just messin with ya but I couldn't resist. :laughing::laughing:

Latest I heard is Lindros' wrist has a concussion. Too much Palmela Handerson for him. :laughing:

[charlio lemieux]

:laughing:

Latest I heard is Lindros' wrist has a concussion. Too much Palmela Handerson for him. :laughing:

Him and McCabe, don't you know? Some kind of contest, I didn't want details.:laughing:

[KB in Kelowna]

Iced Tea has hair?

If the Canucks should pervail tonight will we hear how banged up and desimated the Flyers line up is. Or if the Flyers win, will we hear how despite the adversity the superior strength and toughness of those who wear Black and Orange will always dominate and the Stanly Cup should be awarded now to avoid the frustration that all other NHL teams will inevitably feel?:wicked:

[Yoata]

There's no reason the Canucks shouldn't win tonight with all the key guys out of the Flyers' lineup.

[butterfly_style]

Only because the flyers are in the same conference as my sens. . .I say "go nucks go".

[Iced Tea]

First of all, the game is 60 minutes of regulation, not 50 minutes as the Canucks thought tonight. Up by two goals and nearly lost the game. I hope Crawford yells at them for letting the Flyers back into the game.

The keys to winning:
1. Shut down Forsberg. A guy who should have a "Canucks killer" tatoo on his chest. He's evil, I tell you.Ohlund was Forsberg's conjoined twin tonight and while Forsberg was dangerous at times, he was kept off the scoreboard.
2. Build on the road win in New York. 6 - 8 - 2 on the road is still bad considering the Canucks home record.An impressive win over the Flyers. Tying the game and then scoring twice more within a 5:54 period was awesome.
3. Cooke is back and providing energy.Good game and took Forsberg off for coinciding minors in the third period.
4. More Sedins and Carter. They are unstoppable. BwahahahahaGreat night for the A S S line, Carter gets 2 goals and an assist, Henrik gets 3 assists and Daniel gets 2 assists. Good to see Carter do so well because he has been the weak member of the line so far.
5. Bertuzzi continues to improve. The last two games have given us glimpses of the old Bertuzzi. YaaaaaBertuzzi showed some serious effort tonight, better stability, less getting knocked over. Made some great plays, got angry at his mistakes, and got an assist.
6. I don't know if the Flyers will start Esche or Niittymaki but neither is unbeatable like Hasek or Lundqvist. Someone needs to tell Niittymaki that double letters arre so earlly 90's.Esche looked good until the end of the second period. The Canucks needed a mere 2 or 3/10s of a second to tie it up. He seemed rattled when the third started. Niittymaki let in the first shot he faced.
7. Another stellar outing from Auld, the Canucks' new number one goalie.First two Flyers goals were decent but the third goal he should have had. Same with the fourth goal, just close your freakin legs. On the other hand, Auld's stopping Forsberg on some dangerous chances and during the first or second Flyers PP, Forsberg should have scored there. Amazing stop. And also the breakaway for Richards in the first period; Auld is so big that the player had nowhere to shoot.
8. Improved special teams; the PK is great but the PP needs improvement.PP was 2 - 4 and PK allowed 1 goal on 5 chances. Glad to see the Canucks PP clicking, hopefully it's the start of something good.
9. Crawford has a good hair day.
10. Iced Tea has an ok hair day.Crawford's hair looked nice. Mine is nasty. I'm envious of Crawford.
11. Iced Tea has fast food for first time in weeks.I went to Rotten Ronnie's. The McDeal was the 2 cheeseburgers meal. It was tasty.
12. Jovo plays a good game, no big mistakes.I think he had a good game.
13. Ohlund has a better outing than his last game, he made a couple mistakes that he doesn't usually make.He had a great game and shut down Forsberg.
14. Iced Tea pays Eric Lindros' mom to call Bobby Clarke and say hello thus rattling Clarke into doing something stupid, like trading Forsberg to Columbus for Federov.Eric's mom's phone number is unlisted.
15. If Umberger is playing, at least two Canucks must paste RJ into the boards. Just because I don't like how things went with Hamburger and the Canucks.Hamburger got a point and the Canucks were too busy to flatten him into the boards. Although Richards did get squished by Brookbank.
16. Someone needs to explain to me why the "K" in Knuble isn't silent like in knee or knitting. Knuble is Canadian so why is he messing with English grammer? He should have to sit out all games against Canadian teams.No one explained it to me so next time someone asks me about my injured knee, I'll give them a puzzled look and say, "Oh, you mean my K nee." :laughing:

Anyways, Forberg is amazing. I always thought so even when he was a rotten Av and World diving champion. Sure glad Ohlund was able to keep him off the scoresheet.

Other things:
1. Naslund needs to stop taking stupid penalties. I hope you're kicking yourself for being a moron near the end of the game.
2. Handzus' hair is too long. Get a haircut, you hippie.
3. Hatcher isn't as slow and useless as I thought he would be in the new faster NHL.
4. The Flyers are still a great team with so many rookies.
5. I'm not too happy about the shots, Canucks 26, Flyers 43
6. Canucks had a good night on faceoffs, winning 58% overall.
7. 13 penalties in the game; Canucks had 7 and Flyers had 6. Most seemed justified except Naslund's first penalty shouldn't have happened if the linesmen had their eyes open and saw that the Flyers were off side.
8. Sportsnet Pacific is replaying the game at 7:30 Pacific (10:30 Eastern). I hope the Canucks win this one as well. :laughing:

[KB in Kelowna]

I have nothing to add to the assessment by my learned colleague from Salmon Arm.

[TimmyTabasco]

I have nothing to add to the assessment by my learned colleague from Salmon Arm.

Assessment or Essay? :laughing: Just kidding tea bag

Yeah, not much else to add myself

The sedin line is dominant..and Carter is also joining in on the fun. Good to see him with the two goals

Linden was also very good, on that line with Bertuzzi and Ruutu. Glad to see Goren was scratched

Auld was hot and cold. But what can you do, he got the win.

McCarthy is a subpar defender. Everytime he had the puck..I cringed

[Iced Tea]

McCarthy is a subpar defender. Everytime he had the puck..I cringedHe did scare the bejeebers out of me several times tonight. Watching him trying to get position and falling on his butt or trying to defend against some of the larger Flyers' forwards. Hard to believe McCarthy is 6'1" because he looked tiny in front of the Canucks' net on several occasions.

Who knows, maybe Nonis will use some of his extra cash and find a #3 - 4 defenseman and McCarthy will either be traded or knocked down the depth chart and shipped to the farm.

I like how Baumgartner is playing though. A real good effort and nice goal tonight.

[KB in Kelowna]

McCarthy has had 25-30 games to prove he belongs, he doesn't. Send him to Winnipeg and bring up either Buetenshoen(sic) or Doig and lets see what they can do. Baumgartener has been ok in the 5th spot. He'll never be a Norris candidate, as was predicted in some hype out of Kamloops, but he has been ok in his current role.