SAN JOSE, Calif. — Points to ponder as tonight (7 p.m. Sportsnet Pacific) the Canucks look to replicate a 3-2 victory here on Nov.6 against the Sharks, who have won eight-straight games at The Shark Tank and are on a 9-2-1 roll:
1. WILLIE’S WORLD IS SPINNING: The only constant in the revolving fortunes of NHL teams is change. One week we’re writing about the Canucks’ balanced scoring lines and the next we’re wondering why the top line is in a funk and what it’s going to take to get the second alignment going. With the Sharks coming off a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, they’re primed to avenge that Nov. 6 loss to the Canucks in which Ryan Miller made 34 saves and ran his career mark against the Sharks to 8-1-0 with a 2.15 goals-against average and .934 saves percentage. So, Miller is the easy call tonight against Alex Stalock for Willie Desjardins. So is putting Linden Vey or Jannik Hansen back on the second line. Desjardins had hinted about Alex Burrows getting a look on the top line, but said it’s status quo following the morning skate.
However, that could change. Derek Dorsett could be back on the fourth line, Hansen on the third and Vey on the second. Then again, the Sharks have the second-ranked power play and the Canucks the fourth-ranked penalty kill, so drawing penalties and not taking them will be more important than the lines.
“It’s going to be pretty much the same,” said Desjardins. “They’re a real quick team and we have to stay out of the box and do a better job and Jannik is a good skater. “That could be a factor, too, in what we do. The top line has not been great. If I made a move there I would look at Burrows.”
Getting better and growing is a balancing act. Bo Horvat lost a crucial draw to Ryan Getzlaf that led to a goal Sunday in Anaheim, but the rookie will be put in those situations again because he has a 54.4 efficiency in the circle and that element will help his confidence and help the club win.
“Same story every year — we’ve been switching lines and trying to find something that works,” said Hansen. “It doesn’t matter to me as long as we’re winning. We been successful against Edmonton, but we know it’s not going to get us anywhere. These are the teams, like the Sharks, that we need to beat come March, April and May.”
2. DRAW PENALTIES, DON’T TAKE THEM: The Canucks had five seconds of power-play time Sunday in Anaheim and it kept the league’s 12th-ranked special team from being a factor in the 2-1 overtime loss to the Ducks. Everybody has a theory — especially getting to the net — and that should get the Sedins going, too.
“They’re fast and their starts are extremely good here and we have to be ready,” said Henrik Sedin. “We need to take pucks to the net and get more traffic there and that’s usually when they’ll call a penalty. But we didn’t do a good enough job of that last game and if you take pucks to the outside, a team doesn’t have to do anything to stop you and the refs aren’t going to call that. It’s up to us.”
Said Kevin Bieksa: “You get more calls from the referees. There were chances last game where there could have been more calls, but they let the guys play. That’s fine. There’s no secret to drawing penalties. You hold on to pucks down low and if you don’t get the calls, you can’t really control that.”
3. PAVELSKI, BONINO NOT CAUGHT IN DRAFT: Joe Pavelski is probably going to be the future captain of the Sharks — he’s one of four assistants along with Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Marc-Edouard Vlasic — and it goes beyond his team-high 17 goals and league-leading nine power-play goals and being on pace to challenge the career-high 41 goals of last season. At 30, he has become a leader on the ice and in the room, not bad for the 205th pick in the 2003 draft who took it as a challenge.
“It didn’t even know if I would get drafted — there was a long way to go in my game so I didn’t put much stock into it,” said Pavelski. “I needed a lot of strength training and improving my skating and I knew I had four years of college to get ready, but got my pro game ready after two.”
It’s the same story for Nick Bonino. Drafted 173rd overall by the Sharks in the 2007 draft and only attending two development camps, he was dealt to the Ducks two years later and not only had something to prove to himself but to his doubters.
“I was always confident, but it depends on people taking a shot at you,” said Bonino, who had the game-winning goal here Nov. 6. “That’s a long day. Six rounds and you see guys you played prep against and thought you had better numbers. I went to two development camps before and after my freshman year in college and in my sophomore year, I was traded to Ducks. That’s when I started to realize I could go somewhere in hockey. Throughout high school, I was always good, but maybe a little bit under the radar. When I got drafted, it was more of a feel-good thing and it was more of when I got to college that I could say I think I can play. A lot of it is opportunity. It was good to play with (Todd) Marchand, (Saku) Koivu and (Ryan) Getzlaf in front of me — that really helped.”
3. KASSIAN IS REAL CLOSE, REALLY: Players pay attention. No sooner did the Edmonton Oilers acquire former Canucks centre Derek Roy from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Mark Arcobello on Monday, then they wondered about the deal. After all, Roy was on waivers and could have been claimed without giving up a player, but then it would have added another salary to the payroll.
The Canucks will add Kassian to the lineup soon and he’s obviously anxious to jump-start his sour season and quell rumours that he’s trade bait. The winger fractured a finger Nov. 25 and had two pins removed from his right pinky finger Dec. 20 and practised the next day. He has only played four of the last 21 games when you add the five he missed earlier this season with a knee injury, it adds up to five points in 17 outings and lots of scrutiny. This isn’t the break-out season he envisioned after a strong stretch drive last spring with 12 points (4-8) in 19 games after the 2014 Winter Olympics. Willie Desjardins said Kassian hasn’t been medically cleared to play. The winger sounded like he’s good to go.
“I’m really close,” said Kassian. “Hopefully, very soon. I feel 100 per cent. I feel great and the best I’ve felt all year. I had four weeks to get ready and hopefully I play next game (Thursday). I obviously have a lot to prove when I get back and hearing your name (in trade rumours) is part of the business. A lot of guys in here have heard their names pop up. It’s not a big deal. It’s the business.”
4. DILLON GIVES SHARKS B.C. BITE: When New Westminster native Brenden Dillon was acquired from the Dallas Stars on Nov. 21 in exchange for Jason Demers in a swap of defencemen, San Jose got the left-shot it was looking for and the Stars the right-shot they wanted. But Dillon also brought an edge to the back end where he’s paired with Brent Burns. Dillion also played for Willie Desjardins with the Texas Stars in 2012-13.
“He’s a great young man and I got to see him out of junior (Seattle, WHL) and watch him a bit before we signed him,” Desjardins said of the undrafted 6-foot-4, 225 pound blueliner, who has nine goals, 30 points and 185 penalty minutes in 163 career NHL games. “Besides being a really good player, when he came into Dallas, he was playing with (Stephane) Robidas for a while. He plays the game hard and he plays it well. It doesn’t surprise me that he’s been playing well here.”
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