Canucks-Sharks Preview

The Canucks have not beat the Sharks yet this season in 2 tries. Both losses occurred in October, by scores of 4-2 and 3-1. It was Joe Thornton ( 1 goal 2 assists) and Jonny Cheechoo (1 goal and 1 assist) who killed us in the first game.
Jeremy Roenick was a Canucks killer in the second game, scoring 2 goals (yeah, why did I bring that up?) Bad memory.
But that was in October, when the Canucks had not found their game yet. Now it's different. We are rolling. But so are the Sharks, who have won 4 of their last 5.
Actually the Canucks and Sharks have been battling it out for 2nd spot in the Western Conference for a while now. Only 1 point separates them. 1 win separates them. It's close.
The Sharks have the best PK in the NHL. Surprisingly, they are 16th on the PP.
The Canucks are 15th on the PK and 13th on the PP.
The Canucks are playing back-to-back games. The Sharks have not played since Tuesday, where they killed Minny 4-1 after an embarrassing 7-1 loss to the Sabres days earlier.

Joe Thornton needs to be contained. Are Kesler or Burrows up for the job? Joe is a hard guy to contain. Nearly impossible. But Big Joe only has 2 assists in his last 3 games. Joe Pavelski has 1 goal and 2 assists in that span.

For the Canucks, it's ol' pretty boy Pyatt who has the most points in the last 3 games (1 goal and 2 assists). Daniel Sedin has 1 goal. His invisible bro has NO points. The 3rd party of the useless Swede trio, Naslund, has 1 assist in his last games.

It's time for the Swedes to pick it up. That, or we can rely on the Raymond-Jaffray-Sanford combo to carry us again. It could happen. I am thinking they score at least a point each tonight. I got a feeling Jaffray is going to break out. We'll see.

Canucks.com pointed out something:

One of the few negatives for San Jose has been its surprisingly poor play at home, where it is 5-6-2 after going 25-12-4 there last season. The Sharks are tied with Phoenix and Montreal for the fewest home victories.

My take on the outcome

Should be a violent affair. Are the Swedes going to break out? They'd better. We need them to. I say the Canucks eek one out here: 4-3. Yeah, I'm no longer pessimistic.

Sharks' Marcel Goc has his pre-game opinions here (video). Yep, focus most of your attention on the Sedins. That way, Jaffray, Raymond and Pyatt can unload on ya!

On the IR:

Canucks:
Morrison-wrist surgery, out indefinitely.
Cowan- shoulder injury-out 6 weeks.
Isbister- strained hamstring- day-to-day
Bieksa- yeah you know.

Sharks:
Ryan Clowe (knee)
Jeremy Roenick (knee) YAY!!!
Jonathan Cheechoo (groin strain) double YAY!!
Brad Norton (back) who cares.

Game Time: 7:30 PM
TV: Sportsnet Pacific

T Tags: Canucks Sharks Preview Thornton Jaffray Raymond