Canucks preview: Opportunity knocks after Habs' injuries

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The Montreal Canadiens are very much a work in progress ? especially considering the way GM Bob Gainey took a wrecking bar to the lineup at the end of last season.

He let players such as Alex Kovalev, captain Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Robert Lang walk through free agency, while opening the bankbook to bring in the likes of Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and Mike Cammalleri, Hall Gill and Paul Mara.

Gainey also brought in a new coach in Jacques Martin.

But the new-look Habs got a heavy dose of adversity early in a season when they won their first two games.

Montreal ? which lost to Calgary 4-3 on Tuesday night ? lost its top blueliner and best player Andrei Markov to a sliced ankle tendon late in last Thursday's 4-3 OT win over Toronto in the season opener. Markov, who had 64 points last season, is expected to be out four months.

Then, the next game ? a 2-1 OT win over Buffalo ? defenceman Ryan O'Byrne suffered a knee injury that will sideline him for six weeks.

Coach Martin said Tuesday morning that it's an opportunity for other players to step up and take larger roles with the team.

"It's a matter of doing the job as a group," said Martin. "I feel we have some good depth. We have some good people there. I feel we have three pairs that can do the job."

For obvious depth insurance, Gainey signed free agent D-man Marc-Andre Bergeron to a one-year deal Tuesday. But he won't play against the Canucks, as he's been sent to Montreal's AHL farm club in Hamilton for conditioning.

The Habs made so many off-season changes that it's difficult to get a read on where they stack up in a Northeast Division that is also filled with question marks.

But, based on the two games so far, goaltender Carey Price has turned the question mark into an exclamation mark.

Price had a tough sophomore season last year, but has been terrific to start this season.

The 22-year-old stopped 34 of 35 shots against the Sabres on Saturday and has stopped 77 of 81 shots over two games. And with Markov out, the Habs need him all the more to find the brilliant form of his rookie season two years ago.

Price, who was raised in Williams Lake, is expected to get the start for Montreal tonight at GM Place.

 

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The setup

No one thought that the Canucks would be in a desperate situation after their first three games of the season ? but here they are. And if they're not, they ought to be.

Canucks' last game

The Canucks had more defensive meltdowns in a 5-3 loss to Columbus on Monday to extend their season-opening losing string to three games.

Canadiens' last game

After two overtime wins, the Habs dropped their first game of the season in Calgary on Tuesday night, with goalie Jaroslav Halak getting his first start in net in a 4-3 loss.

injury report:

Canucks: D Mathieu Schneider (shoulder); LW Pavol Demitra (shoulder); RW Jannik Hansen (fractured fingers).

Canadiens: D Andre Markov (ankle); D Ryan O'Byrne (knee); D Alex Henry (hand).

Three things to watch

1. A big game from Ryan Kesler: Among the shocking stats for the Canucks after three games is that Kesler ? a Selke Trophy finalist last season ? is minus-3 and has no goals. Kesler, one of the Canucks' most dependable players defensively, is due for a breakout game. And we mean at both ends of the ice ? which would certainly help the absence of secondary scoring thus far. Mason Raymond will be his new winger.

2. Glass half full: It appears that Tanner Glass will get his first game in a Canucks uniform after watching from the press box for the first three games of the season. It will be interesting to see what the training-camp long-shot adds to what has been an inert third line, skating with Kyle Wellwood and Steve Bernier. Glass, a summer free-agent signing who appeared to be AHL depth, impressed in the preseason with his feisty play and forecheck.

3. The PK simply must be better: One of a number of disturbing trends of the Canucks' 0-3 start has been the appallingly poor play of the penalty-killing unit. Although Vancouver finished a mediocre 16th overall last season, the PK was actually pretty good in the second half. After three games this year, they rank a miserable 25th overall. More and more, the NHL is a special-teams league and the Canucks must find some cohesion.

 

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- Vancouver GM, Mike Gillis, has solidified the franchise and geared up for a Cup run by signing his core players, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and Roberto Luongo, to long term contracts. He realized that he still needed a scoring winger and a puck moving defenseman so he brought in UFAs, Mikael Samuelsson and Matt Schneider to add depth and experience to the lineup. Regardless, it will all come down to the stellar play of Roberto Luongo if Vancouver hopes to win it all this winter.
- Luongo has struggled at times over the years but he is still the franchise. Mr. Butterfly has good size, sharp reflects, and great poise. He wins a ton of low scoring games and can easily steal a series all by himself. Don?t look now, but the season is off to a rocky start. Luongo, a notorious slow starter, has been brutal as he carries forward his shaky play from last year?s playoffs against Chicago. He gave up 4 goals on 22 shots against Calgary in the first game of the season and then topped that poor performance by allowing 4 goals on 12 shots against Colorado. Colorado! There?s no need to panic, but it?s not what Gillis had in mind. You know things are bad when a guy like Luongo gets replaced by Andrew Raycroft in net. Cory Schneider is the real back-up goaltender just in case Luongo goes down with a long, term injury. This guy is one of the best prospects in the NHL and may eventually become trade bait to help fill a gap at the deadline. He could one day be as good as Price or Mason.
- The Sedin twins aren?t really stars but they are pretty solid hockey players. At 29 years of age, they are primed to take the Canucks on a Cup run during the next few years. Alex Burrows is the lucky guy who gets to patrol their line. Burrows and Ryan Kesler are two of the top young players up front. They both combined for 37 points in the 1st half of last year, but then dramatically upped that to 73 in the 2nd half. Kesler is a RFA this summer so he should be well motivated.
- Pavel Demitra and Mikael Samuelsson are two experienced veterans who will be filling top six forward positions. Samuelsson may be getting a slight bump from the Detroit dynasty magic and Demitra is once again injured with a shoulder aliment and is out until November. The Sedins? point totals always slide when he is out of the lineup. This could be Demitra?s last year in Vancouver due to cap restrictions. Both these players need to excel if Vancouver has any chance of pulling off the impossible dream.
- the rest of the forward brigade is filled out with guys who show promise but don?t always deliver. Steve Bernier (still just 24), Kyle Wellwood (elated that Sundin retired), Mason Raymond (speedster who slumped badly in the 2nd half), and Jannick Hansen (broken hand) are all guys who could step up by the time the play-offs begin.
- the checking line is comprised of Ryan Johnson (shot blocking specialist), Darcy Hordichuk ( in house tough guy), and Rick Rypien (Steve Begin like play, injury prone, as well).
- Vancouver was also counting on two young prospects to take them to the next level but that is now all up in the air. Calder trophy candidate, Cody Hodgson, was sent back to junior after being unable to crack the line-up. This was a devastating blow for all parties concerned. He has a back injury due to a bulging disk (hey, I can relate to that!) And it really hampered his training camp chances. He lost some skating speed as he wasn?t able to go full out or push off. Sundin?s replacement will now have to wait another year. Sergei Shirokov is 23 years old and is primed for NHL duty. He had a great camp but has stumbled badly coming out of the gate. He was -3 against Columbus. The door is wide open for this guy to step through.
- last year, the defense lacked puck moving skills and tended to be brittle in terms of injuries which has led to a rebuild by Gillis. They lost Mattias Ohlund but wisely declined to re-sign him for the 7 year term he received in Tampa. Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler should be able to handle the offense with help from Sami Salo and Matt Schneider. Willie Mitchell and Shane O?Brien will provide size and muscle. Chrsitian Ehrhoff came over from San Jose but was really horrible in his own end. Still just 27, he may well bounce back. The player to watch on this team has to be Edler. Just 23, he has all the tools to be a top flight defenseman. 6'3", 220 lbs, solid at both ends of the ice, and willing to dish out the hits.
- Vancouver could use some shoring up in the area of special teams. Their PP was 17th last year and their PK was 16th. Weak penalty killing has also helped them get off to an 0-3 start this year. Five goals against on 12 PP chances doesn?t bode well. Not to mention that many of the penalties were dumb infractions in the offensive zone. They also give up a lot of odd-man rushes. Worst of all, they totally suck in shootouts.
- In the system.> Goalie, Cory Schneider, and forwards Michael Grabner and Jordan Schroeder.
- interesting tidbit has Gillis charging Brian Burke with tampering over an alleged deal at the entry draft between Vancouver and Tampa. It would have seen the Canucks grab Victor Hedman with the 2nd overall pick.

Vancouver is off to a rocky start and a loss to Montreal would be the first time in the franchise's 39-year history that the Canucks have begun a campaign 0-4. They will either continue to flounder, or come out on fire in order to appease their home town fans. The Canucks have the extra night off and also have the next three days off before they play at home again on Sunday. As we all know, Montreal will be playing back to back games on the road. Regardless, Carey Price vs Roberto Luongo should be a great match-up!