It appears the Vancouver Canucks are not interested in tanking in order to secure a better draft position.
In fact, after back to back road wins this week, Vancouver is just two points behind Nashville for the final wild card spot and four back of 3rd place Anaheim in the Pacific Division.
The Canucks are 13-10-7 on the road which is adequate, but to make the post-season they will need to play much better at home where they sport an uninspiring 9-10-5 record.
The (22-20-12) Canucks play 12 of their next 15 at Rogers Arena with the last place Maple Leafs to visit on Saturday.
16 of the last 21 Vancouver games have been decided by just one goal.
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If Ryan Miller could just play against the Arizona Coyotes, he would be the best goalie in the NHL.
Miller continued his mastery of the Coyotes in the 2-1 Wednesday victory with 33 saves.
He is 9-1 in his career against them and 6-0 at Arizona.
Overall, the stats suggest the Canucks are better off with Jacob Markstrom in net.
The 35-year-old Miller is 12-15-0-8 with a .916 save percentage (which is the league average) and a 2.59 goals-against-average.
The 26-year-old Markstrom has won 4 straight and is 5-0-1 in his last six with a .937 save percentage in that stretch.
On the season, Markstrom is 9-5-4 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.30 GAA.
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There’s an interesting battle for crease time in the Prince George Cougars net.
Ty Edmonds has been the team’s starter for three seasons but he is being pushed by Nick McBride who has played in four of the last five games.
Both goalies have similar stats this season:
Save Percentage: Edmonds .909 McBride .911
Goals-against-average: Edmonds 2.83 McBride 2.81
Win-loss record: Edmonds 17-12-2 McBride 11-6-0-1
Edmonds led the WHL in save percentage the first half of the season.
He currently sits 12th in that category.
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With 17 regular season games left (less than 25%), the P.G. Cougars need to significantly reduce their penalties.
The Cougars lead the WHL in penalty minutes with 1.071 which is an average of 19.5 a game.
In addition, they have played shorthanded a league high 261 times.
The Calgary Hitmen are a distant second with 817 penalty minutes (15.1 per game).
During the six game Prairie road trip, the Cougars were shorthanded 36 times, or six a game which is too many for any contender.
It should be noted, however, that the Cats had nearly as many power-play opportunities (35) on that East Division swing as their opponent, but that doesn’t take away from the fact, P.G has been going to box far too often.
Following the 5-3 loss in Regina, assistant coach Roman Vopat, stated on the 94.3 the Goat post game show: “If we continue taking penalties like we did in this trip, we’re going to have no chance against Kelowna.”
The Rockets play at CN Centre tonight (Friday) and Saturday as the 31-21-2-1 Cougars look to end their season-high three game losing skid.
The Cougars are ranked 4th on the penalty kill (at 83.1 per cent) and 13th on the power play (at 13.7 per cent).
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Just a couple of weeks ago, it appeared the P.G. Cougars were headed to a first round playoff match-up against the Victoria Royals, and while that still may happen, another possibility is an opening round date vs. the Rockets.
At the beginning of February, the Cougars were just four points behind the Royals, but Victoria has won 10 straight and is enjoying a 12-0-1 run.
The Cats find themselves 12 points behind both Victoria and Kelowna.
The Cougars are locked in 3rd place in the BC Division (nine points ahead of 4th place Kamloops) and if they stay in that spot, they would meet the second place team, either the CHL 6th ranked Royals or the 7th ranked Rockets.
Meanwhile, the Cougars have scored 52 goals in their last 11 games, but they have also given up 44 goals in their last 11, an alarming average of four a game.
There is just six weeks left in the regular season for the Cougars to jell.
They play nine more times at CN Centre and eight more on the road.
The Cougars have four games remaining against Spokane, three vs. Kelowna and two each against Red Deer, Tri-City, Vancouver, Victoria and Kamloops.
From the Quote Rack:
Today, the Dow ended down 249 points. I’m sorry, did I say the Dow? I meant the LA Lakers.
Conan O’Brien
Super Bowl 50 dropped the Roman Numerals. The only place you’re going to still see Roman Numerals is on Peyton Manning’s birth certificate.
Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg
Sunday night showed Cam Newton has a lot to learn. For starters Marshawn Lynch could have taught him “I’m just here so I don’t get fined.”
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
MVP Von Miller went to Disneyland after the game. Cam Newton was given tickets to Walt’s place as well, but he dropped them and Demarcus Ware picked them up and ran off with them.
Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver http://alwaysfunny.com/
Carlos Santana blasted the Super Bowl halftime show, saying that there should’ve been iconic San Francisco bands instead. Oh, well, that’s the way the ball Beyonces.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
And in case you missed it:
Purdue basketball senior AJ Hammons snatched a rebound out of the air while holding his right sneaker. NBA potential? He’s a shoe-in.
Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat. He also is the 94.3 radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars home games. His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller