GAME DAY: Canucks vs Avalanche

It's been quite a week for Roberto Luongo and the Canucks. After returning what most felt was a disastrous road trip, and a hard fought loss to Detroit, the Canucks didn't just rattle off 3 wins, they shut them out. Another important game tonight as they take on a divisional opponent they haven't seen yet this year; the Colorado Avalanche.

The Avs have a bit of a different look about them, gone are some familiar faces like Jose Theodore, Kurt Sauer, Brad Richardson and Jeff Finger and in are Andrew Raycroft Daniel Tjarnqvist, Ruslan Salei and Darcy Tucker. The most notable thing thus far about the Avs is how hot & cold they have been. They've had a 5 game win streak, but also had losing streaks of 3 and 5 games, the latter broken Saturday with a 1-0 win over Phoenix. As far as the Canucks go, it appears to be business as usual except we could see the return of Janick Hansen and Pavol Demitra is expected back soon from his rib contusion. Rick Rypien remains on the IR. The biggest Canucks killer of all time is out for the Avs, as Burnaby Joe Sakic remains day to day with a back injury, as is Tjarnqvist (foot).

A lot of the focus will be on Luongo, and can he keep this streak going, now at over 10 periods of scoreless hockey. Luongo doesn't seem to be putting too much emphasis on it, the real focus should be the continued strong play of the defence that has kept their opponents to under 30 shots in each of these 3 shutouts. One of the biggest disasters last season was their play against the Avs, as they won the first 2 meetings, only to drop the last 6. They will need to continue their unbeaten streak against their divisional rivals, a tough challenge against a talented team that is better than their record indicates. Fortunately, they won't have to face Jose Theodore, who was in net for 5 of those 6 wins. They will likely face Peter Budaj, coming off a shutout Saturday himself.

Keys to the game:
1- First goal a must- The Canucks, like most other teams do better when they score first. Though they have shown an ability to come from behind this year, it's crucial, especially to get the crowd into it like they were against Minnesota to give them something to cheer about.
2- 11 minutes- Just over 11 minutes into the first and Roberto Luongo will break his shutout minutes streak. Though they say they aren't thinking that, if they can get past this mark, it will no doubt give them a boost that will be hard to overcome.
3- No Sakic, but lots to contain- They may not have Joe, and Andrew Brunette may have left for Minnesota, but there are still a number of offensive concerns with the Avs. They have to keep a lid on Milan Hejduk, Marek Svatos, Paul Stastny, Ryan Smith and Wojtek Wolski, as well as John-Micheal Liles and their mobile defence.

Overall, this to me smells like a win. The Canucks are playing a very confident brand of hockey right now, getting balanced scoring, limiting their opposition's chances and adapting their style of play to counter their opponents styles quite well. That and the return of Janick Hansen should see another fine performance on TSN tonight. Gametime is at 7 and as always you can hear it on the Team 1040 with John Shorthouse and Tommy Larscheid.