The Canucks host St. Louis tonight at Rogers Arena in Vancouver’s final game before Christmas (7 p.m., Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet 650 AM):
The Big Matchup
Brayden Schenn vs. Henrik Sedin
Schenn is centring the Blues’ top line, with Vladimir Tarasenko on his wing. The two have combined for 32 goals. Henrik Sedin is shouldering most of the ice time Bo Horvat had been carrying and while he’s scoring, the Canucks’ defensive game has slumped. Coincidence or cause?
Solving the penalty kill
There are lots of reasons to think the Canucks’ penalty kill should be good, but the results have said otherwise. Is it simply the goaltending? They could use a save. Or is it deployment? Ben Hutton, scratched the last two games, is their best at limiting 4-on-5 shots against. Whatever it is, it needs fixing ASAP.
Six for six
Whatever Nic Dowd might have wanted to show the Canucks when he arrived from the Kings in a trade for Jordan Subban, it surely can’t be an endless parade to the penalty box. But there’s no hiding from the fact the centre was added to help the PK but has taken six penalties in six games. Fewer of those, please.
20-goal payday
Brock Boeser now has 19 goals on the year. His next goal will net him a $212,500 bonus.
Get some stops
All of a sudden, the Canucks have given up the third-most goals in the league. The Blues are a top-10 offence.
Not-so-kind in the West
The Blues, missing Jay Bouwmeester, Jaden Schwartz and Carl Gunnarsson, lost Thursday in Edmonton, Wednesday in Calgary and Sunday in Winnipeg. They won’t want to head into the Christmas break with a grand slam of losses.
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