Canucks At Bruins Preview: The Darkest Hour

#Canucks have recalled C Pascal Pelletier from Utica. Not sure if this is about Henrik or Higgins (who I believe was dinged up last night).

— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) February 4, 2014

I think John Tortorella's post game interview last night about says it all:

"Change the complexion of this team". I find that to be a great bold statement. It's silly in the sense that the core of this team (excluding the goaltenders) that is sucking the most are the ones making the big bucks and the ones tied into no trade clauses. So really, don't expect a house-cleaning any time soon. However, I like the statement because it's a big "fuck you" to those players in the sense that "by god if you didn't have those no-trade clauses your heads would be on a stick". So for now, all Torts can do is keep trying to drive his style of play home with the group and see if they respond.

There are a couple things he can do to these star players though. I know he likes to ride them with top minutes to get them to snap out of their funks and lead the way on the scoresheet. But after his comments tonight, I think the best course of action is to bench them. Whether it be for an entire game or within the game. The Sedins want to pull off another joke of a game? Don't even use them on the power play. I swear there has got to be a rule from up top that the coach can't hurt the star players' feeling like that. Both Alain Vigneault and Tortorella keep playing these guys repeatedly when they fail, especially on the power play. Honestly, f*** that top PP unit. Play Schroeder, Booth and Higgins as a top unit to send a message. Whatever second unit goes out there (with minimal power play time) usually gets better chances anyway.

Under this core group of players, I'm not sure its ever looked this hopeless or helpless around the #canucks. Amazing it took just 2 years..

— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) February 4, 2014

YOU MADE MY SHITLIST

-Daniel Sedin. 0 goals and 5 assists in his last 16 games. Dank has had 6, 7 and now 16 game scoring droughts this season. The Canucks are 7-16-6 in those dry times.

-Henrik Sedin. 1 assist in his last 7 games.

-Alex Burrows: 0 goals and 4 assists in 25 games this season.

-David Booth. 0 goals and 3 assists in his last 17 games.

-Dan Hamhuis. 0 goals and 9 assists in his last 38 games.

-Jannik Hansen. 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 16 games.

-Brad Richardson: I know he missed the game against Detroit, but, 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 17 games.

HOT OR HEATING UP

-Chris Higgins: 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 6 games.

-Ryan Kesler. 1 goal and 3 assists in his last 3 games.

-Alexander Edler. 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 3 games. I thought he looked pretty good against Detroit.

-Ryan Stanton: 3 assists in his last 4 games.

CARRYING ON...

The Canucks are still giving up too many glorious chances. They play defensively well for long stretches and then their brains fart. Eddie Lack saved them from getting blown out in Detroit. If these guys can't pull together as a team, Roberto Luongo is going to have to do the same thing in Boston. This can be a big game for the Canucks if they can pull it off. The team has not been the same mentally since the 2011 Finals but especially in the regular season rematch after this happened:

You would think a win like that would build on the character of the team. Nope. Instead, it seemed to zap some life out of them long-term. To their credit they did go on a 12-2-3 run after the rematch game. But a fragility of sorts crept in after that and they were never the same. Two consecutive first round exits to the Kings and Sharks sealed the deal, really.

The Canucks did destroy the Bruins in December:

What crawled up your ass, Iginla? Jeez! Brad Marchandmocked the crowd/bench late in that game and Milan Lucic was punched by a drunk downtown. That was Vancouver's 7th straight win. Times were good weren't they? The Canucks went 3-1-2 after that game to finish off December and then hit the January from Hell and have not recovered since.

Since scoring 6 goals against the Bruins, the #Canucks have scored 42 goals in 22 games. That's 1.91 goals/game over a quarter of a season.

— Canucks Hockey Blog (@canuckshockey) February 4, 2014

Expect the Bruins to come out with a vengeance in their rink in this one. The rivalry is not dead.

But enough negativity. How about another good memory via YouTube:

Ah....twas so sweet....

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

They're assholes. We hate them.

The Bruins are without Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid. Their roster looks something like this.

After this game, Zdeno Chara will miss the Bruins' last 2 games prior to the Olympic Break so he can carry the flag for Slovakia in Sochi. C'mon, Chara, you know you want to take Tuesday off and leave earlier!

You want to see a piece on Brad Marchand about his antics in Vancouver in December right? Sure you do:

Lucic provided an excellent soundbite at CSNNE.com on Monday:

"I think too many people point the finger too much on [Roberto] Luongo," said Bruins power forward Milan Lucic. "I think he’s a great goaltender. He was still able to get them one win away from the ultimate goal. It shows what type of person he is, going through what he went through with how he was treated [in Vancouver] by everyone.

"He’s managed to keep his game at a high level, and he’s on the Olympic team. He’s still one of the best goaltenders in the league. It shows a lot about his character. I wish him all the best in Sochi. I’m Canadian, right? It’s the only time I’ll cheer for him."

Praise for Luongo and seemingly another shot at Vancouver. Such a villain!

The Bruins had an 8-4-1 record in January and started off February with a 4-0 win over the Oilers on Saturday. Gonna be a tough challenge.

SCORE-PREDICTING WIZARDS UPDATE

Nobody predicted a 2-0 score or for Lord Abdelkader to seal our fate last game so the list remains the same.

The title of this game preview post has been brought to you by fittingly by Megadeth:

Also by John Tortorella singing "Don't Push Me":

GO CANUCKS GO! AND REMEMBER, KIDS: