Millionaires vs. Red Wings Game Day Preview: Seeking Payback

Coach Alain Vigneault admitted the Canucks were embarrassed after their 8-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings back in February. They should be. They had a 3-2 lead going into the first intermission of that game before allowing the Wings to score 6 unanswered goals in the second and third periods.

Roberto Luongo, who was in net for all of the Wings’ goals that afternoon, will get the start tonight and a chance to redeem himself.

If it’s any comfort, the Wings’ offense has sputtered a bit since then. In their 9 games since putting 8 past Luongo, they’ve only scored 15 goals. They scored 3 powerplay goals that night; their powerplay is 3-for-26 since.

Not that the Canucks are hot themselves. Sure, they scored 7 goals against the Nashville Predators the other night, but their powerplay hasn’t connected in their last 27 opportunities.

This is the Wings’ 3rd game in 4 nights. They beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in overtime in Edmonton last night and lost 5-2 to the Calgary Flames in Calgary on Wednesday night.

Canucks Record

13-7-6, 32 points (1st in Northwest Division, 3rd in Western Conference)

Who’s Hot

Pavel Datsyuk has points in 5 of his last 6 games (1G-4A-5P), and is second in the team in scoring with 27 points (9G-18A) in 27 games. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall scored in both games in Alberta and has 3 points (2G-1A) in the road trip so far.

Jannik Hansen sits 3rd in the Canucks in scoring behind Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Hands-up if you saw that coming. (Didn’t think so.) The Honey Badger has 9 points (4G-5A) in his last 7 games.

Who’s Not

God bless his effort, but Alex Burrows is pointless in 4 games.

Wings scoring leader, Henrik Zetterberg, and 27-year old rookie, Damien Brunner, both have just 3 assists each in their last 9 games.

Quickies

• The Canucks are celebrating the Vancouver Millionaires and donning the Millionaires jersey tonight. (canucks.com)
• OMG IS KEITH BALLARD COMING BACK IN THE LINEUP?? (Vancouver Province)
• It’s Luongo’s turn to be no. 1. (Vancouver Sun)
• Dude, where’s our powerplay? (Vancouver Sun)