Five points of interest ahead of puck-drop:

1. Vancouver will attempt to win two consecutive games for just the 3rd time this season, when they host the New York Rangers tonight. It would also be the first time they achieved that feat, when icing the same lineup for both games.  The Canucks have certainly been handcuffed due to injuries, but have also rotated younger players in and out of the lineup. It appears that Willie Desjardins will keep the winning lineup in tact from what he iced against Buffalo and try to build on success and chemistry.

2. One of those younger players on rotation, at times, is Jake Virtanen. Virtanen is now in the American Hockey League with the Canucks affiliate in Utica. While the conditioning stint was brought about due to a hip injury suffered in Anaheim, it still leaves many curious about the possibility of Jake joining team Canada for the World Junior camp. Utica plays in Rochester tonight and then host Toronto on Friday, before travelling to Toronto for the weekend. Hockey Canada’s World Junior camp is held in Etobicoke (25 minutes outside the city) and a pair of exhibition games are scheduled for the weekend. Utica plays in Toronto against the Marlies on the 13th. Cue the theorists that suggest Virtanen could accompany the team to Toronto and then join team Canada in time for games facing the CIS all-stars or he could even play in the AHL game Sunday afternoon and join team Canada that evening. It is certainly a possibility, but is it reality?

3. The season opened with a road game against the Flames on October 7th and the club was in Calgary the night before, which is the norm for any hockey team. Since November 6th through to December 9th, the Canucks have spent a total of 30 travel days on the road. An entire month on the road with 16 games over that span. This is the final home game before the Christmas break, before heading out for a six-game/11 day road trip and the Canucks are in search of just their fifth victory on home ice.

4. Certainly part of the lack of success at home can be tied into the lack of opportunity to accomplish better, given the above schedule. However, the Canucks  enjoyed five straight at home in October and registered only one win. Tonight they will try to make sure Buffalo doesn’t represent their only home victory through a four game stretch. Vancouver enters tied with Colorado and San Jose for the fewest home wins among Western Conference teams thus far. The difference is the Canucks have actually played more home games than the aforementioned teams.

5. The Swedes are certainly sweet to watch. Tonight another great battle will go down in the books with Henrik/Daniel Sedin facing off against countryman Henrik Lundqvist. At age 35, the Sedin twins are in the top 10 among NHL scorers. If you zero in on Daniel Sedin and Henrik Lundqvist, each are in the top 15 in almost every major category when it comes to rating their positions. The “King” is 33 years old and is still considered one of the best goalies in the NHL. Who knows how long these achievements will continue to grow in fame? Who knows how big the gap will be between these Tre-Kronour and the next wave of Swedish NHL players to put up similar numbers? It truly is wonderful to witness another chapter in a book that could soon be closing.

Game info: 7pm PST with @HockeyAbbs/@DTSN1040 TSN1040+Canucks Radio Network

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