CBC-Sports

Canucks, Penguins matchup features Hart Trophy candidates

January 15, 2010 01:09 PM | Posted by   Jim Hughson  

Read up on the latest tidbits and trends as Hockey Night in Canada’s play-by-play voice Jim Hughson takes you behind the scenes and into the game.

This week's work: Pittsburgh Penguins at Vancouver Canucks | Saturday, Jan. 16, 10 pm ET/7 pm PT (CBC, CBCSports.ca)

The script:

If the NHL realized what a big event it is when the Pittsburgh Penguins travel to Vancouver, maybe they’d have them pass by more often than Halley’s comet.

Then again, if the league is trying promote the event by creating a scarcity, they’ve done a brilliant job.

Since he was drafted in 2005, this is just the second time Sidney Crosby has toured western Canada and it’s the Penguins’ first visit as Stanley Cup champions.

So Crosby will be the marquee player, but few are talking about the fact there are two Hart and Art Ross candidates in the game. Three if you include defending scoring champ, Evgeni Malkin.

Henrik Sedin is leading the scoring race, having a much better season than Malkin, and is every bit as valuable to the Canucks as Sid is to the Penguins.

Begrudgingly some Vancouver fans who still don’t think the Sedin twins are first-line players are being converted. Henrik has been brilliant all season and now that his brother is healthy the twins are on fire. Daniel and Henrik have combined for 17 goals and 66 points over 21 games since the first of December.

So what we have Saturday night is a game that features the champions and a Western Conference team that wants to be; two of the top three scorers in the league, along with the defending scoring champion, plus 10 Olympians representing five different countries.

Now why wouldn’t you want to have these teams play more than once a season?

On the hot stove:

Evgeni Malkin has been playing like the minor hockey kid who thinks his best chance to score is to go where nobody else is. Only problem is the reason nobody is there is because it’s not a place you’ll score from. He’s been working hard, but playing on the outside.

Malkin hasn’t scored in 11 games and is a minus-8 over that time. The good news is his best game in a few weeks was Thursday in Edmonton, so maybe he’s close to a breakout.

ISO camera on:

Alex Burrows has been in the spotlight this week for right and wrong reasons. His impulsive decision Monday to accuse referee Stephane Auger of sticking it to him as payback for a dive was not a good one. It overshadowed being named the league’s first star of the week earlier that day.

Burrows deserved the honour for his week on the ice and the criticism for his poor decision off it. No matter who said what and who’s right or wrong the games keep coming and in the midst of a decent run with a playoff spot at stake, the Canucks need Burrows at his best with the Sedin twins. They don’t need the distractions that have marked the past five days.

Burrows had 17 goals and 28 points in the last two months of last season and he’s on a roll again with 10 goals in six games. Some advice: use the inside voice, Alex.

Tape-room topics:

One of the games within the game will be the match-up of Vancouver defender Willie Mitchell against Crosby. Sid sees the top D pair in every game and Mitchell is one of the best shutdown defenders in the league. Two great one-on-one players meeting head-to-head.

As you watch the Penguins defence against Vancouver, see if you think Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang have progressed to the point where the Pens can go forward without Sergei Gonchar. I’m not sure general manager Ray Shero has answered that question, but I bet he’s leaning toward re-signing the veteran Russian who’s an unrestricted free agent after this season.

From the stat pack:

Here’s a statistical comparison of the big boys so far this season (games played, goals, assists, points, plus/minus, faceoff percentage):

Henrik Sedin – 47 gp, 20 g, 44 a, 64 pts, +18, 49.2
Sidney Crosby – 48 gp, 30 g, 27 a, 57 pts, +14, 57.9

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