[CanuckJohnny]

November Recap

Results:
W 6-2 @ TOR - Lack gets the start, Burrows gets two goals, matching his total all year, and Hank gets two goals and assist, while P.K. is the first star with three assists, and Thoresen keeps his point streak alive since joining the lineup, picking up another assist
W 4-0 vs PHX - Markstrom with the shutout, Henrik continues his stellar run with a goal and an assist, we outshoot them 43-20, Thoresen keeps his point streak going with another assist
W 3-0 vs SJS - second straight shutout for Markstrom, although he only had to make 17 saves, and Cory Conacher finally gets rewarded with his second goal of the year, Thoresen's run of assists finally ends
W 4-1 vs LAK
W 4-1 vs ANA - Lack starts, Tyler Bozak goes off with two goals and an assist, and we outshoot them 45-13
W 3-1 @ SJS - we are currently first in the NHL, Michael Grabner with the gamewinning shorthanded goal (his ninth goal of the year, which is tied, along with Hank, for seventh in the league), Kes injures his elbow and is expected to miss a week or two (he's having a great season so far with 17 points and a +14 rating through 21 games)
W 4-0 @ DAL - Malhotra comes into the lineup for Kesler, and Bozak moves up a line to fill Kes' second line role, and the team doesn't miss a beat, Hank picks up first star with two assists, but another injury to a top six forward occurs as this time it's Jon Marchessault who will be out for at least two weeks after suffering an upper body injury
W 3-1 @ FLA - battle of last year's Jennings winning teammates, as Markstrom starts against Cory Schneider, Cumiskey will be ruled out with a sore foot so Tommernes takes his place and picks up an assist in the game, Malhotra picks up a goal and an assist as well, and P.K. gets his first goal of the season finally
SOW 2-1 @ CBJ - Eddie Lack gets the nod in net tonight, Michael Grabner nets the shootout winner with the only goal of the shootout (Lack stopped Atkinson, Carter, and Nash)
L 3-2 @ CHI - the biggest test all month, against our rival who knocked us out of the playoffs last year, and it's our first loss all month, P.K. scored a shorthanded goal, and Bozak added his ninth of the year, but it wasn't enough as Marian Hossa broke the 2-2 tie early in the third and Chicago never looked back, Markstrom was peppered with 39 shots and we again looked outclassed against the Blackhawks
L 4-3 @ LAK - Tommernes with his first goal of the year, but we drop our second straight, and maybe more importantly we see two more key injuries as both Hamhuis and Bozak sustain injuries that could keep them out for a month
L 4-0 vs OTT - Daniel and Kes return, but with Bozak, Hamhuis, Marchessault and Rundblad all out, we still have a fairly thinned out lineup, Lack will start in goal tonight, former Canuck Cody Hodgson had a goal and an assist against us
W 4-3 vs NYR - phew, we snap the skid and end the month on a good note, opened with a three goal first period that included Danny and Hank working together to assist a Tommernes goal, man it's good to finally see those guys back together, Cory Conacher scored the gamewinner with two minutes left in the third

Patrick Thoresen has been a revelation on the top line, picking up twelve points so far in fifteen games, mostly alongside Henrik, and earned enough trust from coach Trevor Linden to stay on as the third member of the line with Henrik and Daniel when Daniel returned from injury. After a rough start Hank has been lights out lately, and leads the team in scoring with ten goals and fourteen assists in twenty eight games. The second line of Grabner, Kesler, and Burrows has been consistent and productive all season, and the three have a combined twenty one goals on the year. Tyler Bozak is proving to be worth his contract so far, stepping in adequately for Kesler when he was injured and otherwise leading a third line with two rookies while producing nine goals and six assists and staying at fifty percent in the circle. Ryan Ellis continues to develop and to be the offensive leader of this defense corps, while P.K. Subban has struggled somewhate, although he is bouncing back from a rough start and seemingly finding his stride a bit lately. Chris Tanev has been quietly solid as usual, and is plus ten with eight points and sixty six blocked shots while averaging twenty minutes a night. Markstrom has settled into the starting role quite nicely, and has the best GAA of any goalie in the league who has played at least ten games. Eddie Lack is looking pretty comfortable in his rookie year as Markstrom's understudy.

League notes

• Ovi scored his 400th career goal this year
• Pavelski, who is having a solid 29 point season in 26 games so far for the Sharks, injured his UCL at the end of the month and will miss at least six months, a big blow to San Jose's season
• Brian Campbell of the Canadiens earned player of the month honours - he has 21 points in 20 games so far this year
• Trevor Daley of the Stars leads the league in plus minus at +21, while Alex Edler of Montreal is tied with Daley's partner Goligoski for second at +19, and Michael Grabner is fourth with plus 17
• Evander Kane has accumulated a league leading 78 PIMs and a league leading 101 hits while also scoring 15 goals to be tied for fourth in the league
• Michael Grabner's 3 shorthanded goals lead the league, while his teammate Alex Burrows is tied for second with 2
• Los Angeles forward Tyler Toffoli leads the rookie scoring race with fifteen points, while Detroit defenseman Xavier Ouellet is making his Calder case with eleven points in second place, Brendan Gallagher of the Canadiens is third with ten points (seven goals) in only fourteen games, and he also leads the league in pts/60 at 5.96
• Patrice Bergeron leads all forwards with 26 takeaways so far, right behind him is Anze Kopitar with 23
• Jacob Markstrom's five shutouts lead the NHL, Marc-Andre Fleury of Pittsburgh and Ben Scrivens (!) of Dallas are tied for second with four
• Jonas Hiller of the Ducks (15.40) and Cam Ward of the Canes (15.37) lead the league in GSAA

Injuries
TBL Ryan Malone (torso) 2-3 months (since Oct 22nd)
TBL Dominic Moore (arm) 2-3 months (since Oct 29th)
PHI Sean Couturier (leg) 1-2 weeks (since Nov 19th)
PHI Matt Carle (head) 1-2 months (since Nov 19th)
STL Alex Pietrangelo (torso) 1-2 months (since Oct 17th)
BUF Tyler Myers (shoulder) 3-4 months (since Oct 10th)
MIN Mikko Koivu (leg) 1-2 weeks (since Nov 25th)
EDM Sam Gagner (collarbone) 2-3 weeks (since Nov 9th)
PHX Shane Doan (neck) 1-2 weeks (since Sept 20th)
SJS Justin Braun (arm) 3-4 months (since Sept 25th)
SJS Joe Pavelski (leg) indefinite (since Nov 30th)
VAN Tyler Bozak (torso) 1-2 weeks (since Nov 25th)
VAN Dan Hamhuis (leg) 2-3 weeks (since Nov 25th)