Canucks Game Day: Andrei Kuzmenko says he's OK, but will he ...

Thursday's game in Calgary will be the fifth game in eight days for the Vancouver Canucks.

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Published Nov 16, 2023  •  Last updated 3 hours ago  •  4 minute read

Vancouver Canucks' Andrei Kuzmenko (96) is struck by the puck as New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin watches during the third period. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS

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When/Where: Thursday, 6 p.m., Scotiabank Saddledome

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TV: Sportsnet  Radio: Sportsnet 650

The buzz: Two big storylines came out of Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime win over the New York Islanders: the way the Canucks battled back to win a close one against a tight-checking team…and Andrei Kuzmenko’s health.

The Russian winger took a J.T. Miller one-timer to the face during a third-period power play. Kuzmenko dropped to the ice in great pain, writhing about and clutching his face. The crowd hushed as Canucks athletic therapist Roman Kaszczij hustled to Kuzmenko’s aid.

After a few minutes on the ice, Kuzmenko was able to get to his feet and left the ice under his own power, but still clutching his face.

Post-game, Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said Kuzmenko was walking around and alert. He did indicate Kuzmenko might still be taken to hospital to have his chin assessed.

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Miller was relieved to see his teammate after the game.

“Yeah, he’s good. He was smiling after the game. He’s alright,” he said.

And Kuzmenko himself took to Instagram later to report on his own health.

“Thank you for your support, everything is fine,” he wrote in a temporary Stories post, adding a smiley-face emoji. “Good win!”

But whether he was on the Canucks’ flight to Calgary, or if he’ll be able to play Thursday versus the Flames, isn’t known. A Canucks spokesperson didn’t reply to an enquiry about whether the winger flew to Calgary and Kuzmenko’s agent Dan Milstein said he could only confirm that Kuzmenko was fine.

For the second time this week, the Canucks find themselves in the back end of a back-to-back. After Wednesday’s thrilling overtime defeat of Bo Horvat’s Islanders, the Canucks jettied off to Calgary to face the Flames Thursday. The Canucks continue to roar along through a combination of fine play and some luck. The Flames, on the other hand, have a losing record partly because their goalies have struggled and partly because they can’t seem to put the puck in the net.

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The history: The Canucks and the Flames split the season series last year 2-0-2, with the Canucks taking the first and last matchups in overtime. The Flames didn’t make the playoffs — a big disappointment. The Canucks came up short as well, but set their course toward the play they’ve put on display this season. Calgary turned over parts of their roster and changed coaches, from Darryl Sutter, who was deeply unpopular in the dressing room, to Ryan Huska, who was a Flames assistant coach for five seasons. Vancouver has continued to add to their roster to follow coach Rick Tocchet’s preferred style of play.

The hope: This may be the Canucks’ fifth game in eight days while the Flames have been off since Sunday, but the Canucks are feeling plenty confident. Their offence continues to be red-hot. The Flames are not.

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The fear: The Canucks get the double whammy of regression: they suddenly can’t score and can’t stop the puck, while the opposite happens for Calgary.

The top guns: A stunning sentence to write: three Vancouver Canucks are tied for the NHL lead in scoring. Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes have all scored 26 points this season. Brock Boeser is tied for most goals in the NHL with 23. Filip Hronek got his fits goal as a Canuck with a rocket Wednesday versus the Islanders; he has points in 11 straight games. Andrei Kuzmenko took a J.T. Miller shot to the face Wednesday night; his status is unknown. On the other hand, Calgary’s leading scorer is Nazem Kadri with just nine points. Jonathan Huberdeau, the $10.5 million man who was benched last week, has just seven points. But Jacob Markstrom is coming off his best performance of the year, backstopping the Flames to a 2-1 win over Montreal.

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The wounded: Canucks: Andrei Kuzmenko (face, unknown time frame), Pius Suter (undisclosed, day to day), Carson Soucy (leg, week to week), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion, LTIR). Flames: Oliver Kylington (personal, LTIR), Kevin Rooney (shoulder, LTIR), Jakob Pelletier (shoulder, SOIR)

The quote:“They don’t get scored on because they’re never in their end.” — Sportsnet commentator Ray Ferraro on why the Quinn Hughes-Filip Hronek defence pairing has proven so dominant.

The lineup:

Forwards

Mikheyev-Pettersson-Kuzmenko (status unknown)

Di Giuseppe-Miller-Boeser

Joshua-Blueger-Garland

Beauvillier-Lafferty-Höglander

Defence

Hughes-Juulsen

Cole-Hronek

Friedman-Myers

The prediction: These Canucks were in the Eastern time zone all of four days ago. They’ve played a lot of hockey in the last week; it’s hard to see them mustering up a full fight. Flames will take this one 3-2.

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(FAN FORUM: Do you have a specific question for a player? Pass it along to @provincesports and we’ll get it in a future edition.)

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