NHL: Underdog Maple Leafs Meet Streaking Canucks

The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t seen the playoffs since 2004, and the road to that goal this season goes through Vancouver. Good luck with that, fellas.

The Canucks are lining up for another extended run at the Stanley Cup, while the Buds have lost nine straight to them. The last meeting was at the Air Canada Centre Dec. 17 on Hockey Night In Canada, and the country saw Alex Burrows score the game-winning goal in a 5-3 win for the visitors.

With both Washington and Winnipeg nipping at their heels for the eighth and final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference, Toronto needs all the help it can get … including, possibly, Columbus Blue Jackets stalwart Rick Nash.

They were able to help themselves by stopping their latest losing skid at four with a 4-3 victory in Edmonton last Wednesday. Still, they gave up the lead twice and it took a tally by the underperforming Tim Connolly, who hadn’t scored in his previous 17 games, to grab the two points in overtime.

For its part, Vancouver hasn’t lost a game in regulation in its last 11 matches, sporting an 8-0-3 record in that time. Ten of their last 14 tilts required overtime, and most of those went to shootouts. That means they managed to snag a “loser point” at worst; historically they’ve had poor results in those game-ending one-on-one battles, but lately they’ve shown more of a tendency to win those duels.

No overtime was necessary on Wednesday, though, as the Canucks downed the Colorado Avalanche 3-1. The hot play of David Booth continued as he scored in his third straight game, while Jannik Hansen got the go-ahead goal at 13:31 and Burrows sealed it with an empty-netter.

They’ll likely have to face the Leafs on Saturday at Rogers Arena without the services of either defenseman Keith Ballard, who’s missed the last four games with possible concussion symptoms, and tough guy Dale Weise, who suffered a nasty gash on his nose during practice on Tuesday and is now considering wearing a visor for the rest of his career. Kevin Bieksa was also seen limping after practice on Friday, but is expected to play. As insurance, Chris Tanev was recalled from the AHL Chicago Wolves to give the club another right-handed shooter on the blueline.

The NHL betting line has the Canucks at -1.5, Moneyline at 1.53 and the over/under at 5.5, indicating a clear David vs. Goliath matchup on Saturday. Even though the game is on the West Coast, the start time is early: 7 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. Pacific).