So really, what is the deal with this NHL schedule? In the month of December the Vancouver Canucks played a game on average every other night. This is with a three day holiday break included. At the beginning of the month the team went on a stretch of eight games in twelve nights, seven of which were on the road and one (in the middle) was at home. We all know what the travel is like in the West, so why would there be one oddly-placed home game in the middle of a road-trip (after being in Nashville the night before).

To make things even worse to begin the month of January the Canucks on three days rest last Thursday against the Rangers which is a lot of rest in NHL standards. After being well rested and playing the Rangers at home, the Canucks had yet another break from Thursday until Tuesday before playing the Islanders also at home. The Islanders, unlike the Canucks, are well-versed in playing in 2008. They have played three games to date (0-1-2) and are coming off a 4-0 loss to the lowly Edmonton Oilers.

The Canucks have their own streak going as tonight versus the Islanders they look to make it 14 straight home games with getting at least a point. And they will have a new first line to help in their efforts. Speedster Mason Raymond, who won the Canucks fastest skater competition at the superskills this past weekend, has been promoted to playing wing with the Sedins while Markus Naslund will take his place skating alongside Taylor Pyatt and Jason Jaffray. The Canucks captain has cooled down considerably since his hot streak in November which saw him score 16 points in 15 games which included a span of 6 goals and 8 points in 4 games. Naslund in the last 11 games has only scored 7 points so the change in lines could be seen as much as a promotion for Raymond as a message to Naslund.

After Tuesday’s game against the Islanders, the NHL schedule maker decided to play another joke on the team as they head out to play 6 games in 8 nights, 4 out of the 6 on the road.

In their first game in the new year, the Vancouver Canucks started of with a big goose egg, the good kind! Although the Canucks didn’t necessarily outplay or outwit the Rangers, with stellar late-game goaltending from Roberto Luongo who posted his sixth shutout of the season, the Canucks played the role of survivor and outlasted the Rangers  by defending a one goal lead until late before putting it away.

The game started with great pace, the Canucks being well rested (compared to any time last month) and the Rangers looking to bounce back from a loss to the Flames the night before. As the pace slowed down, both teams began to take penalties but neither could convert each going 0-5 before the Canucks Jason Jaffray scored late in the third period on a deflection of a Willie Micthell point shot.

Neither offenses were spectacular as the Ryan Kesler checking line did what they do best and kept the Jagr scoring line in check while the Canucks were having trouble finding scoring chances. I’ve been parading the fact that this game was quite even, so it should not surprise anyone when I say both defenses were and bad at the same time. The Canucks d-men played average, but two of the six stood out for me. Aaron Miller and Lukas Krajicek looked quite out of place both making terrible mistakes on more than one occasion, and were lucky no to have paid for them in spades. The Canucks other defense, Roberto Luongo, played a vintage ‘Luey’ style game coming  up  big when he needed making big saves of Marcel Hossa and Martin Straka in the third period. The same cannot be said for Steve Valiquette who got the nod in net for the Rangers. Valiquette let in two suspect goals, the second of which (at the hands of Daniel Sedin, his 19th of the year) pretty much sealed the deal for the Canucks.

Another game against another team that the Canucks haven’t seen in Vancouver for who knows how many years goes by with the Canucks ending up on top. Fans who came to see goaltending star Henrik Lundqvist arrived disappointed, but fans who came to see super start Roberto Luongo left satisfied. The Canucks have another welcomed break until next Tuesday when they take on another far removed Eastern Conference team, the New York Islanders at GM Place.

Check out the box score here.