Leafs Receive Unexpected Advantage Over Canucks For Battle on Hockey Night in Canada

The Vancouver Canucks' struggles have been well documented. Reportedly, two of their top players in Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller have issues with one another. The team has lost 12 of their last 16 contests, and they've endured injuries to all their key players at some point in time this season.

We can now add extreme weather to the list of unfortunate circumstances plaguing the Canucks as they were grounded in Carolina last night due to the icy conditions. After their 2-0 defeat against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Canucks were unable to depart for Toronto until this morning and that could assuredly play a factor in tonight's contest.

Although the Canucks possess a lot of firepower, for one reason or another, they've been unable to string together a positive stretch of hockey. The potential feud between Pettersson and Miller has taken a toll on the club as they've gone 4-6-6 over their last 16 games, including losses in 6 of their last 7.

On top of having been grounded in Carolina overnight, the Canucks are in the midst of a lengthy road-trip on the east coast with Toronto being their 4th pit-stop. Tonight's contest will also represent their 4th game in 6 days and with tired eyes and weary legs, it might be high-time for the Toronto Maple Leafs to pounce.

The Canucks have also taken 3 of their last 5 games into overtime or beyond and 11 of their last 20 games dating back to the end of November. Mixed in with a lot of travel and road games, it's certainly not a recipe for long-term success.

After a disappointing 5-3 defeat against the Carolina Hurricanes their last time out, the Leafs will be looking to getting back into the win column and receiving any kind of competitive advantage will do at this time of the year.

In related news, Dennis Hildeby earned the call between the pipes for tonight's contest as he looks for his 4th win of the season, while the Maple Leafs attempt to push ahead of the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division.