Per TSN 1040’s Jeff Patterson, it seems Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice has uncovered a bit of a trend in the Vancouver Canucks’ home schedule:
Jets Maurice with a smirk says #Canucks should be fresh noting they usually get to watch the team they're playing the night before
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) March 24, 2015
The Jets play tonight in Vancouver. They also played last night in Edmonton.
As Maurice insinuated, this is not unusual for visitors to Rogers Arena. In fact, going back to the Canucks’ six-game home stand in late January, counting tonight, the visitors will have played the night before nine times out of 16. In all nine of those cases, Vancouver has had the day off prior. And yes, one of those nine times saw the Canucks beat the Jets in overtime after tying the game late in the third period.
Not that the Canucks have taken full advantage of their relatively fresher legs -- case in point, they lost 6-2 to a “tired” Columbus team last week, and one of their most disappointing efforts of the season came versus a “tired” San Jose side on Feb. 5 -- but it’s still a welcome benefit of being on the West Coast, given all the miles they’re forced to cover during the regular season.
Oddly enough, Vancouver is one of the few teams with a better record on the road (22-12-3) than it has at home (20-14-1).