SAN JOSE -- After his team's Monday morning skate, San Jose coach Todd McLellan was asked about Vancouver's depth, and he said that the Canucks have lots of it -- and "that's how you become a championship club."Vancouver, with numerous lines that can score, a solid stable of defensemen and an elite goaltender, has shot to the top of the standings by going 14-1-2 in the past six weeks. Add that backup goalie Cory Schneider has yet to lose in regulation -- he's starting tonight at HP Pavilion -- plus, Mason Raymond is back after missing 10 games, and he scored the game winner on Sunday night.
This is a team with few weaknesses, it appears.
"We hit a rough patch in November and had a meeting, we had to get back to basics," Schneider said. "We've been taking care of business at our end, we have six great defensemen, we have four lines that can all play. If we play smart, we're a hard team to beat."
"We've been playing well as a team," No. 1 goaltender Roberto Luongo said. "Different guys are contributing, and we need that. You can't have a shutout every night. Sometimes you need the guys on the fourth line to come through."
On Sunday at Colorado, Alex Boldic scored his first career goal, playing on the fourth line, and he also assisted on Raymond's game-winner. Forward Ryan Kesler said that it was good to see Raymond score right away, and, he said, "When you have four lines that can score in this league, that's big."
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