Kassian on the top line, Malcolm Subban’s debut, Anaheim’s line shuffle and more…

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No Alexandre Burrows for the Canucks last night. He was absent with a lower-body injury. That meant a glorious opportunity for recent healthy scratch Zack Kassian. He skated just 13:47 but was on the top line with the hot Sedins. Two goals for Kassian as a result.

I'd love to sell you this as something to run with but I can't. I just don't believe in Kassian at this point. He's had cameos on the top line before and it's never stuck. Why would this time be different?

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Three assists for Adam Larsson last night. Last time I mentioned Larsson he was in the midst of a run with six points in eight games. He has scored in just two of 10 games since but has five points in those 10 games. Seems like consistency is still an issue here.

Don't get me wrong, I love the flashes we are seeing here. Larsson is seeing regular minutes and is putting up some solid numbers. I'm still waiting for the power play time to come consistently. I won't fully believe until that flips.

We are still waiting on Damon Severson to return from injury so a big part of me is skeptical that Larsson will ever get the consistent power play time he needs when there are players better suited for the job in house.

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Another contender for those power play minutes is Eric Gelinas. He has mostly been a healthy scratch under Lou's three-headed monster of a coaching staff but has skated in the past four games. His ice time has been under 20 in all of those games but he has two power-play points to his name.

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