Vancouver Canucks: On the Verge of a Goalie Controversy?

Since their embarrassing 5-1 loss to the Blackhawks on Nov 16th, the Canucks refocused with some tough love from their coach, and have recorded their first three-game win streak of this inconsistent campaign. 

Over the last week, the Canucks have recorded a 2-1 victory over Ottawa at home, and then 3-0 and 5-0 wins on the road against Colorado and Phoenix. All three victories were with Cory Schneider in net, as Roberto Luongo has been sidelined with an upper body injury. 

During this win streak, 13 different skaters have hit the scoresheet, and surprisingly none of them was Aaron Rome. 

Eight skaters (Sami Salo, Ryan Kesler, Chris Higgins, Henrik Sedin, Alex Burrows, Manny Malhotra, David Booth and Maxim Lapierre) have scored during the last three games.  

Seven players (Dan Hamhuis, Salo, Kesler, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Cody Hodgson and Alex Burrows) have picked up multiple points during this streak, led by Kesler's four points (two goals, two assists). 

And yet the most compelling statistic belongs to Cody Schneider. 

Three starts, three wins. 

Schneider has stopped 74 of 75 shots over the last three games, good for a 0.987 save percentage and a 0.32 goals against average during this mini-streak.

Oh, and he posted a pair of shutouts during that span too. 

But Luongo is healthy again, and is itching to get back into the net. 

Does coach Alain Vigneault continue to ride the hot hand of Cory Schneider, or does he put his marquee goalie back into the net? 

Fans in Vancouver are divided, as they usually are when it comes to the polarizing figure of Luongo. 

However, I think it is a no-brainer for Vigneault to put Luongo in for the next game against the San Jose Sharks. 

First, Luongo owned the Sharks during the Western Conference Finals. 

Second, the Sharks game is the second night of back-to-back games. Regardless of how well Schneider is playing, and he is playing awesome, you don't usually start the same goalie in back-to-backs. 

Now if there was an off-day between the Phoenix and San Jose games, then this would be more of a debate for the Canucks. But with only 20 hours between games, and the flight from Arizona to California, it wouldn't make any sense to start Schneider. 

However, if Luongo is anything less than excellent against the Sharks, expect the Vancouver fans to be in an uproar on Monday*, demanding that Schneider take over the starting role.

*Technically Vancouver fans could start the goalie controversy on Sunday, but they have the Grey Cup to watch. Even in a hockey market, sometimes the Canucks have to take a back seat. 

Regardless of who starts in net, and how well they play, the most important thing is that the Canucks don't squander their new found momentum.

Despite three straight wins, the Canucks only moved up one spot in the standings, from 11th to 10th in the West. They need to continue picking up points if they hope to make the playoffs.