THE INTRO
It just gets worse on the injury front for the Canucks: Anders Nilsson broke his finger in practice on the weekend and will be out a few weeks. What the Canucks should be concerning themselves with is defense, like committing to playing some. The Penguins shredded the Canucks defense on Saturday and it won’t get any easier tonight as the Minnesota Wild are in town and wouldn’t you know it, they’ve won five straight games.
Brock Boeser is starting to feel himself again and tonight could be the start of an excellent season for a player who was the favourite to win the Calder trophy a season ago before being shut down last spring. Boeser gets to face a team he grew up watching in Minnesota but now they’ll be watching him.
Let’s Do This!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SN / SN 650 / 7:00 PM
LINEUPS
Alex Edler is out “weeks” according to Travis Green with an MCL sprain, Chris Tanev is day-to-day, Sven Baertschi is still in concussion protocol, Jay Beagle is out as well.
Vancouver’s defense is primed to take another thrashing with the same guys getting trotted out. Hopefully, they’ll be able to outscore their problems.
Jacob Markstrom will be the man between the pipes for a few weeks with the recent news of Anders Nilsson breaking his finger. Richard Bachman has been called up to backup Markstrom.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN |
 ELIAS PETTERSSON |
 BROCK BOESER |
|
 BRENDAN LEIPSIC |
 BO HORVAT |
 LOUI ERIKSSON |
|
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL |
 BRANDON SUTTER |
 JAKE VIRTANEN |
|
 TIM SCHALLER |
 ADAM GAUDETTE |
 MARKUS GRANLUND |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 BEN HUTTON |
 ERIK GUDBRANSON |
|
 DERRICK POULIOT |
 TROY STECHER |
|
 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO |
 ALEX BIEGA |
|
Joel Eriksson Ek is out with a lower-body injury for the next week or so. Matt Hendricks is also out with an LBI.
Devan Dubnyk should be the starter.
Wild lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 JASON ZUCKER |
 ERIC STAAL |
 NINO NIEDERREITER |
|
 ZACH PARISE |
 MIKKO KOIVU |
 MIKAEL GRANLUND |
|
 JORDAN GREENWAY |
 CHARLIE COYLE |
 MATT READ |
|
 MARCUS FOLIGNO |
 ERIC FEHR |
 JOEL ERIKSSON EK |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 RYAN SUTER |
 MATHEW DUMBA |
|
 JONAS BRODIN |
 JARED SPURGEON |
|
 NICK SEELER |
 GREG PATERYN |
|
THE INFORMATION YOU NEED AND SOME YOU DON’T
- Brock Boeser hasn’t been electric in his last five games but he hasn’t been invisible either. His 1G/2A in 5GP is sort of alarming but knowing he’s been playing through a groin strain is comforting because he isn’t able to go as hard as he usually does. Utilizing the entire lower body on his shots is a lot of Boeser’s magic. His quick pivot before he opens up a heavy wrister doesn’t just happen. When Boeser is 100%, watch out!
- In three games against Minnesota, Boeser has been held to one goal. That came in his first game for the Canucks and it was also a game winner. There isn’t much to go on versus the Wild until this evening. Brock is ready to strike!
#Canucks lead the Wild 4-0 thanks to 2nd period goals to Boucher (2), Skille and Boeser. ???? pic.twitter.com/2Ws43nSQ81
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 25, 2017
- Since debuting in 2017, the best line combination for Boeser has come with Bo Horvat and Nikolay Goldobin (based on playing at least 50 minutes as a line). He played a grand total of nine games with that group and they had a combined CF% of 56.49. That may change if Green keeps him with Elias Pettersson. The connection with Bo and Goldobin can’t be ignored and if things aren’t clicking that would be an easy line to revert to.
- Zach Parise is among the league-leaders in scoring with 11 points, four points in his last five to boot. Parise is only four points away from 700 career points. Evgeni Malkin had his way with the Canucks, could Parise?
- Erik Gudbranson is quickly becoming the Canucks top liability, both on the payroll and on the ice. Gudbranson is a fighting major away from tying the league-lead in PIM with 30. His penalties never seem to be timed well and a quick look through the hilite reels will prove he’s not doing much before he goes to the box. Olli Juolevi needs to get his game in top form and soon. This can’t go on much longer.
- If Juolevi does get a cup of coffee with the Canucks in the next while, Derrick Pouliot seems like a good choice to sit. In his last few games, Pouliot has been an absolute train wreck and has been the lead reason for a handful of goals. He isn’t the worst defenseman right now, but he’s nowhere near the best.
MY 94 CENTS
Convincing me that tonight’s game will be any different than Saturday’s will be pretty hard. The Wild are rolling right now and the Canucks are barely able to ice a healthy lineup. Jacob Markstrom is going to, yet again, have to have one of his best starts of the season for this to be close. But then there’s Boeser.
He’s struggled to get his game going this season and the groin is still nagging on him but I feel like tonight is a game he’s personally primed for and if he’s going, so is Pettersson.
THE FINAL WORD
Soooo…. Tanev is in, right? pic.twitter.com/ugVb53vF63
— Vanessa Jang (@vanessajang) October 29, 2018
Can the Nuk’s keep the streak alive?
I’d like to see top 2 lines of..
Gold Pete Gaudette
Jv bo brock
I thought Brock looked totally out of sync last game again. Gudbranson doesn’t look good but he looked noticeably better than the start of the season. That said, winning with this blueline is an enormous mountain to climb
Never know with this inconsistent shower but could be another blowout loss at the hands of the Wild. #loseforhughes
“Parise is among the league leaders with 11 pts”…..
Really? He’s 53rd in NHL scoring. Flying fast and loose with the words today eh?
Not a fan of Boeser playing on the Pettersson line. Plays much better with Horvat. All skill but not a grinding line at all. Sucked the last game. Can’t see them doing any better tonight.
I guess it’s lucky for Gudbranson and Hutton, that an NHL coach is writing the lineup and not The writers at CA. Take the high road every once in a while guys.
Depressing read.
Boeser is a Minnesota boy so this is his game to shine.
No kidding, right? The sheeple at CA just can’t help themselves. Gudbranson and Hutton have become the first pairing and have played their guts out, eating up minutes and doing their best. They’ve played well considering the circumstances and the where the team is at… but that doesn’t matter, we’s got to maintain the tired narrative.
Didn’t one of these guys suggest Biega would be a better Dman on the top-pairing than Gudbranson? LMAO. Way to damage any credibility as “anal-lytics” guys.
I have a good feeling about this game. Can’t say the same for the comment section over the last few days.
Boeser playing against his home state team is significant and I’m sure Petey will have a great game tonight too. The Canucks have to score first which they don’t often do and hopefully the officiating for once will be invisible like it should be. Don’t feel bad about this one for some reason.
Nice win! Great to see the nucks shut the cockroaches up.
A real solid game by MarKus Granlund, very good in both ends. He did a great job killing penalties too.
Most Everyone’s favourite whipping boy, Gudbranson, had a very nice game tonight, along with Hutton.
Wow. I think Horvat took damn near every faceoff in the second half of the game. What a beast!! Over 21 minutes of ice time and 36 faceoffs!! He sets the pace of the Canucks game. Let’s hope he doesn’t get injured this season. Good team effort. That Pettersson sure is a good finisher.