THE INTRO

It’s Halloween, so spooky! The Canucks and their ghoulish lineup will take on the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, the team that once gave them nightmares. Vancouver is coming off an impressive win over the Wild two nights ago with the help of super rookie Elias Pettersson. Pettersson is only getting better and better and Chicago would be a great challenge for him this evening.

Patrick Kane of the Hawks is tied for the league lead in goals with 11 and he’s always had success in this building. Maybe don’t sleep on that guy?

Let’s Do This!™

TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP

SNP / SN 650 / 7:00 PM

LINEUPS

Where to begin?

The latest injury to the Canucks Ferris wheel of pain is Brandon Sutter. He suffered a separated shoulder and is out 4-6 weeks, swell! Chris Tanev has now been placed on IR and no one has come out of the infirmary quite yet.

Brendan Gaunce and Darren Archibald have both been recalled. Sam Gagner is not a Canuck anymore, basically what that means.

Jacob Markstrom will once again be in net for the Canucks but Richard Bachman can swoop in on a moments notice.

Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:

LW	C	RW	Forwards
NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN Rating: 70.1#103 LW	ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 75.0#51 C	BROCK BOESER Rating: 80.1#7 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 75.05#27 FL1
TIM SCHALLER Rating: 69.6#122 LW	BO HORVAT Rating: 75.6#44 C	MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 70.4#100 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 71.87#29 FL2
ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 69.8#117 LW	BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 71.5#133 C	LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 71.3#88 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 70.88#26 FL3
TYLER MOTTE Rating: 68.3#132 LW	ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 73.0#83 C	JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 69.9#104 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 70.40#16 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
BEN HUTTON Rating: 70.0#116 LD	ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 68.5#101 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 69.24#31 DL1
DERRICK POULIOT Rating: 70.1#113 LD	TROY STECHER Rating: 71.6#70 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 70.82#29 DL2
MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO Rating: 71.5#84 LD	ALEX BIEGA Rating: 69.8#96 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 70.66#22 DL3

Connor Murphy is out with back surgery so we’re definitely not seeing him tonight. Marcus Kruger was not in the main mix at practice and will most likely be healthy scratched as will Andreas Martinsen.

Corey Crawford should get the start in net.

Blackhawks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:

LW	C	RW	Forwards
ALEX DEBRINCAT Rating: 79.4#10 LW	JONATHAN TOEWS Rating: 78.0#28 C	DOMINIK KAHUN Rating: 73.4#56 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 76.94#20 FL1
BRANDON SAAD Rating: 74.4#42 LW	ARTEM ANISIMOV Rating: 71.9#126 C	PATRICK KANE Rating: 81.5#2 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 75.94#7 FL2
ALEXANDRE FORTIN Rating: 74.4#43 LW	LUKE JOHNSON Rating: 73.1#81 C	NICK SCHMALTZ Rating: 73.3#58 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 73.61#3 FL3
DAVID KAMPF Rating: 71.0#95 LW	MARCUS KRUGER Rating: 69.4#174 C	JOHN HAYDEN Rating: 68.6#117 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 69.65#26 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
DUNCAN KEITH Rating: 73.6#40 LD	HENRI JOKIHARJU Rating: 72.9#43 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 73.27#26 DL1
ERIK GUSTAFSSON Rating: 74.7#26 LD	BRENT SEABROOK Rating: 73.2#40 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 73.95#16 DL2
BRANDON MANNING Rating: 70.7#101 LD	BRANDON DAVIDSON Rating: 69.7#97 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 70.22#27 DL3

INFORMATION YOU NEED AND SOME YOU DON’T

• It’s no secret the Canucks have given up a ton of penalties to start the season, 52 in fact. They’ve killed off 84.6% of them which puts them in the top-10 in the league. Chicago hasn’t been as feisty as they’ve only been shorthanded 37 times so far. When they’re a man down, Brandon Saad hasn’t accepted that he should just try and kill off the penalty, he tries to score. Saad’s five shorthanded shots are good for third in the league.
• Knowing the Canucks, if Saad is pressing or Derrick Pouliot gets dicey with the puck, I don’t like the Canucks chances if he’s moving in. He has one shorthanded goal on those five shots.
• Troy Stecher is quietly becoming the Canucks goto defenseman. He can be used in any situation and sticking with the PK, his small stature hasn’t limited him when trying to steer the puck away. Stecher has five hits while shorthanded and he’ll have to do more of that now that he’s going to see increased minutes. It might be wise to invest in some good shinguards as well because he’ll need to take over blocking duties now that Alex Edler is on the shelf.
• Edler has blocked 13 shots on the PK so far this season. We always say, what would this team look like without him? We may be about to find out.
• Of all games, tonight might be the one the Canucks can show they can be an aggressive team and get away with it. Chicago is tied for the worst PP% in the league with a paltry 12.2% effective rate. It isn’t smart to play with fire, especially against the Blackhawks but at this point, the odds are in the Canucks’ favour. Take a chance.
• Vancouver might lose the Corsi battle most evenings but in the W column, it doesn’t seem to matter right now. The Canucks are tied with the Islanders (wait, what?) for six wins when being outshot in a game. It should also be pointed out the Canucks have seven wins total.
• In the same breath, Vancouver also has six losses when being outshot. Take the good with the bad.

MY 94 CENTS

I’m not here to tell you the Canucks can beat the Blackhawks because they obviously can. With all the injuries piling on there has to be a breaking point and Chicago is just too good to let a band-aid team take them to the woodshed. Pettersson has been excellent thus far and I hope he’s able to replicate even one of those fantastic goals but the age-old question “is it sustainable?” has to be asked at some point and the Canucks are hanging on to solid efforts that have to wear off soon.

I can see this being a goal-fest as Corey Crawford isn’t quite back to his ways yet and Jacob Markstrom has been getting suspect defense in front of him.

Going for the win on this one but it will take a lot.

THE FINAL WORD

And I'm done! Happy Halloween #Canucks fans! It's #DekeyPete! Cc @Canucks pic.twitter.com/QwM6QSQnIk

— Bruce Ng (@transcendwebs) October 31, 2018

My EA Sports one isn’t as good all of a sudden.