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 |
 ELIAS PETTERSSON |
 BROCK BOESER |
|
 TIM SCHALLER |
 BO HORVAT |
 MARKUS GRANLUND |
|
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL |
 BRANDON SUTTER |
 LOUI ERIKSSON |
|
 TYLER MOTTE |
 ADAM GAUDETTE |
 JAKE VIRTANEN |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 BEN HUTTON |
 ERIK GUDBRANSON |
|
 DERRICK POULIOT |
 TROY STECHER |
|
 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO |
 ALEX BIEGA |
|
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 |
 JONATHAN TOEWS |
 DOMINIK KAHUN |
|
 BRANDON SAAD |
 ARTEM ANISIMOV |
 PATRICK KANE |
|
 ALEXANDRE FORTIN |
 LUKE JOHNSON |
 NICK SCHMALTZ |
|
 DAVID KAMPF |
 MARCUS KRUGER |
 JOHN HAYDEN |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 DUNCAN KEITH |
 HENRI JOKIHARJU |
|
 ERIK GUSTAFSSON |
 BRENT SEABROOK |
|
 BRANDON MANNING |
 BRANDON DAVIDSON |
|
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.
Tonight’s match up against the ‘Hawks see a Chicago team surprisingly not as ancient as you’d think and are trying to rebuild too. The same old suspects are in their line up (#88, #19, #7, #2) but don’t be fooled into thinking they’re a bad team. If Vancouver continues to play with the same jump that they have been they should do alright. Happy Hallowe’en.
A few things:
Some context is necessary: in their victories, Vancouver was outshot as a result of the last period and protecting leads. When they get the lead, the are usually even, or way ahead int he shot totals. Is this not the definition of score-effect?
Edler has not played for the last three games. We have been “finding out” since the first period in Vegas.
What is up with Always94 and his pre/post game recaps? Guy is braindead ffs does he even watch the games?
Should Travis Green try Schaller with Pattersson?
I would prefer a big body as opposed to Goldobin; Virtanen, Archibald, or (my hope eventually) MacEwen.
It’s a pretty soft line that’s for sure. They need someone to get into the dirty areas on that line. Those three are all perimeter players. Maybe it’s because of the injuries. I would rather see Pettersson, Goldy and Eriksson on one line and Horvat, Boeser and Granlund on another line. Perhaps with the injuries the Horvat line is now the shutdown line.
Mac man is ripping it up it Utica and seems determined to start pushing the Canucks he may be the next call up when the next ( injury) occurs which seems inevitable
“no one has come out of the infirmary quite yet.”
I’m impressed Pettersson was able to score two goals from the infirmary last game.
“is it sustainable?”
Are you suggesting that Pettersson might not be able to maintain a 44% shooting percentage? So much negativity on this site.
Sutter is still listed as 3rd centre.
Ignore the stuff from Daily FaceOff. I just scroll right past it. It is *always* wrong.
Nice to see the stinky Gaunce man get the winning goal tonight and Markstrom starting to look like he is determined to prove he is ready to take over the #1 spot. I am liking the look of this team when the top players don’t factor into the outcome of the game and the unsung heroes factor into the outcome.of the game