THE INTRO
The Canucks are back at it today to take on the St. Louis Blues in a true matinee. Vancouver is riding high after a convincing win against one of the top teams in the Western Conference, the Predators. They’ll look to bring that same effort into today’s matchup against a Blues team that is convincingly worse in the standings than the Canucks themselves.
St. Louis managed to beat the Winnipeg Jets in their last game 1-0 so a two-game win streak is on the line for both teams. Will disappointment be shared with everyone or will the Canucks give their fans an early Christmas gift in the win column?
Let’s Do This!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 12:00 PM
LINEUPS
Travis Green ran the same lineup in practice as he did in Thursday night’s game so don’t expect any changes. Sven Baertschi has been skating and could join the team in Columbus, news everyone can get excited for.
Jacob Markstrom should get the start again today. He had one of his best games of the season against Nashville and aside from a predictable Canucks breakdown in the 3rd, he was impressive.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN Rating: 70.5#116 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 75.9#38 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 70.7#92 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 72.37#31 FL1 |
 JOSH LEIVO Rating: 73.1#58 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 75.5#42 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 81.6#4 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.74#5 FL2 |
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 70.5#113 LW |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 71.7#120 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 71.2#102 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.12#21 FL3 |
 MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 70.6#110 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 67.6#187 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 69.7#101 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 69.31#25 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 74.5#29 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 70.5#87 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 72.50#25 DL1 |
 BEN HUTTON Rating: 70.3#110 LD |  ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 68.4#107 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 69.34#31 DL2 |
 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO Rating: 71.7#82 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 71.7#62 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.72#17 DL3 |
Jaden Schwartz (upper body) will be sidelined yet again for today’s game, Carl Gunnarsson is on IR with, yep, you guessed it, an upper-body injury. Alex Pietrangelo will require surgery on his hand and has also been placed on IR. These injuries feel like a floating bye week for every team in the NHL. Good to see the Canucks are almost out of the woods.
Jake Allen will get the start today.
Blues lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ZACH SANFORD Rating: 72.1#84 LW |  RYAN O’REILLY Rating: 80.7#15 C |  DAVID PERRON Rating: 72.5#74 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 75.08#25 FL1 |
 ALEX STEEN Rating: 74.4#46 LW |  BRAYDEN SCHENN Rating: 75.9#39 C |  VLADIMIR TARASENKO Rating: 80.4#8 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.88#4 FL2 |
 PATRICK MAROON Rating: 72.8#65 LW |  TYLER BOZAK Rating: 72.0#111 C |  ROBERT THOMAS Rating: 72.3#65 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.38#9 FL3 |
 JORDAN NOLAN Rating: 68.3#141 LW |  IVAN BARBASHEV Rating: 70.5#115 C |  OSKAR SUNDQVIST Rating: 69.4#107 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 69.39#24 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 JOEL EDMUNDSON Rating: 72.4#58 LD |  COLTON PARAYKO Rating: 75.7#25 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 74.06#21 DL1 |
 VINCE DUNN Rating: 73.0#48 LD |  CHRIS BUTLER Rating: 73.0#39 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.98#17 DL2 |
 JAY BOUWMEESTER Rating: 69.4#121 LD |  ROBERT BORTUZZO Rating: 71.3#73 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 70.32#26 DL3 |
THE INFORMATION YOU NEED
- Vancouver is currently in the middle of a five-game losing streak against the Blues but today’s game looks like a prime opportunity to smash that streak. These two teams have always shared the odd barn-burner and today could be the latest addition to their series.
- Bo Horvat is well on his way to another career season after putting up another two points in his last game. Horvat is on pace for 71 points this season which would eclipse his largest total by just under 20 points set two seasons ago. With Jay Beagle returning to the lineup, Bo can reduce his minutes which in turn will give him more opportunity to surge later in the game.
- Elias Pettersson seems to find new ways to astonish Canucks fans this season and after his first-ever penalty shot converted into highlight reel goal, there may not be much more that can push the needle. Pettersson currently leads all rookies with 14 goals, five more than Mathieu Joseph of Tampa, and 25 points which is seven above the next closest rookie, Colin White of Ottawa. His game continues to be elevated when he feels he hasn’t pushed hard enough. Pettersson could end up being one of the greatest Canucks of all time.
- There is a long list of players since the start of the 2010 season that has scored for the Canucks against the Blues. Bo Horvat is a goal away from beating out sniper Mike Santorelli to get into a tie with Kevin Bieksa, Nick Bonino, and Brandon Sutter with four goals. Brock Boeser is deadlocked with many current and former Canucks, namely Ronalds Kenins (both of them), Mason Raymond, and Linden Vey, at two goals apiece. This game could make history.
- The Blues are among the NHL’s elite on special teams (PP: 23.9% / PK 83.9%) while the Canucks are still looking to find themselves in that area. Vancouver tilted the scales last game, might they break it today?
MY 94 CENTS
I am jacked for this game today! Everyone that needed to step their game up last game hit the score sheet, even Loui! There are no excuses for the Canucks to lose today. They showed us all that they can beat the best and be disciplined at the same time. Vancouver’s power-play needs a boost and I think Brock Boeser gets his groove back for at least a goal on the man-advantage.
THE FINAL WORD
ever since all that #Canucks should chase Bobrovsky talk started. Look what you've done… pic.twitter.com/imeJt8Mqf4
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) December 9, 2018
Markstrom and Nilsson have been good at just the right time for this storm to blow over. Reality should be back soon.
