THE INTRO
One team is coming off a meeting with a man who has made some very questionable decisions with his personnel, the other made a trip to the White House on Tuesday.
Tonight, the Canucks take on the Blues in St. Louis. Vancouver has been on quite the little run since their home-opener and they’ve scored enough goals to silence even some of the harshest critics. The Blues weren’t a fluke last season and the Canucks will need a dedicated 60-minute game tonight to make this interesting.
If Thatcher Demko has his way, this game will be low-scoring. Jordan Binnington’s already proven he can keep pucks out.
Let’s Do This!™
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds for tonight’s game are: (VAN +160 / STL -180) courtesy of OddsShark.com
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SN1 / SN650 / 5:00 PM
LINEUPS
Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser have benefited from being on “The Incubator Line” and tonight they’ll get to show off against the 2019 Calder Trophy runner-up. He’s good, he won Stanley’s Cup.
Micheal Ferland needs to get his hockey together. He hasn’t been more than a courteous door-opener for the first few games this season and yes, we know he got sick and it may take some time for him to get back to normal. Loui Eriksson, suffice it to say, is becoming an option that doesn’t seem terrible. Yup, we’re already there.
Is Adam Gaudette back in? His hockey abilities are aligning more with the Canucks than he of the Ferland variety.
Thatcher Demko will get yet another start as Jacob Markstrom is away from the team until the weekend.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
LWCRWForwards

J.T. MILLER
Rating: 74.5#38 LW

ELIAS PETTERSSON
Rating: 76.3#29 C

BROCK BOESER
Rating: 76.0#18 RW
FL1 Rating
Rating: 75.59#22 FL1

MICHEAL FERLAND
Rating: 72.3#75 LW

BO HORVAT
Rating: 75.1#41 C

TANNER PEARSON
Rating: 73.3#49 RW
FL2 Rating
Rating: 73.55#15 FL2

JOSH LEIVO
Rating: 72.0#85 LW

BRANDON SUTTER
Rating: 72.2#103 C

JAKE VIRTANEN
Rating: 70.8#87 RW
FL3 Rating
Rating: 71.67#20 FL3

TIM SCHALLER
Rating: 69.8#134 LW

JAY BEAGLE
Rating: 68.7#180 C

TYLER MOTTE
Rating: 69.4#172 RW
FL4 Rating
Rating: 69.29#31 FL4
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGSDefense

ALEXANDER EDLER
Rating: 76.5#9 LD

TYLER MYERS
Rating: 73.8#36 RD
DL1 Rating
Rating: 75.15#13 DL1

JORDIE BENN
Rating: 72.3#82 LD

TROY STECHER
Rating: 72.7#61 RD
DL2 Rating
Rating: 72.50#27 DL2

QUINN HUGHES
Rating: 74.6#30 LD

CHRIS TANEV
Rating: 72.8#60 RD
DL3 Rating
Rating: 73.66#6 DL3
Robert Bortuzzo was the extra man in practice so he probably just watches his team get dismantled tonight. The Blues lost a close one to the Islanders a few nights ago and will want to hold court on home ice. This Blues team is pretty talented so the Canucks will have to keep the mistakes to a minimum to have a chance.
Jordan Binnington should be the goalie on record this evening.
Blues lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
LWCRWForwards

JADEN SCHWARTZ
Rating: 76.2#21 LW

BRAYDEN SCHENN
Rating: 74.9#43 C

VLADIMIR TARASENKO
Rating: 78.9#5 RW
FL1 Rating
Rating: 76.68#15 FL1

SAMMY BLAIS
Rating: 72.7#69 LW

RYAN O’REILLY
Rating: 77.3#20 C

DAVID PERRON
Rating: 75.9#23 RW
FL2 Rating
Rating: 75.32#7 FL2

ROBBY FABBRI
Rating: 70.1#126 LW

TYLER BOZAK
Rating: 73.0#84 C

ALEX STEEN
Rating: 71.3#104 RW
FL3 Rating
Rating: 71.48#24 FL3

MACKENZIE MACEACHERN
Rating: 71.3#102 LW

IVAN BARBASHEV
Rating: 71.4#130 C

OSKAR SUNDQVIST
Rating: 71.9#112 RW
FL4 Rating
Rating: 71.57#11 FL4
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGSDefense

CARL GUNNARSSON
Rating: 73.0#70 LD

ALEX PIETRANGELO
Rating: 78.6#5 RD
DL1 Rating
Rating: 75.76#11 DL1

JAY BOUWMEESTER
Rating: 73.2#59 LD

COLTON PARAYKO
Rating: 76.3#18 RD
DL2 Rating
Rating: 74.72#10 DL2

VINCE DUNN
Rating: 75.3#20 LD

JUSTIN FAULK
Rating: 76.6#15 RD
DL3 Rating
Rating: 75.94#1 DL3
GAME NOTES AND A STAT OR TWO
  • Alex Edler’s ice time hasn’t diminished but he’s hung around the league-leaders on defense for points and he’s one goal off the league-lead. The addition of Tyler Myers, Jordie Benn, and Quinn Hughes have helped balance the team’s defense corps and Edler isn’t being relied upon to have all the answers, yet, he does.
  • Going into tonight’s game, the Blues have given up more goals to centers (8) than any other position. Left-wingers come in a close second with (7). Might it be another big night for Pettersson and Miller? Micheal Ferland could use some love, he’s due.
  • St. Louis has also given up nine multi-point games: one three-pointer and eight two-point outings. The Eastern Conference has done well against the Blues so now it’s time for the West to get in on the fun.
  • The Canucks haven’t played the most games yet but they have allowed the fourth-fewest goals (11) to start the season. It would take a windfall of goals-against to get even remotely close to the the top-10 allowed (22).
  • Bo Horvat has one assist through five games. This is not a statistic we’re used to. This needs to change.
#CANUCKSTWITTER
Start paying attention to this name:
As everyone knows, the Canucks usually only have one of three things going for them ever: Scoring, defense, goaltending. This makes me think:
MY 94 CENTS
It’s an early start so I’m not sure how the Canucks will adjust but they’ve been playing solid team-first hockey in their three victories. The defense is taking care of business and Thatcher Demko was chomping at the bit to prove his worth as a number one. The Canucks tend to play up to their competition so tonight should be a fun one.
A Boeser goal would be nice. A noticeable Ferland shift would be too!
AND ANOTHER THING…
NHL forward does well in AHL