THE INTRO
Happy Lunar New Year!
Tonight, the Canucks take on the Sharks in a very important Western Conference tilt… for the Canucks at least. San Jose has been pretty stingy against the Canucks since 2017 but Vancouver does have wins in two of their last three meetings with the Sharks. This game has a lot to talk about from the surging Jake Virtanen to Bo Horvat to Loui Eriksson’s dominance.
This is also the final game before the Canucks bye week and eventually the 2020 NHL All-Star Game. Expect the Canucks to do something tonight that has the league talking after this one.
Let’s Do This!™
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds for tonight’s game: (VAN -160/ SJS +140) courtesy of OddsShark.com
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
CBC / SN 650 / 7:00 PM
LINEUPS
Brandon Sutter made a surprising return which sent Tim Schaller to the press box along with Zack MacEwen. It’s unlikely Tyler Motte sits so “The Big Fella” will probably be scarfing popcorn again this evening.
Is it even possible that Thatcher Demko gets the last start before the bye? Markstrom is going to the ASG so giving him a true week-long rest would be a smart move and would give Demko a worthy opponent to try and earn a big win off of. Travis Green obviously has a plan but they need to get Thatcher in there soon.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
LWCRWForwards

TANNER PEARSON
Rating: 73.9#39 LW

BO HORVAT
Rating: 77.1#21 C

LOUI ERIKSSON
Rating: 70.1#110 RW
FL1 Rating
Rating: 73.67#26 FL1

J.T. MILLER
Rating: 76.3#27 LW

ELIAS PETTERSSON
Rating: 78.8#13 C

JAKE VIRTANEN
Rating: 71.4#81 RW
FL2 Rating
Rating: 75.50#7 FL2

ANTOINE ROUSSEL
Rating: 70.5#120 LW

ADAM GAUDETTE
Rating: 69.8#165 C

BROCK BOESER
Rating: 76.5#12 RW
FL3 Rating
Rating: 72.25#12 FL3

TYLER MOTTE
Rating: 69.9#126 LW

JAY BEAGLE
Rating: 67.8#185 C

BRANDON SUTTER
Rating: 70.8#140 RW
FL4 Rating
Rating: 69.48#27 FL4
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGSDefense

ALEXANDER EDLER
Rating: 75.0#16 LD

TROY STECHER
Rating: 72.2#65 RD
DL1 Rating
Rating: 73.60#18 DL1

QUINN HUGHES
Rating: 74.9#18 LD

CHRIS TANEV
Rating: 71.5#77 RD
DL2 Rating
Rating: 73.17#21 DL2

OSCAR FANTENBERG
Rating: 70.5#107 LD

TYLER MYERS
Rating: 73.3#35 RD
DL3 Rating
Rating: 71.93#17 DL3
Dalton Prout is still out with a UBI. Logan Couture is out until February with a fractured ankle. That can’t be good.
San Jose hasn’t tipped their hand as to who the starter will be but if I had to guess, it’s Aaron Dell.
Sharks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
LWCRWForwards

EVANDER KANE
Rating: 76.0#20 LW

TOMAS HERTL
Rating: 78.6#15 C

KEVIN LABANC
Rating: 74.2#38 RW
FL1 Rating
Rating: 76.27#10 FL1

PATRICK MARLEAU
Rating: 71.5#92 LW

ANTTI SUOMELA
Rating: 71.5#111 C

TIMO MEIER
Rating: 76.1#16 RW
FL2 Rating
Rating: 73.02#25 FL2

BARCLAY GOODROW
Rating: 71.2#100 LW

JOE THORNTON
Rating: 71.5#112 C

MARCUS SORENSEN
Rating: 69.8#114 RW
FL3 Rating
Rating: 70.83#25 FL3

MELKER KARLSSON
Rating: 68.8#123 LW

JOEL KELLMAN
Rating: 72.5#89 C

STEFAN NOESEN
Rating: 69.2#122 RW
FL4 Rating
Rating: 70.20#23 FL4
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGSDefense

BRENDEN DILLON
Rating: 71.3#93 LD

BRENT BURNS
Rating: 76.8#10 RD
DL1 Rating
Rating: 74.07#15 DL1

MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC
Rating: 72.4#66 LD

ERIK KARLSSON
Rating: 77.1#7 RD
DL2 Rating
Rating: 74.77#3 DL2

RADIM SIMEK
Rating: 71.4#91 LD

MARIO FERRARO
Rating: 70.8#92 RD
DL3 Rating
Rating: 71.12#27 DL3
GAME NOTES AND A STAT OR TWO
  • Bo Horvat may have found a home with Tanner Pearson and Loui Eriksson and his last five games have been electric. Bo has crushed it with four goals in his last five and his merry men each have a goal as well in that time. Horvat is one goal back of the franchise leader Daniel Sedin since 2015 against the Sharks. Daniel has six goals while Bo sits at five. Expect the Captain to put at least one in tonight to get the tie.
  • Jake Virtanen and Brock Boeser are the next two highest-scoring Canucks against the Sharks in that same time frame with seven points apiece. Virtanen feels like he’s been producing lately but his two goals have come in the last four games and then that’s it; his last point before that was an assist at the beginning of January.
  • The Lotto line still leads the Canucks in Corsi with all three guys above 53%. Add Quinn Hughes to that as well (because obviously) but the guys that are getting eaten alive reside on the fourth line. Jay Beagle  (37.34) and Tim Schaller (39.46) are the low men on the pole and they’ve been asked to play a severe defensive role but c’man, that’s just awful. Loui Eriksson has even found a way to be resourceful so the “checking line” needs to reevaluate.
  • It’s Lunar New Year night at Rogers Arena and this beauty will grace the warm-ups and all I can say is “hook these into my veins”. It’s a shame the NHL doesn’t allow special jerseys like this for a game. EA Sports lets you do whatever you want. Step up NHL!
  • Speaking of Loui Eriksson, well we were a little while ago, he’s sporting a healthy 51.84 xGF% at this point in the year. It’s kind of crazy that he’s also .993 in the PDO section of the newspaper. That’s always a funny stat and you shouldn’t put any weight on it but if he is supposed to get back to 100, there’s a BETTER Loui than we’ve seen so far. How much better could he be? Sign me up.
#CANUCKSTWITTER
That’s a lot of goals:
More Comets below, things are happening down there:
MY 94 CENTS
The Canucks and Sharks history is interesting. You never really know what you’ll get with these two. San Jose got dummied against the Avalanche a few nights ago and they’ll want blood tonight. Vancouver is coming off a win that has people talking and two points would put the Canucks at the top of the Pacific.
It won’t matter a whole lot who’s in net for the Sharks because the Canucks have only won two of their last 11 against the Bay area team. #bonusstat
AND ANOTHER THING…
Well, the Sharks will be ready to win tonight: