Breaking down potential Canucks line combinations for game two against the Wild

The Vancouver Canucks need to make a change if they want to win their play-in series against the Minnesota Wild.

In a best of five series, the first game is so important. The Canucks were unable to score a goal in their debut and when that happens and your team has so much winger depth, a change should be made.

I decided to go to Twitter and ask for some potential line combinations.

People love giving line combinations so my replies did not disappoint.

Let’s get into it.

The first thing the Canucks need to do is reassemble The Lotto Line. The co-founder of the nickname has a pretty solid lineup here.

Jacob flopped Brock Boeser and Tyler Toffoli. This is a smart move. The Lotto Line was one of the best in the NHL this season. The chemistry between Boeser and Pettersson is something special. Boeser also looked like one of the best Canuck players on Sunday night in game one. The Miller-Pettersson pairing was actually better defensively when Boeser was alongside them.

Though the pairing of Miller and Pettersson allowed fewer goals per 60 minutes they also got much better goaltending when Boeser was absent from their line. Seeing the on-ice save percentage drop from 0.939% to 0.917% when Boeser was skating with the Canucks’ dynamic top scoring duo.

Unfortunately, a 0.939 save percentage just isn’t sustainable. There is a larger sample size of The Lotto Line together and they should be the first scoring line for the Canucks in these playoffs. The Lotto Line had a +15 goal differential at 5-on-5 (30GF-15GA) this season.

They should be back together ASAP.

Jacob has Jake Virtanen back in the lineup. He would be playing with Tyler Motte and Adam Gaudette on the third line.

The third line was statistically the worst line for the Canucks at 5-on-5 in game one. They need a change to be effective. I wouldn’t go as far as moving Tyler Motte up to that line, as I think Micheal Ferland makes more sense alongside Gaudette and Virtanen.

Ferland wanted to make a statement early on in this series and he did when he dropped the gloves against the Wild’s heavyweight brawler Marcus Foligno. If you missed the fight, it is here on HockeyFights.com.

The fourth line that Jacob went with is Zack MacEwen, Jay Beagle and Micheal Ferland. This fourth line has three big bodies and two of them like to bang around those bodies. Jay Beagle simply needs to be in the lineup for penalty killing reasons and overall I thought he played a pretty decent game against the Wild, for Beagle’s standards that is.

Overall Grade of Lines: B-

The changes have taken out Brandon Sutter and Antoine Roussel. Those are two potential penalty killers for the Canucks and that forces Beagle, Motte, Miller and Tanner Pearson to be the only four forwards who kill penalties for the Canucks.

I like the idea of bringing Virtanen to the third line, it makes that line look different and that is needed for game two. I think you should only bring in one of MacEwen or Virtanen because you don’t want to only have four players who can kill penalties in your lineup.

For some of the reasons I mentioned in Jacob’s combinations, I really like what Ryan has put together here.

The top six is what I would like to see. The third line is also what I would like to see. Ferland at LW and Virtanen at RW though, but I’m nitpicking here.

I’ve been saying for weeks that with the way that the Canucks roster is constructed, the fourth line needs to feature three penalty killers. In Ryan’s lineup you would likely see Beagle and Motte together while Sutter and Pearson would link up to kill penalties. This means that Miller would get a much needed break and even though he only played 18:34 in game one, having him as a penalty killer, power play player and on the most used 5-on-5 line will wear him down as the playoffs go on.

Overall Grade of Lines: A

I like the top nine a lot, the fourth line has three penalty killers on it and overall the addition of Virtanen to the lineup could help the second powerplay unit as Virtanen was very good with that group this season.

Here’s a small example of the Canucks’ leaders in per 60 powerplay statistics:

We should see Virtanen play in game two. The Canucks will hopefully get a call or two and be on the powerplay quicker than 55 minutes into the game like they were in game one.

As many replies were, Dan has the top six looking good in my eyes.

He has moved MacEwen and Virtanen into the lineup and right on the third line. We saw Virtanen and Gaudette play over 250 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time together this season so that makes sense. MacEwen played under two minutes with Virtanen this season as both of these wingers were used exclusively as right wingers.

MacEwen and Gaudette as a pairing is something that worked this season. They looked good in their limited ice time this season. The line would be hungry as both wingers were healthy scratches in game one.

The fourth line of Motte-Beagle-Ferland has potential to be a hell of a lot to handle on the forecheck and would likely be pretty safe in their own zone.

Overall Grade of Lines: B+

This lineup is back to only four penalty killers and puts the pressure back on Miller. I like the way the lines feel though. The only question I have is if MacEwen is ready for playoff hockey. The Canucks young players took a real punch in the mouth but MacEwen seems like the kind of guy who can take a punch and throw one back.

Jimbo in net is bold when you have Edler as a healthy scratch.

Juolevi has forward experience from camp so that could work.

Aquilini is in Edmonton and he’s rumoured to be the emergency backup goalie.

Overall Grade of Lines: This is a joke.

Well I wasn’t sure if anyone was going to reply with my perfect lineup for game two.

Then @BigEz_17 came through, kicked the front door in and made me a perfect grilled cheese sandwich.

What a guy.

This is my ideal lineup for game two. The top six is how I would like to see it. The third line is changed for the good. The fourth line has three penalty killers and features two wingers who can cause turnovers while they forecheck.

Having Sutter out of the lineup does mean that you would have to use Miller as a penalty killing centre. But I think he could still be the fifth penalty killer in this lineup.

When killing penalties you can throw out Beagle-Motte to start and then follow that up with Roussel-Pearson.

You may think that your second penalty killing unit needs a centre but it really doesn’t. You can’t get caught out on the ice because there are no icings.

I’m still looking for clarification on the rule of a goaltender covering a puck on a dump in from beyond centre and if a player unintentionally dislodges his own net. I am not sure if it applies when a team is on the penalty kill. These are both very rare situations and I wouldn’t worry about it now though.

Miller could hop in if one of those four penalty killers takes a penalty, Beagle is too tired for a draw (he’s in incredible shape) or if they need Miller for a 5-on-3.

Overall Grade of Lines: A+

Nothing to say, I love these lines for the Canucks.

These are just a few options for lines against the Wild for game two.

What would your lines be?

Who comes in and who comes out or would you be happy with what the Canucks did in game one?