Canucks Army Game Day 18 – Canucks @ Sabres (Reloading Edition)
By Always90four
5 years agoTHE INTRO
Maybe you’re a coffee person and that cup of caffeine gets you through the first part of your day, maybe you have a protein shake with all those special super-food ingredients and you get high on life first thing in the morning, or maybe… maybe you’ve been awake since 7:00 am this morning because the thought of the Canucks even possibly mirroring their output against Boston two nights ago is all the caffeine you’re going to need for the day.
Today, the Canucks take on the Sabres in a local matinee in Buffalo. There’s plenty to be excited about that doesn’t include the words Eli… let’s try and get through a sentence without having to include his name. Rasmus Dahlin will face the Canucks for the first time and we’ll all get to see what it will be like to have a superstar defenseman running things on the back end.
Both teams have lit the lamp a fair amount this season so don’t count out a 9-8 final today.
Let’s Do This!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 10:00 AM (Adjust your clocks accordingly)
LINEUPS
The Canucks continue to see their lineup get depleted as Brock Boeser has been put on the IR with his groin issue. It’s for the best really, a lifetime of Boeser can afford a handful of games to rehab the core of his amazing laser beam of a shot. Still no Brandon Sutter, no Alex Edler, etc.
Jacob Markstrom in all his glory will start this morning.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 69.4#121 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 75.2#48 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.6#90 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 72.10#31 FL1 |
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN Rating: 71.3#100 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 76.5#41 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 71.6#89 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 73.14#24 FL2 |
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 71.6#85 LW |  MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 71.7#118 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 68.7#126 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 70.68#26 FL3 |
 DARREN ARCHIBALD Rating: 71.1#94 LW |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 72.7#95 C |  BRENDAN LEIPSIC Rating: 71.0#96 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.61#11 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 CHRIS TANEV Rating: 71.1#75 LD |  DERRICK POULIOT Rating: 71.1#77 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 71.10#29 DL1 |
 BEN HUTTON Rating: 70.6#102 LD |  ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 69.4#94 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 70.00#30 DL2 |
 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO Rating: 71.6#83 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 71.6#67 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.62#24 DL3 |
Well, Jack Eichel is a pretty fantastic hockey player and in case you’re wondering about injuries or lineup questions in this section, here’s a little clip of other teams getting injured by this guy’s moves:
Linus Ullmark should see the start again after a strong performance against the Canadiens on Thursday.
Sabres lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 JEFF SKINNER Rating: 80.1#10 LW |  JACK EICHEL Rating: 81.2#13 C |  JASON POMINVILLE Rating: 76.6#22 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 79.30#10 FL1 |
 CONOR SHEARY Rating: 72.5#71 LW |  CASEY MITTELSTADT Rating: 72.4#101 C |  KYLE OKPOSO Rating: 72.0#80 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 72.31#29 FL2 |
 VLADIMIR SOBOTKA Rating: 68.7#174 LW |  EVAN RODRIGUES Rating: 71.3#99 C |  SAM REINHART Rating: 75.0#32 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.65#22 FL3 |
 PATRIK BERGLUND Rating: 75.0#49 LW |  JOHAN LARSSON Rating: 68.4#133 C |  TAGE THOMPSON Rating: 69.8#114 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.06#14 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 JAKE MCCABE Rating: 72.7#57 LD |  RASMUS RISTOLAINEN Rating: 75.4#24 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 74.07#19 DL1 |
 ZACH BOGOSIAN Rating: 70.4#108 LD |  MARCO SCANDELLA Rating: 72.5#63 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 71.45#24 DL2 |
 RASMUS DAHLIN Rating: 72.9#54 LD |  NATHAN BEAULIEU Rating: 70.6#89 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.72#21 DL3 |
THE INFORMATION YOU NEED AND DEFINITELY SOME YOU DON’T
- If you like goals and you like ’em on the regular, today’s game is for you hockey fans! The Canucks boast a 3.29 GF/GP so far while the Sabres are putting up slightly less per game with 3.06. On the flip side, both teams have almost mirrored each other in the goals against category with the Canucks allowing 3.35 per game and the Sabres at 3.06 (that’s consistency!) Buckle up for a long one today.
- A season ago, the Canucks had Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, and Sven Baertschi leading the team in points after 17 games. Derek Dorsett was in the middle of his final push before his career was forced to end as he led the Canucks with seven goals. This season, Pettersson is doing the heavy lifting but Bo Horvat and Jake Virtanen have been the charge behind the goal scoring. The depth scoring has become a force as well with Loui Eriksson tallying six points in his last three games which no one saw coming, well mostly no one. It’s a weird one alright.
- Road production for the Canucks has been all over the place this season, but it’s not a bad thing. Bo Horvat has taken his game to another level on the road, eight of his nine goals have all come on the road. He’s a beast and we all have seen him step up, but the stuff scribes will etch into stone years from now is that Ben Hutton and Erik Gudbranson have accounted for all the defensive goals on the road this year. In fact, Troy Stecher and Derrick Pouliot have the only other goals on the back end for Vancouver this year, home or away. OK, the whole etched in stone thing was a stretch, but Gudbranson and Hutton, that’s happening.
- The Canucks have faced a backup goalie (or the traditional second option viewed by outside markets) seven times this season. In that time, they’ve scored an average of 3.28 goals-per-game. That falls right in line with the starters as well referring to the GF/GP above. Basically, starter or backup, Canucks got this.
- Ben Hutton has owned the last five games. His 3G / 2A has him at a point-per-game but he’s putting them in by the multiple as he’s been held off the scoresheet once in that time. He’s one goal off his career high, he’s already tied his point total from a season ago and he looks responsible. The Canucks came back with the same defense this season, on paper. This is a different team.
MY 94 CENTS
Alright, most of you have seen how optimistic I’ve been over the years and at this point, I should be gushing about how awesome this team is and how they’re the new Vegas Golden Knights minus the expansion luck, the five goalies, and William Karlsson. What the Canucks are doing right now has been done before which is why I’m still very skeptical but then again, I think most of Canucks nation hasn’t slurped all the kool-aid quite yet.
The emergence of the bottom-six and even the rise of Jake Virtanen has given Elias Pettersson more time and space to do his thing. The Canucks are picking up steam and November has been their month for a while now.
But it’s an early game so that all might mean jack squat.
THE FINAL WORD
Without comment.
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