Canucks Army Game Day 20 – Canucks @ Islanders (Oh! and ’82 Edition)
By Always90four
5 years agoTHE INTRO
Erase and rewind as the Canucks move on to face the Islanders at the Barclays Center this evening. Losing a tight battle to the Rangers one night ago will still be fresh on the Canucks minds but the Islanders are waiting to complete the New York sweep of the West Coast team. Both Vancouver and New York are in the middle of losing streaks but it’s the Canucks who have seen their streak continue longer at three games to two.
It won’t be a rematch of the Calder trophy candidates from a season ago as Brock Boeser is week-to-week recovering from his groin injury. Mat Barzal, Anders Lee and Josh Bailey are all within striking distance of the scoring leaders so this won’t be a cupcake matchup. Hopefully, the Canucks will get a bit of their own puck luck that has bitten them a few times on the trip thus far. Clanging pucks off the post are getting annoying and it’s only a matter of time before they start bouncing in. Maybe tonight’s game is the one that turns it around.
Let’s Do This!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 4:00 PM
LINEUPS
If this is your first time checking out a game day thread and you have no idea what’s going on with the Canucks, let’s run it down for ya:
The Canucks are severely depleted in healthy talent because of the injuries to Alex Edler (knee), Brandon Sutter (shoulder), Jay Beagle (wrist), Brock Boeser (groin), Sven Baertschi (concussion), Anders Nilsson (finger), and Canucks (roster). It may have taken a hit with Elias Pettersson blocking a shot last night but hopefully, he’s ok for today.
Richard Bachman should get the start tonight after Jacob Markstrom was asked to take on a lot yesterday. Richard Bachman is a serviceable replacement so it would be wise to give Markstrom the night off. The Canucks are stubborn though, and will throw Markstrom to the wolves.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 72.3#76 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 76.6#39 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 73.0#60 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 73.95#29 FL1 |
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN Rating: 71.8#85 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 76.4#41 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 72.0#74 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 73.41#22 FL2 |
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 69.6#121 LW |  MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 72.2#116 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 68.4#116 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 70.06#30 FL3 |
 DARREN ARCHIBALD Rating: 70.7#100 LW |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 72.3#112 C |  BRENDAN LEIPSIC Rating: 71.3#92 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.45#9 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 DERRICK POULIOT Rating: 71.0#92 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 70.9#79 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 70.99#29 DL1 |
 BEN HUTTON Rating: 71.2#88 LD |  ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 70.2#91 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 70.70#29 DL2 |
 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO Rating: 71.9#74 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 71.9#60 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.93#15 DL3 |
Good news always starts first: Luca Sbisa will draw back into the Islanders lineup this evening for Adam Pelech. Will we see a pizza delivery in favour of the Canucks tonight? One can only hope. Matt Martin is still day-to-day with an upper-body injury. This is the first time the Canucks will face the Islanders without John Tavares but it doesn’t mean it will be any easier to try to beat them.
Thomas Greiss will get the start .
Islanders lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ANDERS LEE Rating: 77.0#21 LW |  MATHEW BARZAL Rating: 78.5#27 C |  JOSH BAILEY Rating: 74.6#40 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 76.69#22 FL1 |
 ANDREW LADD Rating: 72.1#80 LW |  BROCK NELSON Rating: 73.0#92 C |  JORDAN EBERLE Rating: 75.7#29 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 73.60#20 FL2 |
 TOM KUHNHACKL Rating: 67.8#136 LW |  VALTTERI FILPPULA Rating: 70.7#151 C |  LEO KOMAROV Rating: 68.5#130 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 69.02#31 FL3 |
 ANTHONY BEAUVILLIER Rating: 71.8#84 LW |  CASEY CIZIKAS Rating: 72.5#104 C |  CAL CLUTTERBUCK Rating: 68.7#113 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.99#15 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 NICK LEDDY Rating: 72.0#72 LD |  RYAN PULOCK Rating: 69.0#97 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 70.49#31 DL1 |
 THOMAS HICKEY Rating: 72.1#69 LD |  SCOTT MAYFIELD Rating: 71.0#78 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 71.57#22 DL2 |
 ADAM PELECH Rating: 72.3#64 LD |  JOHNNY BOYCHUK Rating: 72.5#46 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 72.43#11 DL3 |
THE INFORMATION YOU NEED AND DEFINITELY SOME YOU DON’T
- Nikolay Goldbin had a game to forget yesterday. Even though he scored, he was in the penalty box twice and the timing of his goal came as a result of taking a penalty first. Travis Green will not reward games like this so don’t expect to see Goldobin as one of the top minute munchers this evening.
- Loui Eriksson is having some kind of November. The man known in some circles as “Little Things Loui” or “Littlethinger” has four goals this month along with three assists. Last November, Eriksson had 10 points and most of them came towards the end of the month. Is Loui just a big fan of November or is he about to change the narrative that he’s all washed up? If Eriksson continues to match his numbers from a season ago, expect a big January but not much else.
- Elias Pettersson won Rookie of the Month honours for October but after reading that little stat pack about Loui, maybe the player of the month honours are on the horizon for both of these guys. Pettersson and Eriksson are tied with seven points this month, sure that’s currently five back of Blake Wheeler and Mark Stone, but Vancouver’s uber-rookie is getting challenged from the elder statesman. (Don’t @ me)
- The losses of Alex Edler, Jay Beagle, and Brandon Sutter are quite noticeable on the PK. Jacob Markstrom is one of the busiest goaltenders this month and has allowed the most PPG as well in November. Even one of those players coming back changes the dynamic of the penalty kill; a goal a game lately is the difference between winning and losing, between living and dy… OK this isn’t Any Given Sunday.
- Did you know: the Canucks have never defeated the Islanders in the playoffs? Sure, you’ll bring up 1982 but they actually lost two games in 1976 as well. It was a best of three preliminary round and even back then before the defeat in the Stanley Cup Final, the Canucks weren’t ready for what they faced.
- The line of Pettersson, Virtanen, and Goldobin has the highest CF% of any group on the team this season that has seen at least 10 games as a line. Their 66.67% should be noted and has also produced a goal.
MY 94 CENTS
It’s more of the same for the Canucks this evening. Brock Boeser was injured against this very team last season but the jokes on them, HE’S ALREADY HURT! There are positives to take out of similar situations though, the Canucks snapped a three-game losing streak against the Islanders last year, Jake Virtanen scored, Darren Archibald did as well, and Brendan Leipsic had a big two-goal performance. I’m all for lightning striking twice and with the luck, the Canucks have had with posts and near goal experiences, the optimism train is only a town away.
There’s word it has a pitstop in Brooklyn.
THE FINAL WORD
Never in all my years would I have seen a comment like this become a reality.
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