Canucks Army Game Day 21 – Canucks @ Wild (Almost Home Edition)
By Always90four
5 years agoTHE INTRO
“ALEXA, Which NHL team has played the most games on the road this season?”
The Vancouver Canucks.
You don’t need Alexa or Siri to figure this one out. Vancouver comes into Minnesota tonight having played 13 road games so far this year, two more than the next closest team, the Vegas Golden Knights. The Canucks have been tested, battered and bruised but they’re among the top teams in the league and even though the final few games of this road trip haven’t gone as planned they’re playing with a lineup that has been asked to do way more than many thought was possible.
The Canucks will try and curb their losing streak tonight and end the road trip on a high note.
Minnesota is also coming off a loss, although lots of teams lose to the Washington Capitals. This game might not be pretty but Vancouver’s luck has to turn around sometime.
Let’s Do This!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 5:00 PM
LINEUPS
Brendan Gaunce and Alex Biega aren’t going to make the Canucks a better team in one game so expect them to be stapled to the press box, not outside it but just up… you get what I mean. Status quo on the injury front but hopefully there is better news for the game Saturday. Expect Travis Green to juggle a bit more this evening if things don’t start the way he likes.
Weather the storm with the available bodies, home cooking is 60 minutes away.
Richard Bachman would be a great start today. Does Travis Green agree or is this just another empty wish? Jacob Markstrom needs… a… break.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 71.7#80 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 76.3#42 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 73.6#52 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 73.88#30 FL1 |
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN Rating: 71.5#83 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 76.1#44 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.5#80 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 73.07#25 FL2 |
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 69.6#116 LW |  MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 71.8#126 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 69.2#108 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 70.19#30 FL3 |
 DARREN ARCHIBALD Rating: 70.6#97 LW |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 72.1#116 C |  BRENDAN LEIPSIC Rating: 71.2#85 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.30#8 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 DERRICK POULIOT Rating: 70.8#97 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 70.8#85 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 70.76#29 DL1 |
 BEN HUTTON Rating: 71.7#80 LD |  ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 71.1#77 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 71.39#27 DL2 |
 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO Rating: 71.9#75 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 72.2#53 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 72.03#14 DL3 |
Eric Fehr should play tonight but he was MIA yesterday at practice because he became a dad. If you have a few extra bucks to spare, bet on Fehr scoring at least one. No one is hurt for the Wild so it’s a healthy lineup against banged-up Canucks team.
Devan Dubnyk is the likely starter for Minnesota despite some neck soreness, probably from turning around and looking at all those goals going past him? Right? Get it? Naaah, just kidding, Markstrom almost leads that category.
Wild lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ZACH PARISE Rating: 76.1#27 LW |  MIKKO KOIVU Rating: 74.6#56 C |  NINO NIEDERREITER Rating: 73.2#52 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 74.63#27 FL1 |
 JASON ZUCKER Rating: 79.2#11 LW |  ERIC STAAL Rating: 81.4#10 C |  MIKAEL GRANLUND Rating: 80.1#20 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 80.22#1 FL2 |
 JORDAN GREENWAY Rating: 72.5#70 LW |  JOEL ERIKSSON EK Rating: 70.7#151 C |  CHARLIE COYLE Rating: 71.8#76 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.68#20 FL3 |
 MARCUS FOLIGNO Rating: 70.5#100 LW |  ERIC FEHR Rating: 70.3#99 C |  J.T. BROWN Rating: 69.4#105 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.06#22 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 RYAN SUTER Rating: 79.5#4 LD |  MATHEW DUMBA Rating: 77.9#16 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 78.68#2 DL1 |
 JONAS BRODIN Rating: 75.1#27 LD |  JARED SPURGEON Rating: 78.5#14 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 76.79#2 DL2 |
 NICK SEELER Rating: 73.7#38 LD |  GREG PATERYN Rating: 72.0#59 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 72.84#6 DL3 |
THE INFORMATION YOU NEED AND DEFINITELY SOME YOU DON’T
- Losses to the Sabres, Rangers, and Islanders might have discouraged a weary fan base but a win this evening vaults the Canucks right back up the standings into a tie for third in the NHL. Game to game it’s tough to take seeing it fall apart at the end but Vancouver has done enough before the New York swing to build up a bit of a buffer. They’re not out of the woods yet, they’ll have to step into the Wild to ge… OK, these puns are terrible.
- The power play will live and die with Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson but an 18.5% efficiency rate is not good enough. The Canucks are just shy of the most power play opportunities in the league at this point (65), six fewer of where they were last season on this day. In both seasons, their completion rate has not been good and rightfully so with the Sedins anchored on the top unit for a good portion of last season. The coaching staff has to adjust and see the options they have when they go up a man because right now this team is beyond predictable and they need to create a fresh look.
- Switching to the PK, the Canucks are the least disciplined team in the NHL going shorthanded a whopping 76 times so far! Their 80.3% kill rate sounds good but it’s nothing to write home about. Losing Alex Edler and Brandon Sutter should not be overlooked and considering who has been asked to fight off the pressure, the team has fared pretty well. They could consider being a little less sloppy, it wouldn’t hurt.
- When Alex Edler was healthy he was a minute muncher, while he’s been out that title has gone to Chris Tanev. Furthering the point, Tanev is spending just under four minutes per game killing penalties, that’s too much. He’s the Canucks most reliable defender and his talent is being wasted physically and mentally making sure one of his teammate’s mistakes isn’t capitalized upon. Special teams have dictated a few games lately and there’s no reason to keep that pace up.
- Jake Virtanen has created some serious steam in all facets of his game so far and on the power play, he is right in the mix of the top shooters on the team for iCF. At this point in the season, the sample size is small but his output is just behind Elias Pettersson, Nikolay Goldobin, Bo Horvat, and Brock Boeser. Virtanen is gaining trust and with the growing amount of power play opportunities coming as well, Virtanen might be a smart option to throw in with EP on the top unit.
MY 94 CENTS
I’ve been patient, I’ve held off being judgemental but Vancouver has to find a way to curb these late game flops. Green needs to throw Troy Stecher on a PP1 shift, maybe even a few and let him properly distribute the puck from the blue line to Pettersson and, from a recent post game article written by Jason Botchford, Adam Gaudette.
In the post, he chronicled Gaudette’s effectiveness from the left side or “the Boeser spot” as some have called it. With Boeser out, why not put a guy in that can do the same thing. He DID win a Hobey Baker award after all. This early in the season, the Canucks can afford to try a few different ideas and they’re basically playing with house money right now so why not?
THE FINAL WORD
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