Canucks Army Game Day 44 – Canucks @ Canadiens (Pettersson’s World Edition)
By Always90four
5 years agoTHE INTRO
The Canucks are back again today after a win last night in Ottawa. Vancouver is in Montreal today to take on the hometown Canadiens so there should be a fair amount of Canucks fans in attendance. The last time these two teams met was in November and the Canadiens spoiled a perfectly good game from both Jacob Markstrom and Elias Pettersson and came away with a 3-2 road win.
Tonight is the opportunity for payback. Oddly enough, Tim Schaller was in the lineup for the last game too so maybe there is some foreshadowing (OOOooooo) or not. This is the second-last game for the Canucks on their World Junior road trip with Toronto being the final stop on Saturday.
Feasting on the East Coast teams would be a great way to ring in the New Year before returning home.
Let’s Do This!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 4:00 PM
LINEUPS
Sven Baertschi hasn’t looked out of place since his return back and with Josh Leivo’s injury last night in Ottawa, there will no doubt be some lineup changes. Sven could be reunited with Bo Horvat or he could ride the fun bus with Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser. The big question is if Tim Schaller stays and Nikolay Goldobin sits yet again.
Brandon Sutter may be a game-time decision and could put Markus Granlund on the wing with Jake Virtanen. Decisions, decisions.
Jacob Markstrom will once again start for the Vancouver Canucks and will be backed up by Mike McKenna. Next game though, you’ll have to wait and see…
Lines are still to be determined as Josh Leivo has been placed on IR and the Canucks haven’t had a morning skate.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 71.8#79 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 76.1#44 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 71.1#94 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 72.99#31 FL1 |
 JOSH LEIVO Rating: 73.0#51 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 77.7#34 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 82.5#3 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 77.74#3 FL2 |
 SVEN BAERTSCHI Rating: 74.0#40 LW |  MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 70.7#150 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.8#79 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.13#13 FL3 |
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 70.4#105 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 67.9#189 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 69.3#108 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 69.22#29 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 75.6#22 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 72.0#55 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 73.79#21 DL1 |
 BEN HUTTON Rating: 70.6#107 LD |  ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 68.8#103 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 69.69#31 DL2 |
 DERRICK POULIOT Rating: 70.3#114 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 71.9#58 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.09#16 DL3 |
Andrew Shaw is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
The Canadiens most likely won’t shake anything up after a win on New Year’s Eve.
Carey Price, he of injury-plagued career, is scheduled to return tonight to face the Canucks. Oh good. Would be a great night for the Canucks power-play to get some big shots from both sides.
Canadiens lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 TOMAS TATAR Rating: 76.2#22 LW |  PHILLIP DANAULT Rating: 75.4#48 C |  BRENDAN GALLAGHER Rating: 77.8#21 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 76.49#19 FL1 |
 JONATHAN DROUIN Rating: 75.4#49 LW |  MAX DOMI Rating: 73.6#68 C |  PAUL BYRON Rating: 75.5#36 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 74.80#12 FL2 |
 ARTTURI LEHKONEN Rating: 74.7#33 LW |  JESPERI KOTKANIEMI Rating: 73.8#62 C |  JOEL ARMIA Rating: 72.0#74 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 73.49#7 FL3 |
 KENNY AGOSTINO Rating: 73.3#47 LW |  MICHAEL CHAPUT Rating: 67.9#190 C |  NICOLAS DESLAURIERS Rating: 70.6#95 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.59#17 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 MIKE REILLY Rating: 71.1#93 LD |  SHEA WEBER Rating: 79.4#10 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 75.24#16 DL1 |
 JORDIE BENN Rating: 72.2#64 LD |  JEFF PETRY Rating: 77.0#19 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 74.58#8 DL2 |
 BRETT KULAK Rating: 72.2#66 LD |  VICTOR METE Rating: 71.8#59 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.98#10 DL3 |
YOUR INFORMATIONAL NEEDS FOR TONIGHT’S GAME
- One of the newest additions to Canucks Army was already dropping some heat last night. The Canucks didn’t fare quite as well as Växjö but they got the same output from EP40. Thanks, Alex!
- Pettersson’s hat-trick was pretty special and it will be only a matter of time before he puts back another. His last 15 games don’t have him in the Top-5 in scoring, although Connor McDavid obviously is, Pettersson’s 20 points are tied for 11th best overall. His SH% is a healthy 28.1 in that time and along with five of his seven GWG, he’s finishing games too!
- Why stop now? Pettersson is lethal at 5v5. He has an iSH% of exactly 26%. Our Jackson McDonald pointed this out the other day via Reddit but he’s still getting it done. How is that possible?
- Nikolay Goldobin is still sitting 10th on the Canucks in CF% with 48.1, not great but when he’s on the ice he’s ahead in the shot game more than most. The assists can’t be discounted too much IMO as his setup game is pretty impressive and has netted results.
- Jacob Markstrom has only faced the Canadiens four times in his career and his numbers aren’t stellar. He does have a win to speak of and a .911 SV%. Other than that, it’s not good. His game has changed a lot from even November so it will be interesting to see what Markstrom shows up tonight.
MY 94 CENTS
Vancouver will be in tough against the Canadiens again tonight. The win versus the Sens had all the makings on paper of a great game but it just didn’t feel like a 40+ shot kind of game. The Habs aren’t the Senators which means the Canucks will have to be disciplined offensively and not squander away chances for a team that gives them away just a bit less than the Canucks do.
The scoring will have to flow from more players than the Pettersson line and depending on the structure of lines tonight, that may not be as big of a problem as I thought.
THE FINAL WORD
This is becoming uncharted territory here. Still wonder what a healthy Pavel Bure would have fetched if he wasn’t screwed around.
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