Canucks Army Game Day 50 – Canucks Vs. Red Wings (Another Slow Start Edition)
By Always90four
5 years agoTHE INTRO
Your Vancouver Canucks enter today’s game on the outside looking in (to the playoffs) but with the anticipated return of Elias Pettersson looming over this matchup, playoffs are of little concern. The Detroit Red Wings are in town for a local matinee, a bit out of the ordinary, but that’s OK.
Vancouver is looking to clinch their second win in three games against a Red Wings team that is definitely “losing for Hughes”. The Canucks have employed a “wait for it…. wait for it… STRIKE!” approach for a good portion of their season but they’ll need to start getting pucks on net earlier in the game if they’ve internally bought into a longer spring. So long slow starts, hello alien-mode.
Let’s Do This!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 1:00 PM
LINEUPS
Elias Pettersson skated again yesterday and Travis Green was hopefully EP would get the “thumbs up” to play today. I’m saying he does and puts on yet another alien-like performance.
The winning lineup from Friday wasn’t all that impressive so hopefully, Nikolay Goldobin gets a shot to prove himself yet again.
Jacob Markstrom most likely is back between the pipes today but seeing another Thatcher Demko start wouldn’t be the worst. Even in one game played, Demko looks like he could challenge for the number one job sooner than later.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 70.8#95 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 75.2#50 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 80.9#8 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 75.64#26 FL1 |
 SVEN BAERTSCHI Rating: 74.2#37 LW |  BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 71.5#129 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.1#89 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 72.28#27 FL2 |
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 68.9#119 LW |  MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 71.9#115 C |  JOSH LEIVO Rating: 72.7#60 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.16#23 FL3 |
 LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 71.6#78 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 68.2#195 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 69.4#114 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 69.71#23 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 75.3#23 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 71.5#66 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 73.41#23 DL1 |
 BEN HUTTON Rating: 71.2#94 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 73.2#42 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.17#21 DL2 |
 DERRICK POULIOT Rating: 70.7#102 LD |  ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 68.0#104 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 69.39#29 DL3 |
Evgeni Svechnikov is out until the spring after knee surgery, Trevor Daley is out with a broken foot and will be out until February. It’s possible that Michael Rasmussen could return today and Danny Dekeyser has just returned from injury as well.
Happy belated Birthday to Thomas “Tommy Gun” Vanek, whose birthday was yesterday.
Jimmy Howard should be the starter for Detroit today.
Red Wings lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 TYLER BERTUZZI Rating: 74.4#35 LW |  DYLAN LARKIN Rating: 78.5#28 C |  GUSTAV NYQUIST Rating: 75.3#49 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 76.07#23 FL1 |
 THOMAS VANEK Rating: 72.7#62 LW |  FRANS NIELSEN Rating: 72.3#95 C |  ANTHONY MANTHA Rating: 75.4#38 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 73.48#20 FL2 |
 DARREN HELM Rating: 71.3#134 LW |  LUKE GLENDENING Rating: 69.7#172 C |  ANDREAS ATHANASIOU Rating: 76.1#43 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.34#10 FL3 |
 JUSTIN ABDELKADER Rating: 69.9#111 LW |  CHRISTOFFER EHN Rating: 71.5#128 C |  MARTIN FRK Rating: 69.2#116 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.19#19 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 NIKLAS KRONWALL Rating: 72.0#70 LD |  MIKE GREEN Rating: 74.9#29 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 73.46#22 DL1 |
 DAN DEKEYSER Rating: 72.0#68 LD |  NICK JENSEN Rating: 71.2#71 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 71.58#25 DL2 |
 JONATHAN ERICSSON Rating: 69.7#119 LD |  DENNIS CHOLOWSKI Rating: 71.9#61 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 70.77#20 DL3 |
YOUR INFORMATIONAL NEEDS FOR TODAY’S GAME
- Unless there is a setback, all signs point to Elias Pettersson rejoining the Canucks today. He still leads all rookies with 32 points, despite his second injury this season that has kept him out of the lineup this time for five games. The Canucks could sure use his help.
- Detroit’s Dylan Larkin is having himself a season. Larkin is already up to 47 points and has six points in his last three games. Vancouver will need to keep an eye out for the Red Wings forward today.
- If the stats are any indication, Sven Baertschi is about to have a game to forget. Since his return from a concussion, almost like clockwork, he’s scored every third game. He did notch an assist in his first game back but he’s been true to that pattern since December in the goal column. The return of EP40 will help the lineup along which could mean Baertschi and Horvat could spend time together today racking up points.
- Once again, this is a matchup of two clubs with awful special teams. Power-play and penalty killing have been the Achilles heel for both teams so it might be wise to stick to 5v5. Detroit and Vancouver are both ranked in the bottom-10 for PK and PP, with the exception of the Canucks being one spot out of the bottom on the power-play. Like a broken record, the return of Pettersson for the Canucks could pay immediate dividends and start the slow, painful climb out of the basement.
- Today’s game will be up for grabs until the very end if history is any indication. Detroit and Vancouver have seven and nine wins respectively when outshooting their opponent this season. That’s good for 6th and 10th worst in the NHL. The Canucks hold the edge for wins when they’ve been outshot by their opponent with 13 to the Wings 11. Hold onto your butts!
MY 94 CENTS
Today is a Pettersson day. Every game he sat out had to have eaten away at his being. He needs hockey, hockey needs him. Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat have shaken off a bit of that monkey on their backs and today could be the day he stays away. Vancouver has received strong games lately from Sven Baertschi and oddly enough Derrick Pouliot and even Alex Edler is making a push to be relevant again.
On the defensive side of the puck, Troy Stecher and Ben Hutton need to be a thing going forward. There seem to be less glaring errors when they’re on the ice together which in turn means more opportunity to score at the other end.
If the Canucks are disciplined today and even put a few extra shots on net, maybe even on the power play, they’ll have a strong chance to put up a W after 60 minutes.
THE TWITTER TAKE
There will never be another like him.
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