Canucks Army Game Day 54 – Canucks @ Capitals (nOt HeAlThY aNyMoRe Edition)
By Always90four
5 years agoTHE INTRO
Normally, there would be a joke about the injuries the Canucks have accumulated but the last two players that just went down (Alex Edler and Sven Baertschi) have cause for concern. The Canucks travel to Washington this evening to take on the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Capitals.
The Canucks were contained in their last meeting against the Caps by a score of 5-2. With Edler out, there are a lot of minutes that will be passed on to the rest of the defense which also means Erik Gudbranson and Derrick Pouliot will play more, not good. Washington is in the middle of their season-high six game homestand but a solid effort last night from Vancouver could mean tonight’s game will be just as eventful.
Let’s Do This!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SN1 / SN 650 / 4:00 PM
LINEUPS
Just when things were starting to clear up the injury bug bit again. Alex Edler went down in a freak sequence of events which had his face smash into the ice causing him to be unconscious for a minute or so. He is staying in Philadelphia to get looked at and will most likely be done for the road trip.
Tim Schaller should stay in the lineup after Sven Baertschi was sent back to Vancouver after feeling ill. It can’t be confirmed if this is related to his concussion but a relapse could be a massive blow to his hockey future.
As for the defensive situation, does Alex Biega slot back in or do they call up someone?
Jacob Markstrom is the confirmed starter after Thatcher Demko tweaked something in practice yesterday. Michael DiPietro has been called up on an emergency basis.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 69.3#128 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 76.6#41 C |  JOSH LEIVO Rating: 73.3#54 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 73.08#31 FL1 |
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN Rating: 69.5#110 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 79.7#23 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 82.0#6 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 77.06#5 FL2 |
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 71.0#101 LW |  BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 71.2#136 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 70.9#95 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.06#28 FL3 |
 LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 72.4#76 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 68.4#181 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 69.3#114 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.04#25 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 75.7#19 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 71.6#77 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 73.63#24 DL1 |
 BEN HUTTON Rating: 71.4#86 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 72.8#52 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.07#28 DL2 |
 DERRICK POULIOT Rating: 70.7#103 LD |  ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 68.6#104 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 69.63#29 DL3 |
Turns out, Alex Ovechkin is still patrolling the Capitals first line, so it’s good to see. Christian Djoos is out for some time with a leg injury and will be hanging out in Hershey. Lars Eller is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. No other news to announce.
Braden Holtby should be the likely starter for Washington. Pheonix Copley might get the start just to troll the Canucks, though.
Capitals lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ALEX OVECHKIN Rating: 86.0#1 LW |  NICKLAS BACKSTROM Rating: 78.0#35 C |  T.J. OSHIE Rating: 78.1#17 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 80.67#6 FL1 |
 JAKUB VRANA Rating: 73.9#70 LW |  EVGENY KUZNETSOV Rating: 78.8#28 C |  TOM WILSON Rating: 75.6#38 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.11#10 FL2 |
 DMITRIJ JASKIN Rating: 71.3#96 LW |  NIC DOWD Rating: 70.2#163 C |  BRETT CONNOLLY Rating: 72.5#73 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.32#23 FL3 |
 ANDRE BURAKOVSKY Rating: 72.6#74 LW |  TRAVIS BOYD Rating: 72.0#112 C |  DEVANTE SMITH-PELLY Rating: 69.0#120 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.21#14 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 MICHAL KEMPNY Rating: 73.2#51 LD |  JOHN CARLSON Rating: 80.2#7 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 76.68#10 DL1 |
 DMITRI ORLOV Rating: 73.4#44 LD |  MATT NISKANEN Rating: 73.9#42 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.66#12 DL2 |
 BROOKS ORPIK Rating: 70.6#105 LD |  JONAS SIEGENTHALER Rating: 72.4#60 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.50#17 DL3 |
YOUR INFORMATIONAL NEEDS FOR TONIGHT’S GAME
- Brock Boeser is building on something special. He has four goals in his last seven games. Some of them haven’t been gorgeous but the good players find a way to stay consistent. Boeser hasn’t scored on the Caps yet but he does have four assists in three career games vs. Washington. Time to break the streak.
- Bo Horvat looks like he’s due for some good luck. He has one goal in his last 15 games and he’s been a warrior through it all. He has the makeup to get it going again and it might take a tap-in or a butt-goal or something ridiculous to get the ball rolling. Bo doesn’t give up and against the Capitals, he’ll shine.
- Jay Beagle is back in Washington for the first time as a visitor. He’ll get the royal cheer and he deserves it. He’s a Stanley Cup Champion! His last game was his 500th but no one is hyping his 501st game. You came to the right place because no one expects a breakout game from someone in their 501st game. Nobody.
- Not something that should be lost in the fray is Jake Virtanen’s 5v5 rush attempts. He’s tied for 10th in the league with 11 rush attempts. Speed would benefit young Jake and a Horvat/Roussel/Virtanen line would be fun to watch for longer than a shift if we would be so lucky.
- For all the #teamplayoffs fans in the room take a peek at how durable the Canucks will have to be to not only make the playoffs but survive a seven-game series which you would hope they’d try to win. Both Troy Stecher and Erik Gudbranson are among the top players in the NHL in the “hits taken” category. Stecher is sixth in the league with 105 HT while Gudbranson is 17th with 94 HT. One of these players is built to take an enslaught of punishment while the other is more suited to try and change the score in his team’s favour. You can guess who’s who. If Edler is out for an extended period of time, these HT numbers will increase which puts the Canucks in a position to incur more injured defensemen. Just saying.
MY 94 CENTS
Prepare for many extra shifts of Erik Gudbranson and Derrick Pouliot. Prepare for defensive Pettersson. Prepare for the PK to be tested mightily.
Alex Edler is out for what we can only assume is a week or two. Just think, when he comes back it’s like getting a trade deadline acquisition for free!
Boeser continues his goal streak x 2.
Those are my thoughts today.
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