Canucks Army Game Day 55 – Canucks @ Blackhawks (Almost Home Edition)
By Always90four
5 years agoTHE INTRO
It’s the final game of the Canucks four-game road trip and Chicago is ready to bury Vancouver and increase the Blackhawks win streak to six games. The Canucks are once again feeling swift pain that injuries have brought the team and because of that depth players are being forced to play increased minutes and in turn, will create turnovers and mistakes on the ice.
Vancouver has managed before and they’ll have to do it again. It’s unknown if Elias Pettersson will play in a bubble wrap suit.
Let’s Do This!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 5:30 PM
LINEUPS
Nothing likely to change for tonight’s game. Guillaume Brisebois could play but realistically, he won’t. Updates on Sven Baertschi and Thatcher Demko should be released later today. Jake Virtanen is stuck on the Sutter line. That is all.
Jacob Markstrom starts, probably forever now.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN Rating: 70.5#107 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 76.4#43 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 82.5#4 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 76.47#21 FL1 |
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 72.1#83 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 79.0#25 C |  JOSH LEIVO Rating: 73.0#66 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 74.69#19 FL2 |
 MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 72.1#82 LW |  BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 71.3#136 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.9#81 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.77#20 FL3 |
 LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 71.6#88 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 67.8#184 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 69.4#120 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 69.58#30 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 CHRIS TANEV Rating: 71.7#72 LD |  ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 68.9#100 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 70.31#31 DL1 |
 BEN HUTTON Rating: 71.7#81 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 72.9#47 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.29#23 DL2 |
 DERRICK POULIOT Rating: 70.3#111 LD |  ALEX BIEGA Rating: 70.8#86 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 70.55#28 DL3 |
Corey Crawford is still injured but has started skating with the team. Former Oiler Drake Caggiula is getting a new lease on life riding shotgun with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Dylan Strome hasn’t wasted time in Chicago since being acquired from Arizona, he gets to run and gun with Alex Debrincat and Dominik Kahun.
Will this be the last time we see Brent Seabrook in a Blackhawks uniform before the trade deadline? There is a lot of money owed to Seabrook but anything is possible.
Collin Delia will be the likely starter.
Blackhawks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 DRAKE CAGGIULA Rating: 71.3#96 LW |  JONATHAN TOEWS Rating: 78.7#27 C |  PATRICK KANE Rating: 84.3#3 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 78.10#16 FL1 |
 ALEX DEBRINCAT Rating: 79.3#11 LW |  DYLAN STROME Rating: 71.9#112 C |  DOMINIK KAHUN Rating: 72.4#97 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 74.53#21 FL2 |
 BRANDON SAAD Rating: 74.8#34 LW |  DAVID KAMPF Rating: 71.0#142 C |  MARCUS KRUGER Rating: 70.2#157 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.03#17 FL3 |
 BRENDAN PERLINI Rating: 70.4#109 LW |  ARTEM ANISIMOV Rating: 70.4#154 C |  JOHN HAYDEN Rating: 68.1#126 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 69.62#29 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 DUNCAN KEITH Rating: 72.8#61 LD |  BRENT SEABROOK Rating: 71.6#75 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 72.16#27 DL1 |
 CARL DAHLSTROM Rating: 72.2#73 LD |  CONNOR MURPHY Rating: 71.1#83 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 71.61#29 DL2 |
 GUSTAV FORSLING Rating: 71.0#103 LD |  ERIK GUSTAFSSON Rating: 75.6#28 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 73.31#6 DL3 |
YOUR INFORMATIONAL NEEDS FOR TONIGHT’S GAME
- Despite losing their last two, the Canucks are still in a “playoff” spot going into tonight’s game. A win by the Blackhawks would put Chicago a point behind Vancouver in the standings. With the Hawks five-game streak bringing them ever so close to a shot at the postseason, they’re also a few points back of dead last in the NHL. It’s been a weird season.
- Scoring has been an issue all season for the Canucks but since January 1, this is especially true. Six players have more than a goal since the start of the calendar year: Baertschi and Pettersson (5), Boeser (4), Granlund (3), and Eriksson and Roussel with two goals apiece. Granlund is a head shaker but everyone on that list through 12 games aside from Eriksson sort of makes sense. For the single goal shooters, Bo Horvat and Jake Virtanen are the ones that stick out the most. It’s been a rough ride for Bo but he’s working just as hard and the scale has to tip at some point. It won’t get easier but if the team can get their power play going, there just might be hope for this edition of the Canucks.
- Further to the point about the man advantage, only four goals have been scored on the power play since January 1. Four. Brock Boeser isn’t one of those players and Brandon Sutter is. Vancouver’s transition from their own end into the attacking zone is mind-numbing and their drop passes are becoming painful. There is no innovation, no creative thoughts being made, just bland, predictable garbage. If Pettersson and Boeser aren’t scoring, the coaches have to re-evaluate their approach.
- Josh Leivo needs to step up, plain and simple. He has a single goal in his last 13 games along with three shots combined in his last three games, one game in which he didn’t register a single shot on net. There are plenty of struggles up and down the lineup but the loss of Sven Baertschi is Leivo’s gain. If not, he’ll be sent packing eventually.
- Prediction: Nikolay Goldobin scores a pair tonight. He’s buzzing and it’s only a matter of time before his renewed efforts pay off.
MY 94 CENTS
Chicago is red-hot. They’re winners of five-straight and they always seem to give the Canucks headaches. Vancouver has been close the last few games and add to that, their just missing on shots. It could turn around in an instant but without Edler and Baertschi, as well as Markstrom’s heavy burden of endless starts, the pucks are going to need to find the net early and often for the boys in blue and green to finish on the winning side of the ledger.
THE TWITTER TAKE
You need a Sutter? We got a Sutter.
Recent articles from Always90four
