Canucks Army Game Day 71 – Canucks Vs. Devils (Loui Loui Lemon Edition)
By Always90four
5 years agoTHE INTRO
Normally, the Canucks and Devils wouldn’t be appointment viewing and it isn’t exactly that tonight but Cory Schneider is back and there are a significant amount of injuries on the Devils’ squad that gives the Canucks a fighting chance to win their second-straight game. Wins and losses aren’t all that significant in the final stretch but it would be great to see things get back to normal before the season ends.
Like a power-play or maybe Elias Pettersson’s dominance. Stuff like that.
Let’s Do This!™
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds for tonight’s game are: (VAN -160/NJD +140 ) courtesy of OddShark
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 7:00 PM
LINEUPS
Loui Eriksson was FINALLY healthy scratched last game and the team was better for it. Believe it or not, that may have been the final “we screwed up” fix after unsuccessfully trying Erik Gudbranson, Sam Gagner, Michael Del Zotto, and even Tim Schaller. You have to think that players that will be on the Canucks next season will be the only ones that play again this year. He will return to the lineup tonight
Ben Hutton is still out as is Ryan Spooner. Brandon Sutter may have played his last game as a Canuck, despite his injury.
Quinn Hughes isn’t expected to play his first game until next weekend at the earliest and with Chris Tanev back in the lineup, Derrick Pouliot shouldn’t see another game while Guillaume Brisebois may see a few more potentially.
And finally, Antoine Roussel. This just flat out sucks. Roussel has been a warrior all season and an unfortunate accident has ended his season. This guy has CANUCK written all over him and he has a chance to be one of the culture-changers, one of the difference makers. Just awful.
Jacob Markstrom was once again a destroyer of worlds as he almost earned his second shutout of the season against the Rangers on Wednesday. The plan should be to put Thatcher Demko in to pad his starts but then again, who knows? If this team is going to be different next season they need to exhaust all options before then.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loui Eriksson |  BO HORVAT Rating: 75.8#46 C |  TANNER PEARSON Rating: 71.9#77 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 73.27#30 FL1 |
 JOSH LEIVO Rating: 73.5#50 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 77.6#32 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 81.2#7 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 77.41#6 FL2 |
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN Rating: 70.3#102 LW |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 71.3#132 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.7#82 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.10#27 FL3 |
 LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 71.3#104 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 67.5#189 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 69.2#119 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 69.33#30 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 76.0#18 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 71.7#76 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 73.80#26 DL1 |
 GUILLAUME BRISEBOIS |  TROY STECHER Rating: 72.6#57 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.55#24 DL2 |
 DERRICK POULIOT Rating: 71.0#103 LD |  ALEX BIEGA Rating: 71.9#74 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.46#19 DL3 |
The Devils have a laundry list of injuries and unfortunately, they’re out of detergent. (That was a dad joke). Taylor Hall had arthroscopic knee surgery so his season is most likely done. Nathan Bastian (undisclosed) missed two straight games and is questionable for tonight’s game, Nico Hischier (UBI) did not make the Western Canada trip.
Miles Wood is out with a fractured ankle, Pavel Zacha (UBI) is still out, and John Quenneville is also out until further notice.
Cory Schneider is back and unless he’s dehydrated he should play. Good times!
Devils lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 BLAKE COLEMAN Rating: 73.9#67 LW |  TRAVIS ZAJAC Rating: 73.1#79 C |  KYLE PALMIERI Rating: 77.2#25 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 74.76#25 FL1 |
 KENNY AGOSTINO Rating: 71.1#108 LW |  KEVIN ROONEY Rating: 72.1#102 C |  DREW STAFFORD Rating: 68.6#122 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 70.61#31 FL2 |
 ERIC TANGRADI Rating: 73.5#52 LW |  MICHAEL MCLEOD Rating: 72.6#92 C |  JOEY ANDERSON Rating: 72.0#76 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.69#13 FL3 |
 STEFAN NOESEN Rating: 70.3#124 LW |  BLAKE PIETILA Rating: 71.2#106 C |  NICK LAPPIN Rating: 69.2#118 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.27#25 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ANDY GREENE Rating: 71.5#90 LD |  DAMON SEVERSON Rating: 72.2#62 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 71.86#29 DL1 |
 WILL BUTCHER Rating: 74.0#42 LD |  CONNOR CARRICK Rating: 70.3#90 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.14#26 DL2 |
 EGOR YAKOVLEV |  STEVEN SANTINI Rating: 69.2#94 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 69.23#29 DL3 |
YOUR INFORMATIONAL NEEDS FOR TONIGHT’S GAME
- Of the goalies having played at least five games against the Canucks since the beginning of the 2015 season, Cory Schneider leads all backstops with a .952 Sv%, he’s second only to Brian Elliott with a 1.39 GAA to Elliott’s 1.26, and Schneider’s five wins in five games played ties Aaron Dell with a perfect record against the Canucks. This could be a problem this evening.
- Elias Pettersson has tailed off. He has two assists in his last seven games. No goals to speak of right now and the wear and tear of the season may have finally caught up with him. His last goal was over a month ago and his last multi-goal game was against the Senators on January 3 when he potted a hat-trick. There isn’t as much flash in his game but he’s still helping set up the game. Patience may be in order before it gets better.
- Brock Boeser has five points in his last five games and nine points in his last 12 games. Brock is finding his groove once again but he only has one assist to claim against New Jersey.
- Alex Edler and Bo Horvat are the only Canucks in the lineup who have scored a goal against the Devils since 2015. In the seven games played in that time, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Loui Eriksson, Radim Vrbata, Chris Higgins, and Sven Baertschi are the only other players to have scored for Vancouver. Three PPG have been scored and thankfully Bo Horvat was one of them. There’s hope yet.
- Jake Virtanen will look to quench fan’s thirsty appetites for a second-straight game. Virtanen has six goals and four assists against the Eastern Conference this season. His six goals on the road are just under half of his total goals scored this season. Schneider has been red-hot against Vancouver but Virtanen could be the solution.
MY 94 CENTS
New Jersey has its fair share of injuries but the ones on the Canucks stand out just as much. Quinn Hughes debut has been delayed but because of that, he’ll be protected in the expansion draft. Roussel is out and it feels like there is one more band-aid on the way. You know that feeling?
Like, what is the final “Canuck” thing that could happen?
I know what it is: they win out and lose out on getting into the top 10.
THE TWITTER TAKE
Said it earlier this year, without Pettersson this team is even worse than before. But, you already knew that.
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