Canucks Army Game Day 79 – Canucks Vs. Stars (Just Eliminated Edition)
By Always90four
5 years ago THE INTRO
Well, it’s official: the Vancouver Canucks won’t be playing for the Stanley Cup this season. Shocking, we know. Thankfully, Quinn Hughes did enough in his NHL debut to excite the fans to show up for another game and see what he can do next. The Stars are rolling with a three-game win streak in tow and if they knock off the Canucks tonight, they lock their golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Choc… no wait, the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Cherish these moments because it’s looking more and more likely the Canucks will be making waves to improve this team as soon as possible. Call it a hunch.
Let’s Do This!™
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds for tonight’s game are: (VAN +120/DAL -140) courtesy of OddsShark
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
CBC / SN 650 / 7:00 pm
LINEUPS
Quinn Hughes made quite the impact in his debut and will once again be flanked by Luke Schenn. Guillaume Brisebois’ season is likely finished with the Canucks and Derrick Pouliot’s days as a Canuck are also in jeopardy. It appears Tanner Pearson and Loui Eriksson will finish the season with Bo Horvat and if there was one more olive branch to extend, Nikolay Goldobin might get a shot to replace Ryan Spooner.
Thatcher Demko could use the starts but Jacob Markstrom needs to hit 60 games to give his contract negotiations a boost. With the postseason now unreachable, Demko should see half of the remaining starts.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 TANNER PEARSON Rating: 74.2#44 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 77.7#30 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 72.3#77 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 74.73#27 FL1 |
 JOSH LEIVO Rating: 73.9#49 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 77.8#29 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 80.9#5 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 77.55#5 FL2 |
 RYAN SPOONER Rating: 70.9#134 LW |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 70.0#157 C |  MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 70.7#100 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 70.55#29 FL3 |
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 71.2#105 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 67.8#185 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.4#89 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.15#23 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 77.3#12 LD |  ALEX BIEGA Rating: 71.4#75 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 74.36#19 DL1 |
 BEN HUTTON Rating: 71.1#102 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 73.7#39 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.44#23 DL2 |
 QUINN HUGHES |  LUKE SCHENN Rating: 68.5#102 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 68.49#30 DL3 |
Tyler Pitlick had wrist surgery and may be ready for playoffs if the Stars are there. I feel like I’ve said this before. Mats Zuccarello underwent surgery to repair a broken arm. Again, he may be ready for the playoffs in just over a week’s time.
Ben Bishop is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and did not play on Thursday night. Anton Khubodin will be the probable starter but Bishop could back him up.
Stars lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 MATTIAS JANMARK Rating: 70.5#149 LW |  TYLER SEGUIN Rating: 82.3#11 C |  ALEXANDER RADULOV Rating: 79.8#8 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 77.54#17 FL1 |
 JAMIE BENN Rating: 78.7#14 LW |  ROOPE HINTZ Rating: 72.8#86 C |  JASON DICKINSON Rating: 70.2#112 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 73.91#22 FL2 |
 ANDREW COGLIANO Rating: 71.2#104 LW |  RADEK FAKSA Rating: 73.0#79 C |  BLAKE COMEAU Rating: 70.4#118 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.56#21 FL3 |
 VALERI NICHUSHKIN Rating: 72.0#81 LW |  JOEL L’ESPERANCE Rating: 72.8#84 C |  BRETT RITCHIE Rating: 70.3#110 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.72#7 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ESA LINDELL Rating: 75.6#24 LD |  JOHN KLINGBERG Rating: 82.6#4 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 79.12#4 DL1 |
 MIRO HEISKANEN Rating: 76.7#1 LD |  ROMAN POLAK Rating: 71.0#83 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.83#14 DL2 |
 TAYLOR FEDUN Rating: 72.5#75 LD |  BEN LOVEJOY Rating: 70.6#90 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.57#14 DL3 |
YOUR (QU)INFORMATIONAL NEEDS FOR TONIGHT’S GAME
- Brock Boeser has goals in three of his last five games and five in his last 10. Brock is four goals back of 30 which eluded him one season ago before going down to injury. Boeser is one point away from equalling his rookie year of 55 points and the way his game has been going, tonight seems like he’ll get that out of the way.
- It feels like an eternity has passed since Elias Pettersson’s last goal. His reverse-hits, dangles, and assists have sufficed but missing out on Pettersson goals is not a fun feeling. Elias had 10 goals in his first 10 games, has gone through a few injury scares, and is currently struggling through a stretch of two goals in 20 games. His talent will eventually bump this thing but for now, we wait.
- Even though he’s only played one game, if Quinn Hughes keeps his pace up, and plays approximately 600 NHL games, he’ll have 600 points. Unbelievable! Only five Canucks have achieved such a mark, two of them are even related.
- Whether it happens this season or at the beginning of next year, Bo Horvat has dug tooth and nail to earn the Captaincy. He’s eclipsed his career-high of 52 points with 59, currently. He leads the Canucks by a wide margin in iHDCF with 69 and has Boeser beat for iSCF with 152 to 117. It still seems weird that we thought a 9th overall pick wasn’t enough for Cory Schneider.
- Luke Schenn has been a monster since joining the Canucks. It isn’t that often that a veteran works out for the Canucks but in one game, one game alone, he may have cemented himself on this team for at least one more season. Through 14 games with VAN, Schenn has 62 hits, good for 12th on the team. He’s averaging 4.5 hits at 5v5 and if he keeps up his pace he’ll be 9th on the team with only 18 games played. He’s the Dan Hamhuis to Hughes’ Bieksa. Imagine the possibilities! Obviously not the same talent levels but a defensively sound defender allowing the run and gun kid to do his thing.
MY 94 CENTS
Quinn Hughes has changed my outlook for the Canucks. He’s given Luke Schenn a contract that none of us saw coming. Of course, he’ll have to keep protecting Hughes but they look pretty good together. The pipe dream of playoffs is closed so we just enjoy what’s left. Travis Green needs to employ a fast, puck-moving power play as his first gift to Hughes much like what we saw with the Kings a few nights ago.
There is hope for this team but Jim Benning needs to pull the trigger on a couple more moves before this thing can get off the ground.
THE TWITTER TAKE
*cues up Weezer* Say it ain’t sooooo OOOO oooo oh!
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