Canucks Army Game Day 82 – Canucks @ Blues (Ride Wit Me Edition)
By Always90four
5 years ago THE INTRO
We have once again made it to the season finale but there will be no cliffhangers like when Ross raced to get Rachel off the plane or when Neo and Bane are lying on the table at the end of Matrix Reloaded, or ultimately when Thanos snapped his fingers with that jewel glove or whatever it’s called and everyone (almost everyone) dissolved into nothing.
No, there will be no Infinity Gauntlet (I knew what it was called, I’m not that stupid) just a game of hockey between one of hockey’s hottest teams and the St. Louis Blues.
The Canucks dropped a heartbreaker to the Predators on Thursday and the “Core 4” will want to leave a mark for what to expect next season, the 50th anniversary of the Vancouver Canucks.
St. Louis has absolutely turned the NHL upside down on route to an unlikely playoff berth and a win of any kind combined with a Nashville loss and Winnipeg loss would crown the Blues the champs of the Central Division.
A loss by the Canucks would increase their lottery odds by a whole one percent. Too bad Willie Desjardins isn’t coaching still, he’d have that locked up.
Let’s Do This!™
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds for today’s game are: (VAN +215/STL -265) courtesy of OddsShark
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 1:00 PM
LINEUPS
With no morning practice, the lines will be a bit of a surprise. Matinee starts screw everything up. Will we see another game with Brogan Rafferty or does Alex Biega get to play in the finale? Jake Virtanen would be nice to see again on the Pettersson line.
All signs seem to be pointing to Jacob Markstrom will get the final start of the season and Jake Kielly looks to be backing him up. Thatcher Demko’s season appears to be done. Next season will hopefully see a steady diet of both Markstrom and Demko which could end up being the surprise tandem of the 2019/2020 season.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 TANNER PEARSON Rating: 74.6#42 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 77.0#36 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 71.8#84 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 74.47#27 FL1 |
 JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.7#85 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 76.4#42 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 80.3#6 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.13#9 FL2 |
 RYAN SPOONER Rating: 70.1#161 LW |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 69.9#167 C |  JOSH LEIVO Rating: 73.5#55 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.16#25 FL3 |
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 71.2#106 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 68.1#191 C |  MARKUS GRANLUND Rating: 70.7#103 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.00#30 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 77.4#13 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 73.8#42 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 75.60#16 DL1 |
 BEN HUTTON Rating: 70.9#105 LD |  BROGAN RAFFERTY | DL2 Rating Rating: 70.86#28 DL2 |
 QUINN HUGHES |  LUKE SCHENN Rating: 68.5#105 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 68.53#31 DL3 |
If we didn’t know any better, the Blues look like the castoff team of the Oilers, Leafs, and Flames. There are no lineup updates for St. Louis so the team that got them to the playoffs will be in full display against the Canucks today.
Jordan Binnington gets the start today and with a convincing win could sway the voters over fellow rookie Elias Pettersson.
Blues lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 BRAYDEN SCHENN Rating: 76.3#43 LW |  RYAN O’REILLY Rating: 81.1#14 C |  VLADIMIR TARASENKO Rating: 83.5#2 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 80.32#4 FL1 |
 JADEN SCHWARTZ Rating: 77.2#23 LW |  OSKAR SUNDQVIST Rating: 71.5#122 C |  DAVID PERRON Rating: 75.2#41 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 74.65#15 FL2 |
 PATRICK MAROON Rating: 73.3#62 LW |  TYLER BOZAK Rating: 74.3#59 C |  ROBERT THOMAS Rating: 72.4#94 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 73.32#10 FL3 |
 ROBBY FABBRI Rating: 70.6#119 LW |  IVAN BARBASHEV Rating: 71.8#110 C |  ALEX STEEN Rating: 72.2#72 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.53#6 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 VINCE DUNN Rating: 76.0#22 LD |  ALEX PIETRANGELO Rating: 80.6#6 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 78.33#7 DL1 |
 CARL GUNNARSSON Rating: 72.3#72 LD |  JAY BOUWMEESTER Rating: 72.3#68 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.32#25 DL2 |
 JOEL EDMUNDSON Rating: 73.6#46 LD |  ROBERT BORTUZZO Rating: 72.8#62 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 73.22#4 DL3 |
YOUR INFORMATIONAL NEEDS FOR THE FINAL GAME
- Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat are tied for the team-lead in goals with 27. The only likely player to score a hat-trick today is Tanner Pearson but no one is rooting for him to hit 11 goals. Pettersson’s goal scoring has been dormant for far too long and the voters need to be reminded of the shot that gave him “elite” status. Bo hasn’t scored since the last Ottawa game on March 20 and Elias was three games prior to that against the Devils. The effort will be there today but will the results?
- Quinn Hughes has been as advertised so far this season, even in such a short time. As you know on the CA GDT, there are bold predictions that litter this area and you’re about to have a truth bomb dropped on you: Quinn Hughes will accumulate three points today and tie Brandon Sutter with six points on the season. Six points. Putting Hughes on PP1 would get him there sooner, you can be sure of that.
- After a season’s worth of line combinations, the line of Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, and Josh Leivo is the CF% leader with 55.96%. That’s OK but adding a player like Artemi Panarin or Jordan Eberle would surely help Boeser and Pettersson reach their next level of production. Jeff Skinner would be a nice addition as well, maybe on the wing of Bo Horvat? This team needs change if they’re going to the next level. Adding another 20+ goals to the team would really help the Canucks stay in the mix for next year’s postseason.
- Luke Schenn has absolutely obliterated the hitz counter for the Canucks this season. Today will be his 18th game as a Canuck and a spirited 10 hit performance will put him 9th on the team in that category. Even the hitz king, Michael Del Zotto, only had a 4.0 hits/GP while Schenn sports a massive 4.5 for the Canucks. On the whole, Schenn is a solid 4.0/GP which puts him sixth-overall in the league. Schenn isn’t all about laying the body, he has the ability to keep the puck away from the back of the net, something a former defender could not do. As a seventh defenseman next season, he’d be a nice addition.
- Looking off Boeser and putting Quinn on PP1 have been movements that have taken shape amongst Canucks Nation and when Boeser started receiving passes on the power-play, he started scoring goals… lots of them. If Hughes gets a full game of top-unit duty, he’s good for at least a goal and he’ll set at least one up as well. One way or another, we get what we want and this is a movement that needs to be appeased.
MY 94 CENTS
It’s always bittersweet to see a season like this end as a Canucks fan. On the one hand, it’s over, there’s no more suffering and we can all look forward to next season when we get a full season of all the young stars and the crowning of Bo Horvat as Captain. On the other hand, there are five fingers (just kidding), watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs without a team in the race is never easy.
I personally can use a break and now I have time to watch the Blue Jays screw their team up the same way Vancouver has.
THE TWITTER TAKE
What is this point of this? We get that he is amazing but this is just ridiculous! He needs to try that in a game now.
THE OUTRO
Thank you to all the supporters (and haters) of the Game Day Thread. Whether you love to read these previews or literally just click to see if I’m going to sullen the name of Erik Gudbranson yet again, I appreciate you tuning in. Believe it or not, a lot of work goes into these and unless you check it out, they’re just words on a screen.
Tune into all the articles about to blow up your computer screens as the Draft nears and you want to know every single prospect that’s out there. I won’t be writing any of those, I leave that to the smart people that run this site. It’s time for me to take a break for the summer and I look forward to previewing next season’s Canucks which could turn out to be one of the most exciting teams in the franchise’s history.
See ya soon!
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