CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 22 – CANUCKS @ AVALANCHE (HNIC)
By Always90four
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Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin
Man, what a heartbreaker last night was! The Canucks look to bounce back this evening against an Avalanche team that has bounced around both win and loss columns in the past week or so. Things aren’t so bad if you look and realize the Avalanche are TIED with the Canucks right now in the standings.
That means both of them are struggling to be competitive. It’s the first meeting of the season between these two teams and if the Oilers can beat these guys, so can the Canucks.
Let’s do this!
BROADCAST INFO
TV: CBC – HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA
RADIO: TSN 1040
PUCK DROP: 7:00PM
LINE COMBOS
Is Philip Larsen in? The mystery looms but I’ll tell you one thing, Jayson Megna isn’t coming out yet. That kid is pretty darn good at hockey. No Sven Baertschi? No problem for Alex Burrows and Bo Horvat. This is the weirdest mishmash of lines but somehow it’s working. Alex Grenier was recalled. Does he play, I just, I just don’t know.
Jacob Markstrom is starting as Ryan Miller got the nod last night. That and Willie said he would.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Brandon Sutter |
 Markus Granlund |  Michael Chaput |  Loui Eriksson |
 Sven Baertschi |  Bo Horvat |  Alexandre Burrows |
 Jack Skille |  Brendan Gaunce |  Jayson Megna |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Troy Stecher |
 Ben Hutton |  Erik Gudbranson |
 Luca Sbisa |  Nikita Tryamkin |
Gabriel Landeskog is still out, thank goodness (he plays kinda dirty against the Canucks) and Rene Bourque did not practice Friday with a sickness (thanksgiving hangover?) so keep an eye out for his status.
Spencer Martin was called up on Friday. Semyon Varlamov has the ol’ upper body injury so Calvin Pickard gets the start. Martin has 8 wins in the AHL which tie for first down there so worst case scenario, the Canucks lose to yet another nobody.
Colorado Avalanche lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Rene Bourque |  Nathan Mackinnon |  Mikko Rantanen |
 Mikhail Grigorenko |  Carl Soderberg |  Matt Duchene |
 Blake Comeau |  John Mitchell |  Jarome Iginla |
 Cody McLeod |  Joe Colborne |  Andreas Martinsen |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Fedor Tyutin |  Erik Johnson |
 Patrick Wiercioch |  Tyson Barrie |
 Francois Beauchemin |  Eric Gelinas |
GAME NOTES, STATS AND OTHER INTERESTING INFO
- How bad are the Avalanche? They’re 29th in goals scored so far this season. They have some company with the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators sandwiching them. Awful, just awful. No wonder they’re struggling as much as the Canucks, THEY CAN’T SCORE! Side note: this is a good thing for the Canucks.
- Odd stat, for these two teams anyways: The Avalanche lead the Canucks by 0.2 basis points in FOW% at 51.8; good enough for 5th overall. I love face-off wins and even though both of these teams are challenging for the title of worst team in the league, winning half the face-offs you take gives you more opportunities to score goals… unless you’re the Avs oddly enough.
- Bo Horvat is playing out of his mind right now and until he isn’t, I’m talking about him. He’s one point back of Nathan Mackinnon (and 12 other guys) for 53rd in league scoring with 15 points. Something tells me Horvat has a hatty in him. Pair that with the FOW and you have a recipe for success.
- Jacob Markstrom only played the Avalanche one single time last season, in Colorado to boot, and he won allowing only one goal. Will we see a repeat? He’s pretty good and the Canucks just lost so they should win tonight.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
MY TAKE
Megna might be good at hockey and he might have a future in said sport. The goal last night was off the charts and go figure, Alex Burrows and Bo Horvat help make it happen. The speed was surprising and he has smooth hands. Sorry Jack Skille, I think you lost your spot when Baertschi comes back.
CAN THE CANUCKS SCORE FIRST IN 3 STRAIGHT GAMES?
It’s a notion I believe in from the depths of my heart. Some way, somehow, the Canucks are scoring before the other team does to start the game and this is pretty amazing. With Markstrom in net this evening, I feel confident the Canucks will not only score first, but they’ll win too!
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