CANUCKS ARMY GDT 24 – CANUCKS @ RANGERS
By Always90four
6 years agoThere aren’t many places where individual performances stand out or are immortalized but Madison Square Garden is a special place where stars can take off. A rare “morning” game features the Vancouver Canucks and the team that stole the 1994 Stanley Cup from their grasps, the New York Rangers. Former coach Alain Vigneault will be behind the bench to see rookie Brock Boeser tear apart his defense.
Vancouver and New York split the season series last year with the Canucks taking the W in New York as they hope to do again today.
Let’s do this!
WATCH / LISTEN / FACE-OFF
TV: SNET-P
RADIO: SN650
PUCK DROP: 11:00 AM
LINE COMBINATIONS
Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher are back so Alex Biega is out. Erik Gudbranson is out (upper body) as well which is fitting now that the Canucks two best defensemen (arguably) are healthy. The options at forward are starting to be questionable as Sam Gagner hasn’t done jack squat for most of the season, which plays a bit to the linemates he’s had and Brendan Gaunce hasn’t had a goal since Willie Desjardins started saying “really good.” Have to think Nikolay Goldobin will be called up soon.
Jacob Markstrom played against the Devils and was pretty darn good but Anders Nilsson needs to be given the chance to win the job as well.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 SVEN BAERTSCHI |  BO HORVAT |  BROCK BOESER |
 DANIEL SEDIN |  HENRIK SEDIN |  JAKE VIRTANEN |
 LOUI ERIKSSON |  MARKUS GRANLUND |  THOMAS VANEK |
 BRENDAN GAUNCE |  BRANDON SUTTER |  SAM GAGNER |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER |  DERRICK POULIOT |
 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO |  ALEX BIEGA |
 BEN HUTTON | |
Boo Nieves will miss today’s game with a hip pointer. David Desharnais will take his place. No other lineup notes for the Rangers thus far.
Henrik Lundqvist will guard the net for New York.
New York Rangers lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 CHRIS KREIDER |  MIKA ZIBANEJAD |  PAVEL BUCHNEVICH |
 RICK NASH |  KEVIN HAYES |  JESPER FAST |
 MICHAEL GRABNER |  J.T. MILLER |  MATS ZUCCARELLO |
 JIMMY VESEY |  BOO NIEVES |  PAUL CAREY |
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- It’s been stated before and it’s being stated again, Daniel Sedin is TWO points away from 1000. Pretty special milestone. Henrik will do his best to help out brother Daniel but knowing them it will be the last thing on their minds. Expect Brock Boeser to be the recipient of both passes.
- When Brock gets his two goals tonight from Daniel and Henrik, he’ll be temporarily tied for 20th in league scoring, no big deal. Boeser’s P/60 is 1.10 (3.05 @ 5v5 13th overall) good for 17th overall and he’s T9 in PPP with 10 points. Ridiculous, his “rookie” lead in multiple categories doesn’t even need to be mentioned. Time to shine again #flow
- Bo Horvat is due for some fireworks as well. With points in three of his last five games, Horvat did go two games without anything. Today would be nice to rebound and match his two-assist output from last season’s game at MSG.
- King Henrik Lundqvist is 2-2 in his last four starts against the Canucks with eight goals against and a 2.54 GAA in that time. The Canucks have been able to match those two-goal games so they’ll have a good chance of beating the Rangers today.
- With Tanev and Stecher back in the lineup, the Canucks GA/60 at 5v5 should get better than its 1.9 goals it currently allows. Only the Flyers are lower with 1.78/60. Not the most exciting hockey but they’re responsible for their actions. Maybe not all Millenials are careless after all?
THE TWITTER TAKE
What… what if Brock did this?
MY 94 CENTS
These morning games (west coast morning) throw a wrench into player’s preparation so it could take at least a period to get comfy. Keeping the puck out of their own zone in the first will help dictate how well the Canucks play overall. The spotlight is officially on Brock Boeser now so every shift, every pass, every decision will be over-analyzed.
Madison Square Garden is THE mecca for sports so if a player like Boeser wanted to step his game up, today would be a good day.
OVER / UNDER
Daniel Sedin points (+/- 1) Someway, somehow Daniel hits the 1000 point mark and former coach Alain Vigneault is there to congratulate him. Take the over.
Troy Stecher goals (+/- 0) He’s been gone awhile and he’s due for a meaningful goal. Take the over.
The Pint is your home for all things game day. Come down for game day specials like $5 mugs of bud and bud light and get 20% off food if you’re a season ticket holders
Recent articles from Always90four
