CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 24 – CANUCKS @ STARS

8 years ago

The last time the Canucks faced off in Dallas, there was a certain je ne sais quoi about the music selection throughout the 2nd period. Amusing? Yes. Annoying? Depends. Vancouver was OT’d in Dallas last time around but don’t expect this previously lost Canucks team to dwell on that. The Canucks have 2 wins in their last 3 games and are starting to see results from their efforts. Goodbye Nickelback, hello Drake…No, wait, Tom Cochrane. No sorry again, um…Bieb…OK just watch the game.

BROADCAST INFO

TV: SNET PAC

RADIO: TSN 1040

PUCK DROP: 5:30 PM

LINE COMBOS

Safe to say that top line isn’t changing anytime soon because they’re AWESOME!!! Baertschi slots in for Virtanen, but I liked Jake’s game on Wednesday so Willie don’t be stupid. Jared McCann’s line is really starting to get going and with all the “growing up” he’s done in the last month, it’s not surprising. Sutter/Hutton are both still out, but the back end seems to be weathering the storm.

~~Jacob Markstrom should start,~~ but I really have no clue. I’m about as consistent here as I am predicting winners. Ryan Miller has the net tonight (Updated 11:30am)

Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:

LW	C	RW
Daniel Sedin	Henrik Sedin	Jannik Hansen
Chris Higgins	Bo Horvat	Alexandre Burrows
Jake Virtanen	Jared McCann	Radim Vrbata
Brandon Prust	Adam Cracknell	Derek Dorsett

Defensive Pairings
Alexander Edler	Chris Tanev
Dan Hamhuis	Yannick Weber
Luca Sbisa	Matt Bartkowski

First and foremost, the Stars are still “stars”. Benn, Seguin and Klingberg are in the top 10 in scoring and its not an accident. I believe the split up Benn and Seguin last game to spread out the offence but loading up the top two lines, heck the first three lines are lethal. The Stars lost a high scoring affair on Tuesday to the Sens 7-4 and they also lost goalie Kari Lehtonen when Klingberg ran into him. Goalie Jack Campbell has been recalled. He was good once, not so much right now.

Uncle Niemi should start and the Canucks have done alright against him if we aren’t including 2010.

Dallas Stars lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:

LW	C	RW
Jamie Benn	Tyler Seguin	Patrick Sharp
Mattias Janmark	Jason Spezza	Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel	Cody Eakin	Valeri Nichushkin
Colton Sceviour	Vernon Fiddler	Ales Hemsky

Defensive Pairings
Alex Goligoski	John Klingberg
Johnny Oduya	Jason Demers
Jyrki Jokipakka	Jordie Benn

REASONS TO WATCH THIS GAME

Radim “The Dream” Vrbata seems to have found the magic touch. His non-buzzer beater against the Leafs, mean nothing late tally against the Devils and obviously his last outing against the Wild on Wednesday have put Vrby in a position to finally reap the rewards he has so justly deserved. Twitter was quick to put him on the trade block after that game which isn’t surprising but what if he can get his team mates going as well? Might the Canucks bounce back this year?
As this season continues, Willie Desjardins has to rotate his goalies more. Ryan Miller is 35, not Sedins 35 though, and he needs to be spelled to stay fresh. His 2.51 GAA and .912 SA% are good for 23rd in the league so um….why? Jacob Markstrom hasn’t seen many games yet, 3, so he needs to be broken in. His stats aren’t great but on 3 games you can’t exactly define his season yet. If WD is going to trust the young guys in front of the net, it has to translate to the pipes as well.
What an odd season; we’re cheering for Luca Sbisa, we support Ryan Miller and the 4th line is good? I dunno folks, I’m scared.The Cracknell/Dorsett/Prust line has 14 points and after the Sedin line and the defense, they’re right up there in ice time. Not this year but possibly next season, we may see the return of a full 4 line team in Vancouver. I’ll take the build up though, this has been fun.
We were all caught off guard with the Nickeback angle last game and it ended up viralling the internets. So what does Michael Gruber aka @tweetgrubes, the Stars PA music guru have in store? We can only imagine. Maybe nothing…maaaaybe nothing but….maybe that’s what he wants us to think. 10 points for winning guess. I’m taking Alanis.
After the Canucks got to enjoy an American Thanksgiving at Jerry’s World where the Cowboys were um, pasted by the Panthers, maybe they can take a few tips from the Panthers D and Cam Newton’s ability to think like the Matrix in traffic. The Sedins do it already but imagine if the rest of the team had that kind of confidence. OH the possibilities!

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Not sure what a Klingbae is, sounds semi-lame but he/she sees the future and I don’t like the Canucks chances. Can we settle for 8-2?

MY TAKE

In typical Canucks fashion, they’ll make this one close and squeak out a win but that’s not the official prediction. Vancouver used to own Dallas for a time and as good as the Stars are, they aren’t perfect. Bo Horvat is due to finally score one of those highlight reel goals and Vrbata is clearly in the zone. I’m going with a lopsided Nucks victory to start the weekend on a high note….A Dan Hinote. Wrong team, but who cares?