CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 26 – CANUCKS @ DEVILS
By Always90four
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Photo Credit: Bob Frid – USA TODAY Sports
The Canucks are back in action this evening against the New Jersey Devils. It’s an early one, so hopefully, your boss lets you leave in time to catch the opening puck drop. Vancouver is coming off an emotional victory against the Leafs and will look to continue their success in the swamp.
Willie Desjardins’ boys lost both matchups versus the Devils last season but 2016 is a new campaign. This Canucks team is different. I’m hoping you’ll be able to come up with a reason why they’re better.
BROADCAST INFO
TV: SNET-P
RADIO: TSN 1040
PUCK DROP: 4:00PM
LINE COMBOS
Awful news for the Canucks as Derek Dorsett will be out quite awhile with disk regeneration surgery. The 4th line will stay intact as will pretty much everything else. Chris Tanev is close to returning, so when he does it’s likely Philip Larsen is the odd man out.
Ryan Miller will be ready to rock at the Prudential Center when the puck drops. (He’s starting)
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 | |
|---|---|
 Luca Sbisa |  Troy Stecher |
 Ben Hutton |  Erik Gudbranson |
 Nikita Tryamkin |  Philip Larsen |
Basically the same lineup from the game against the Predators.
Cory Schneider, he of Canuck fame, will start against his former team. Good luck old friend.
New Jersey Devils lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Taylor Hall |  Adam Henrique |  P.A. Parenteau |
 Michael Cammalleri |  Travis Zajac |  Kyle Palmieri |
 Beau Bennett |  Sergey Kalinin |  Devante Smith-Pelly |
 Miles Wood |  Vernon Fiddler |  Nick Lappin |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Andy Greene |  Damon Severson |
 Yohann Auvitu |  Ben Lovejoy |
 John Moore |  Kyle Quincey |
GAME NOTES, STATS AND OTHER INTERESTING INFO
- The Canucks keep games close. So do the Devils. Overtime is already well acquainted with both teams this season with the Canucks and Devils combining for 21 games needing extra time or a shootout. Safe to say this one won’t be decided in 60 minutes.
- With R2-D2 in the building on Monday, there was a bit of Star Wars fever around the Canucks. To take a page out of the famed series book, the Canucks have found a new hope after… that was awful. Let’s start again – the Canucks look to strike back against the Dev… nope. Vancouver lost both games last year and for a team that used to feast on Eastern opponents, it might be time to start that trend again.
- Alex Burrows, Sven Baertschi and Bo Horvat are all the rage right now in Vancouver. The new “big 3” is getting some stats that look quite favourable on them. Sharing a combined a 54.8 CF%, they are driving play and getting the bounces that have kept the Canucks as close to winning as they can get most nights.
- Speaking of Sven, 6 points in his last 5GP is reason to breath calmly. That 2nd rounder paid off in spades for the Canucks. Jim Benning sure knows what he’s doi… I did it again. I’m sorry.
- Solely a guess, but Troy Stecher has a monster game tonight. I have zero stats to back up why.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Sure, this was yesterday, but MAN THAT IS SO COOL! Ryan Miller was seen off camera asking if Erik Gudbranson might consider switching places with R2D2 tonight.
MY TAKE
Not much separates the Canucks and Devils. Both have some great, young defensemen, both have a few young goal scorers and both teams are stuck in New Jersey for at least 60 minutes tonight. Former Canuck, Cory Schneider will want to show his old team how dumb they were for trading him and wunderkind Bo Horvat will once again show everyone why that trade was the right one. Canucks take it in OT.
ARE THE CANUCKS STILL “IN IT?”
With every win the Canucks register, it keeps them in the hunt for the playoffs. The rebuild, as it’s known, becomes increasingly more difficult as they climb the standings. They can still build through the draft, but Vancouver will also need to pawn off some assets to develop the right mix; it doesn’t seem like they want to do that.
But, yes, they are still in it.
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