Canucks Army GDT #30 – Canucks @ Predators

The Canucks visit the house Joel Ward built JP Dumont’s old stomping grounds Music City to take on the Nashville Predators for the first time this season, as they conclude their 4-game roadtrip. If recent history is any indication, they’re due for a stinker.. but trends are there to be broken, so I wouldn’t be putting too much stock into this particular one of up-and-down play.

If you haven’t heard by now, they’ll be without Alex Burrows (for both this game, and the next several ones as he tries to recover from a recently broken jaw). That’s no excuse, though; their opponent tonight has been dealing with a litany of injuries all season long, and they’ll be icing a depleted lineup once again in this one.

Wake up, Carrie, there’s a game to be played!

Puck Drop: 5:00 PM PDT

TV: Rogers Sportsnet Pacific

Radio: Team1040

The Canucks didn’t take any line rushes this morning, but it’s believed that we’ll see Ryan Kesler bumped back up to play with the Sedins in Burrows’ stead. Mike Santorelli will also move up a spot, to fill that 2C void left by Kesler. He’s expected to play between Jannik Hansen and Chris Higgins. 

That means that Richardson will move up to center Booth and Weise on the 3rd line, with Zac Dalpe playing the pivot on the 4th between Sestito and Zack Kassian (who makes his return to the lineup). The season of line juggling continues..

Before we get to their opponent, let’s take a moment to reminisce about the very limited playoff history between these two teams. Is it just me, or does this seem like it was another lifetime ago?

Some thoughts on the Preds:

-Patric Hornqvist actually came back from his injury on Saturday, so that should give the Predators a much-needed boost in the scoring department. He plays the 1RW role next to Fisher and Wilson, in case you were wondering.

-Shea Weber took a puck to the eye area recently, and won’t be playing in this one.. which’ll surely help the Canucks’ cause (while also making those Shea Weber dreamers out there a little sad that they don’t get to see him play). With him out, I expect we’ll see a ton of Roman Josi and Seth Jones, both of whom played in excess of 30 minutes in their last game. Speaking of Jones, I recommend reading this post on him by our good friend Thom Drance. 

-Pekka Rinne remains out with his hip injury, and Marek Mazanec has been announced as the starter for the 12th straight game. Who? Exactly. Mazanec has a .932 save % on the year, and hasn’t allowed more than 2 goals against since October 15th. I’d chalk this up to just another guy benefitting from Nashville, but we saw what happened to poor ol’ Carter Hutton during his limited tenure as the team’s starter when Rinne first went down.

-Remember how the Canucks were super quiet during the start of free agency back in July? Well, the Predators were the exact opposite, but unfortunately for them they went crazy spending a ton of money on 3rd/4th liners. They brought in Stalberg, Cullen, Hendricks, and Nystrom.. and it hasn’t gotten them very far.

-The Predators might have the best crew of people who follow/write/tweet about them out of any team in the league. I would definitely recommend following Dirk Hoag, and Joshua Cooper. 

Data comes from Extra Skater and NHL.com.

Music City Mastery – If you think the Canucks will allow 2 goals or less in a win, you can get 3.25-to-1 odds on it. These bet is actually very appealing. The Predators lost 7 times in November, and here are the goals they scored in those games: 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 2. They struggle scoring goals, and a 2-1 or 3-2 victory is very well within the realm of possibility.

Bombs from the Blueline – You get $4.50 for every $1 you wager if either Jason Garrison or Alex Edler score a goal. Man, I am so freakin’ bitter about Sestito getting credited for that Garrison goal against the Hurricanes. Grr, life is not fair.

*Don’t forget to sign up with the Canucks Army promo code "CANUCKSARMY" to receive $25 worth of free bets.