CANUCKS ARMY GDT 34 – CANUCKS VS. FLAMES
By Always90four
6 years agoFrom the depths of despair, the Canucks have bounced back to relevancy and are eager to take on the visiting Calgary Flames on Hometown Hockey. Calgary is coming off of a discouraging shutout loss to the Predators last night and adding insult to injury, they hopped on a plane to face the Canucks today. Brutal, right?
Brock Boeser and the Sedins will look to continue their impressive run with another strong showing while the rest of the team has barely been able to stay healthy. Regardless, this one should be another Vancouver/Calgary classic.
Let’s…Do…This!
WATCH / LISTEN / FACE-OFF
TV: SNET-P
RADIO: SN650
PUCK DROP: 5:00 PM
LINE COMBINATIONS
Erik Gudbranson could find his way back into the lineup this evening while Ben Hutton could be a game-time decision after a collision during practice yesterday. Practice makes perfect isn’t entirely true in these days. Watch out, Ben! Brandon Sutter is apparently another week or so away which means he’ll spend Christmas on the IR.
Jacob Markstrom has earned another straight start.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 DANIEL SEDIN |  HENRIK SEDIN |  THOMAS VANEK |
 LOUI ERIKSSON |  SAM GAGNER |  BROCK BOESER |
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN |  ALEX BURMISTROV |  JAKE VIRTANEN |
 MARKUS GRANLUND |  NIC DOWD |  BRENDAN GAUNCE |
Doesn’t look like the Flames have any changes thus far. Stay tuned to DFO for updates.
The Flames just don’t have better options so Mike Smith most likely starts again this evening. Ouch!
Calgary Flames lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 JOHNNY GAUDREAU |  SEAN MONAHAN |  MICHEAL FERLAND |
 MATTHEW TKACHUK |  MIKAEL BACKLUND |  MICHAEL FROLIK |
 SAM BENNETT |  MARK JANKOWSKI |  GARNET HATHAWAY |
 TROY BROUWER |  MATT STAJAN |  CURTIS LAZAR |
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- A daily reminder that Brock Boeser is amazing! He currently sits 5th in the NHL with 17 goals, three behind Anders Lee of NYI for 3rd in the league. It’s not even Christmas yet and this kid is tearing up the NHL. Bo Horvat had 20 goals all of last year and that led the Canucks. Things are different now, very, very different.
- Henrik and Daniel Sedin look happy these days. Henrik has five assists in his last three games while Daniel needed two more games to equal that total. They continue to tell the media this is the best they’ve felt in years and with the spotlight now off them and a slightly reduced role on the team as far as scoring goes, hockey looks fun for the Sedins again. Could tonight be another display of Sedinery?
- Jake Virtanen might be ready to break out. From the mini-stick breakaway to his power move to the inside becoming more and more of a thing, he’s poised for some magic to happen. Whether it’s a monster hit or finally putting away a chance that shows coach Travis Green that Jake is ready to be taken seriously, he’s on the verge of great things.
- So far this year, there has been goalie controversy followed by anointing a starter followed by goals from center ice. The Canucks goaltending situation has been consistently inconsistent and for whatever reason, that’s a good thing. As long as Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson keep everyone guessing, Thatcher Demko can continue to develop. A Markstrom shu… win would be nice to see.
- Going for it again, a Mike Smith meltdown. It can’t be far off, right?
THE TWITTER TAKE
Uh ya, no kidding. Does he take mail-in requests?
MY 94 CENTS
The Canucks really have a way of playing rope-a-dope this year. I don’t know what it is about tonight’s game but I have a feeling they run the Flames out of the building. It sounds crazy but there is JUST enough confidence in this banged up team that it looks like they are too naive to know they should be worse than they are.
Brock Boeser is also still a Canuck, so that gives me hope.
OVER / UNDER
Brock Boeser first period points (+/- 1) The over feels like an edgy thing to do but I’m edgy. Take the over.
Canucks total goals (+/- 5) For whatever reason, it feels like a bizarro game. Going with the push on this but one more goal could be in the cards.
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