CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 39 – CANUCKS VS. AVALANCHE
By Always90four
7 years ago
Happy New Years folks!
Your Vancouver Canucks are holders of a 3 game win streak and it feels pretty awesome! It’s evident that there are still plenty of things to fix with this club but they’re getting better results. Tonight, the Colorado Avalanche come to town sporting the worst record in the league.
This also means the Canucks probably won’t be in on Nolan Patrick this year and with the Avalanche’s season already in the dumps, the rumours of Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog getting traded will once again start heating up.
I suppose Vancouver could use either of those guys.
BROADCAST INFO
TV: SNET-P
RADIO: TSN 1040
PUCK DROP: 7:00 PM
LINE COMBOS
Will Anton Rodin be in a Canuck jersey tonight? Is Brendan Gaunce the forgotten son? Why do I still not know Michael Chaput’s number? All questions that could be answered this evening. Changes won’t be drastic tonight as this team is RED HOT (insert fire emoji).
Ryan Miller is the #1 goalie in Vancouver and even though Markstrom was a beast against the Oilers, Miller should start.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Jayson Megna |
 Loui Eriksson |  Brandon Sutter |  Markus Granlund |
 Sven Baertschi |  Bo Horvat |  Alexandre Burrows |
 Brendan Gaunce |  Michael Chaput |  Jack Skille |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Troy Stecher |
 Luca Sbisa |  Chris Tanev |
 Ben Hutton |  Nikita Tryamkin |
It’s a crying shame people want to blow this team up. You spoiled rotten punks. Colorado going with the big guns up front in Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan Mackinnon. Future Canuck, Matt Duchene, heads up the second line and the ghost of Jarome Iginla is wasting away somewhere back there.
The Avalanche failed to steal any orange pylons from the tarmac when they boarded their flight so Calvin Pickard will probably start in their place. I’m trying to be nice but both goalies have been horri-awful (that’s horrible and awful)
Colorado Avalanche lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Gabriel Landeskog |  Nathan Mackinnon |  Mikko Rantanen |
 Mikhail Grigorenko |  Matt Duchene |  Rene Bourque |
 Blake Comeau |  Carl Soderberg |  Jarome Iginla |
 Cody McLeod |  John Mitchell |  Andreas Martinsen |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Fedor Tyutin |  Tyson Barrie |
 Francois Beauchemin |  Nikita Zadorov |
 Patrick Wiercioch |  Eric Gelinas |
GAME NOTES, STATS AND OTHER INTERESTING INFO
- Canucks are going for 4 wins in a row. My laptop kept trying to correct me but I was able to override it. This is not a typo, do not adjust your screens. Sadly, this is the height of excitement these days.
- Bo Horvat leads the Canucks in points, awesomeness, and shorthanded goals. Time to hand over the reigns Willie, it’s Bo’s team now.
- Sven Baertschi has points in back to back games and with the Avalanche dead last in GA/GM at 3.36, that gives the Canucks 9 possible guys points if Colorado stays true to that number. I like Sven’s chances.
- We’ve had this conversation before but the Canucks meet yet another team that excels in the faceoff circle. Colorado is 2nd in the league in win% while the Canucks sit 6th. You know, acquiring Matt Duchene could boost that number. Just saying.
- I take back what I said about Jannik Hansen being the best possible linemate for the Sedins; Jayson Megna has taken over that mantle. The numbers are stunning. Combined together at 5v5 they have a GF% of 100. Guys, this is the future RIGHT HERE! (please note: they’ve played just over 38 minutes together at even strength, but who’s counting?)
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Imagine a team with all… that… talent and they still want to blow it up. Canucks fans, maybe it’ll be alright.
OK, sure they’ve won some Cups.
MY TAKE
Two points out of a playoff spot, are you kidding me? Normally, the Avalanche would probably make the Canucks pay but Colorado is 2-8 in it’s last 10 games and that’s pretty awful. Both Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom have been spectacular as of late and goaltending alone will give the Canucks a very good position to win.
Combine that with Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Alex Burrows’ game-changing pace and the Canucks could start turning some heads.
4 IN A ROW ANYONE?
The Canucks could equal their run they started the season with at four straight wins if they beat the Avalanche tonight. It seems like such a tall task but after the game against the Oilers, I’d say it’s definitely possible.
If the Canucks are going to make things interesting in 2017 they’ll have to address the speed issue: they don’t have much. The Sedins are pedestrian and they continue to keep Horvat and Co. in a secondary role. Their speed is in the young guys and win or lose, they have to put them in a lot more.
Canucks sneak this out somehow and get the W.
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