Canucks Army GDT #42 – Canucks @ Flyers
By Rhys Jessop
9 years agoAfter a disappointing start to their 5-game road trip, the Vancouver Canucks are back in action tonight against the struggling Philadelphia Flyers. It may be the perfect storm for a Canucks team that can’t score, as “team defence” isn’t exactly a strength of Philadelphia, and starting goalie Steve Mason (who’s actually been quite good since being dealt from Columbus) is out with a lower body injury. Regardless, Vancouver will try to bump their scoring slump tonight while holding NHL points leader Jakub Voracek and superstar centre Claude Giroux in check.
Read past the jump for a preview of tonight’s match-up.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 4:00 PM PST
TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: TSN 1040
Lineups
Courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Radim Vrbata |
 Shawn Matthias |  Nick Bonino |  Alexandre Burrows |
 Chris Higgins |  Brad Richardson |  Zack Kassian |
 Derek Dorsett |  Bo Horvat |  Jannik Hansen |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Chris Tanev |
 Ryan Stanton |  Kevin Bieksa |
 Luca Sbisa |  Frank Corrado |
Chris Tanev is a game-time decision. Dan Hamhuis is scheduled to return tomorrow against the Hurricanes. Nick Bonino will play after missing practice on Thursday. Ryan Miller will play after recovering from the flu.
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Brayden Schenn |  Claude Giroux |  Jakub Voracek |
 Michael Raffl |  Pierre-Édouard Bellemare |  Wayne Simmonds |
 R.J. Umberger |  Sean Couturier |  Matt Read |
 Chris VandeVelde |  Vincent Lecavalier |  Zac Rinaldo |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Mark Streit |  Andrew MacDonald |
 Michael Del Zotto |  Nick Schultz |
 Luke Schenn |  Carlo Colaiacovo |
Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, and Nicklas Grossmann are still on IR. Steve Mason is out with a lower body injury. Scott Laughton will miss tonight’s game with an upper body injury. Ray Emery gets the start in goal.
Head to Head
Storylines
- Firing on No Cylinders – As we discussed last game going in to Nashville, the Canucks offence has struggled mightily of late. They mustered one goal against the stingy Preds, and that was at 6-on-5. Their last even strength goal came 3:09 in to the game against the Florida Panthers last Thursday, as Daniel Sedin snuck one behind Roberto Luongo. A lot of this is a lack of an ability to generate offence – Vancouver is 20th in the league in Chances/60 – but most of this is just bad luck too. Since December 1st, Vancouver is 29th in the NHL with a 5.5% team shooting percentage at 5-on-5.
- Crease Catastrophe – Steve Mason has resurrected his career since joining the Philadelphia Flyers, but he’s out tonight due to a lower body injury. The Flyers will instead turn to Ray Emery, who is 7-7-1 on the year with an atrocious 0.889 save percentage. If there was ever a night for Vancouver’s shooters to look really good, it’s tonight.
- Playoff Push – Vancouver’s recent three game slide has dropped them in to a tenuous position in the race for one of the final two wild card playoff spots. Another loss tonight coupled with a Calgary win over Arizona and a Dallas win over Winnipeg will leave the Canucks tied with Calgary for the final playoff spot and just two points up on the dangerous Stars. If the team’s goal is still to make the playoffs, then they can’t afford to keep dropping games.
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