Canucks Army GDT #49 – Canucks vs Sharks

Broadcast Info

Lineups

LW	C	RW
Daniel Sedin	Henrik Sedin	Alexandre Burrows
Shawn Matthias	Nick Bonino	Radim Vrbata
Chris Higgins	Linden Vey	Jannik Hansen
Ronalds Kenins	Bo Horvat	Derek Dorsett

Defensive Pairings
Alexander Edler	Luca Sbisa
Dan Hamhuis	Yannick Weber
Ryan Stanton	Adam Clendening

Frank Corrado and Chris Tanev will miss tonight’s game with undisclosed injuries (though it is suspected that Tanev may be battling “concussion-like symptoms”). Zack Kassian will be a healthy scratch once again. Ryan Miller gets the nod in goal.

LW	C	RW
Melker Karlsson	Joe Thornton	Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau	Logan Couture	Matthew Nieto
Tomas Hertl	James Sheppard	Barclay Goodrow
John Scott	Andrew Desjardins	Tyler Kennedy

Defensive Pairings
Marc-Edouard Vlasic	Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon	Matt Tennyson
Matt Irwin	Scott Hannan

Antti Niemi will start tonight after Alex Stalock played last night in Calgary. Raffi Torres, Justin Braun, and Tommy Wingels are all out with injuries.

Head to Head

Storylines

• Kassian Scratched – As is getting to be a common occurrence around these parts, Zack Kassian finds himself confined to the press box once again tonight. We’ve beaten this issue to death of late, and if you’re a regular reader, you know that we think this is silly. Kassian is good, getting crushed by poor luck, and should be in the lineup on a consistent basis, ahead of Linden Vey, or even Ronalds Kenins, Derek Dorsett, or Bo Horvat. The Canucks are doing themselves no favours by having an asset sour on them and depreciate into nothing by not playing.
• Pacific Dogfight – The Pacific division is more inept this year than it has been in years past, and a lot of that has to do with both the Sharks and Canucks being shells of their former selves. Neither is a good team at 5-on-5 anymore (San Jose is about average while the Canucks are slightly below average), neither team has particularly strong depth, and both could be tied at 61 points by the end of the night if Vancouver wins.
• Tanev Out – Chris Tanev will miss tonight’s game with what is being described as an “upper body injury.” Luca Sbisa is currently penciled in to take his place with Alex Edler, though this could change as game time approaches. Losing Tanev is a huge blow to the Canucks, as he has been nothing short of fantastic. The 25-year old soon-to-be RFA leads all Canucks regulars with a 53.5% Corsi, has been a mainstay on an excellent PK, and has added two goals and 11 assists.

Gameday Reading

• Canucks.com’s Tale of the Tape
• Derek Dorsett has struggled on the ice, but given Vancouver’s bottom-6 some much needed bite
• The Vancouver Sun looks at Canucks ticket prices falling in the wake of Monday’s game against Winnipeg
• Grainne with today’s Babych, Please!