Canucks Army GDT #5: Canucks @ Stars
By Rhys Jessop
9 years agoHere at Canucks Army, we make no secret that we’re all fans of Jamie Benn. And really, can you blame us? What’s not to love? The guy scores highlight reel goals, has won World Junior and Olympic gold medals, hits like a freight train, once busted open Jarome Iginla, and to top it all off, is from Victoria, B.C.
Benn solidified himself as a legitimate NHL star last season when he found an elite linemate in Tyler Seguin, and Jim Nill’s offseason additions of Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky look to have vaulted Dallas into the conversation as one of the outside contenders to wrestle the Central Division crown away from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Needless to say, Tuesday’s 5:30 PM showdown against the Stars is going to be another stiff test for the Canucks. Read past the jump.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 5:30 PM PST
TV: Sportsnet Vancouver Hockey
Radio: TSN 1040
Lineup
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Radim Vrbata |
 Chris Higgins |  Nick Bonino |  Alexandre Burrows |
 Shawn Matthias |  Brad Richardson |  Zack Kassian |
 Derek Dorsett |  Linden Vey |  Jannik Hansen |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Chris Tanev |
 Luca Sbisa |  Kevin Bieksa |
 Dan Hamhuis |  Yannick Weber |
Only a couple of minor tweaks to the lineup since Saturday, as Shawn Matthias swaps places with Linden Vey, bumping Vey to the 4th line, and Yannick Weber takes Luca Sbisa’s spot with Dan Hamhuis. Ryan Miller also draws back in, looking to build on Friday’s 2-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Canucks’ new bench boss Willie Desjardins is making his return to Texas tonight, as he was an associate coach with Dallas from 2010-2012, and the head coach of the Texas Stars, Dallas’ AHL affiliate, for the past two seasons. While behind the Texas bench, Desjardins guided the AHL Stars to a 91-40-21 record, winning the Calder Cup last season.
The Stars are off to a solid start to the year, with a 2-1-2 record. Tyler Seguin leads Dallas with 8 points in 4 games, and Jason Spezza sits second on the team with 7. Spezza started the year on Dallas’ second line, but has quickly found himself on the first line with Seguin and Jamie Benn, bumping Seguin to right wing. Dallas does have enough forward depth to load up one line though, as Ales Hemsky and Erik Cole find themselves on lines 3 and 4 respectively.
The Stars have Antoine Roussel, Cody Eakin, and Ryan Garbutt projected to be their second line tonight, and this trio, while traditionally effective, has struggled to start the year. Eakin in particular is sporting a paltry 37.1% Corsi, while Roussel and Garbutt are both hovering in the low-40’s. Dallas is a sub-50% Corsi team so far this year, and the struggles of this unit are undoubtedly a massive reason for that. Fortunately for the Stars (and unfortunately for their future opponents), this performance is out of line with what to expect from Dallas’ depth given their history, so a regression well towards 50% or better is in order.
At the end of the day though, this is very much a matchup between two elite first lines, and two teams that have adopted a more up-tempo, offensive style. This is especially true for Dallas, as they play some of the highest event 5v5 hockey in the NHL. They rank 9th in CorsiFor/60, but are the 5th worst team at preventing shot attempts in the league too. Both teams have also been traditionally strong on the powerplay, so we could be in for a 6-5 game tonight. Fun!
And we’ll leave you with some of Jamie Benn’s finest goals. Just because.
Jamie Benn is pretty good at this hockey thing.
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