CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 53 – CANUCKS @ PREDATORS
By Always90four
7 years ago
Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin – USA TODAY Sports
Liquor Depot. Best Selection. Best Prices.
There are no gimme’s from here on out for the Vancouver Canucks and with the start of their six game road trip beginning in Nashville this evening, they’ll need every bit of help they can get. The loss on Saturday to the Wild really stung because it was a measuring stick for what this team should expect.
They failed.
Tonight, the Predators will have a healthy lineup and it could give the Canucks fits right from the opening faceoff. Round one of the “biggest game of the season” starts tonight so I sure hope this team is ready for the challenge.
LINE COMBOS
Ben Hutton returns to the lineup after being out with an injured hand against the Flames on January 6th. Jayson Megna is back in the lineup (hooray!) and has taken over Brendan Gaunce’s spot.
Brendan Gaunce was sent down as he is waiver exempt. I don’t know if Jim Benning knows this but Jayson Megna is waiver exempt too! Well, not really but you could understand why I’d say that.
Ryan Miller is between the pipes and he may just be the only reason this will be close tonight.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Loui Eriksson |
 Markus Granlund |  Brandon Sutter |  Jannik Hansen |
 Sven Baertschi |  Bo Horvat |  Alexandre Burrows |
 Jayson Megna |  Michael Chaput |  Jack Skille |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Troy Stecher |
 Luca Sbisa |  Chris Tanev |
 Nikita Tryamkin |  Philip Larsen |
Roman Josi is back in the lineup after concussion protocol has kept him out since January 12. He did come back on the weekend but will be with his normal partner Ryan Ellis. This will be the Canucks first look at P.K Subban in a Predators uniform as he was injured the last time they played.
Pekka Rinne should start and he’s a tough customer. Don’t expect an easy night out of him.
Nashville Predators lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Filip Forsberg |  Ryan Johansen |  Viktor Arvidsson |
 Austin Watson |  Mike Fisher |  Craig Smith |
 Colin Wilson |  Calle Jarnkrok |  James Neal |
 Cody McLeod |  Colton Sissons |  Harry Zolnierczyk |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Mattias Ekholm |  P.K. Subban |
 Matt Irwin |  Ryan Ellis |
 Roman Josi |  Yannick Weber |
GAME NOTES, STATS AND OTHER INTERESTING INFO
- Brandon Sutter is still hanging around the FOW% leaderboard with a 55.7% rating. He’s had a pretty remarkable year and the fact that he’s healthy probably speaks to those numbers. The Canucks have struggled in many areas but faceoffs doesn’t seem to be one of them. This is one of those times where you can only imagine how bad this team would be without Sutter. Don’t imagine it, though.
- Skinny pants or baggy skateboard ones, it doesn’t seem to matter a whole lot to Pekka Rinne and Ryan Miller. Rinne has a phenomenal .922 SA%, while Miller is a good run away from boosting his .915. Despite the Canucks offensive woes, Ryan Miller has hung around with the NHL’s elite-ish and again, if he’s not playing the way he has then who really knows how far ahead of the Nolan Patrick sweepstakes Vancouver would be.
- Having the game on his stick seems to be Sven Baertschi’s M.O lately. Since January 1, he is tied for 2nd in the league with 3 GWG. Tough to say when that goal becomes official but Baertschi has a knack this year for scoring valuable goals. His linemate, Bo Horvat, is no stranger to this either.
- The road seems to favour Jack Skille’s CF%. Skille leads the Canucks with a 53.90% at 5v5 on the road. He is a close second to, wait for it, Jayson Megna on xGF% with 51.54, which he and Megna are the only two over 50%.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
This is pretty funny. We all need a laugh sometimes. What is scary is how close to the truth this is. I take it back, it’s not funny at all. It’s frightening.
MY TAKE
An essentially healthy lineup should warrant the Canucks a chance tonight but the Predators play Vancouver pretty tight so there really isn’t room for error. Even if Ryan Miller stands on his head, this one will be a grind until the end.
PRE-ROAD TRIP PREDICTION
I think I may be in the minority but I believe the Canucks can go 3-2-1 on this 6-game road trip. Wins against St. Louis, Buffalo and Columbus are my guess, outright losses to the Penguins and Bruins and an OTL tonight against the Predators. I’m wrong so often, though, so don’t put too much weight into it.
Recent articles from Always90four
