Canucks Army GDT #56 – Canucks vs Wild
By Rhys Jessop
9 years agoAfter a disappointing 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday, the Canucks are back looking to pull ahead of their Western conference rivals in the chase for the final playoff spots in the Pacific. They missed a chance to go 4 points up on both the Flames and Wild, and now find themselves in a position where a loss tonight could put them outside the playoff picture by tomorrow morning.
As if that wasn’t enough, they’ll be playing tonight without arguably their best defenseman against the hottest team in the NHL. Read past the jump for a preview.
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM PST
TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: TSN 1040
Lineups
Lineups provided by DailyFaceoff.com
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Alexandre Burrows |
 Chris Higgins |  Linden Vey |  Radim Vrbata |
 Derek Dorsett |  Shawn Matthias |  Zack Kassian |
 Ronalds Kenins |  Bo Horvat |  Jannik Hansen |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Dan Hamhuis |  Chris Tanev |
 Luca Sbisa |  Yannick Weber |
 Ryan Stanton |  Adam Clendening |
Alex Edler is out with an upper body injury. Alex Biega has been recalled from Utica but will not play. Yannick Weber will draw in to the lineup. Adam Clendening will take Edler’s spot on PP1 while Bo Horvat will play on the second power-play unit. Eddie Lack will start in goal.
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Zach Parise |  Mikko Koivu |  Jason Pominville |
 Thomas Vanek |  Mikael Granlund |  Justin Fontaine |
 Nino Niederreiter |  Charlie Coyle |  Jordan Schroeder |
 Stephane Veilleux |  Erik Haula |  Kyle Brodziak |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Ryan Suter |  Jonas Brodin |
 Marco Scandella |  Jared Spurgeon |
 Nate Prosser |  Mathew Dumba |
Keith Ballard, Ryan Carter, Matt Cooke, and Jason Zucker are on the IR. Devan Dubnyk will play in goal.
Head to Head
Storylines
- Edler Out – After leaving Saturday’s game against the Calgary Flames with an upper body injury, Alex Edler, arguably the Canucks’ MVP this season, will miss tonight’s game. Alex Biega has been recalled in his absence, and it looked like he would play if Chris Tanev also couldn’t go tonight, but Tanev looks like he’s in the lineup, and Yannick Weber will take Edler’s spot. This season, Edler has scored 5 goals and 12 assists in 55 games to go along with a 52.5% Corsi% and some elite penalty killing numbers.
- Eddie In – After Ryan Miller got a bit of a mystifying start against the Calgary Flames, Eddie Lack gets the nod tonight to face the Wild. Saturday would have been the most appropriate time to start Lack in order to give the team the best chance of winning given that Miller played the night before, and I can’t help but think that Miller’s most recent performance against the Wild plays a large role in this decision. Last week against Minnesota, Miller stopped just 13 of 18 shots fired his way, and was yanked after just 27:32 of playing time.
- Wild, Wild West – To say that the Minnesota Wild are red hot of late is an understatement. They’re undefeated in regulation in their last 10 games going 8-0-2, and have pulled to within two points of the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames with the same number of games played. If Vancouver loses to the Wild tonight and the Flames beat the Bruins, the Canucks will find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture for the first time since early in the season.
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