CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 58 – CANUCKS @ BLUES
By Always90four
7 years ago
Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin – USA TODAY Sports
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The Vancouver Canucks play their final game of a six-game road trip tonight against the hometown St. Louis Blues. These two teams haven’t seen each other since early October when the Canucks somehow stole the win in OT.
Bo Horvat notched the tying goal late in the 3rd to make it 1-1 and Henrik Sedin barely got a hold of a Chris Tanev directed shot to win it in the extra frame. The Blues beat the Red Wings last night in Detroit so both teams will be a bit road weary.
Vancouver is four points back of a playoff spot so these are a huge two points up for grabs.
LINE COMBOS
Bo Horvat and Brandon Sutter both sat last game nursing some injuries but there is a good chance either one or both of those two young lads will be back in the lineup tonight. No other roster updates.
Jacob Markstrom gets the start.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Markus Granlund |
 Loui Eriksson |  Brandon Sutter |  Jayson Megna |
 Alexandre Burrows |  Brendan Gaunce |  Jannik Hansen |
 Reid Boucher |  Michael Chaput |  Jack Skille |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Troy Stecher |
 Luca Sbisa |  Chris Tanev |
 Ben Hutton |  Nikita Tryamkin |
Sorry for the snoozer alert, no announced changes for the Blues this evening.
Jake Allen should start after Carter Hutton got the nod last night.
St. Louis Blues lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Alex Steen |  Jori Lehtera |  Vladimir Tarasenko |
 Jaden Schwartz |  Patrik Berglund |  David Perron |
 Kenny Agostino |  Ivan Barbashev |  Magnus Paajarvi |
 Scottie Upshall |  Wade Megan |  Ryan Reaves |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Jay Bouwmeester |  Alex Pietrangelo |
 Joel Edmundson |  Colton Parayko |
 Kevin Shattenkirk |  Robert Bortuzzo |
GAME NOTES, STATS, AND OTHER INTERESTING INFO
- The Canucks are definitely an interesting team again this season. They sit just outside the playoff picture and yet with a Canucks loss combined with Detroit, Dallas, and Carolina all winning, Vancouver would sit 28th in the league standings. Buyers or sellers, Jim Benning’s job can’t be easy at the best of times.
- Getting Horvat back into the lineup tonight would be a huge boost, which is to go without saying, but the third-year centre is the catalyst that drives this team. He’s three goals clear or Markus Granlund (you better believe it) and Brandon Sutter, and four points clear of the ageing Henrik Sedin. Without him, the Canucks look pedestrian and that’s almost a compliment.
- The Blues are in the top 10 for GF/GP, PP% and PK%. Willie Desjardins would be wise to keep his players disciplined tonight as the red-hot Blues could burn the Canucks in a variety of ways.
- February has been somewhat nice to the Canucks’ power play. Vancouver sits 6th in the league for February with a bubbly 26.3% tick. It’s not great and it isn’t terrible either. They have scored five power play goals and that should be applauded. Maybe don’t look at their January.
- In the 2010’s, the Canucks are averaging 2.5 goals/gm against the Blues. Having the early part of this decade to thank, the current Canucks team could turn back the clock and maybe score three tonight. I’m not saying it will happen but you need a reason to keep it locked on the game until it ends.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
He’ll suit up and score because… Canucks.
MY TAKE
The Blues are pretty good. The Canucks are pretty bad. Mixing them together isn’t like the frozen yoghurt bar by your house and you end up with some cool mixture, it’s going to be a sketchy game. Vancouver could surprise everyone and steal another one from St. Louis but the way the Blues are playing lately, we might end up seeing both goalies for the Canucks.
THIS IS THE END, MY FRIEND
The trip is done after tonight. Hopefully, some good news will welcome the team back when they get to Vancouver regarding Sven Baertschi and his concussion. The Canucks could really use Baertschi after being owned by Pittsburgh a few nights ago. It’s over people, maybe things can look up from here.
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