CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 7 – CANUCKS VS. SENATORS
By Always90four
7 years agoal
Can you believe the Ottawa Senators don’t play the Canucks more often? I mean, this rivalry is so deep the NHL had no choice but to give them their own Heritage Classic in 2014, and what an amazing game that was! It even resulted in the best goalie the Canucks have ever had demanding a trade out of town. You know what, this means war.
Even though Dion Phaneuf was signed by the Maple Leafs, the Senators still brought him into the fold as a damaged mess and I haven’t seen questionable spending like that by Senators since Mike Duffy.
I went there, I’ll wait. OK it was a stretch.
Seriously, what do they see in that guy? How can one team have so much money tied up in one defens- I’ll stop.
Canucks/Senators – TONIGHT!
BROADCAST INFO
TV: SNET-VAN
RADIO: TSN 1040
PUCK DROP: 7PM
LINE COMBOS
So much information to get through before you scroll down or get bored or both: Alex Burrows and Derek Dorsett are on the IR and will be out at least 7 days, Chris Tanev is out until at least Friday and that means dun, dunna duhhhh… Troy Stecher has been called up and will make his NHL debut. I expect he’ll score or something equally awesome. Jayson Megna was also recalled; tough to say if he’ll slot in.
Ryan Miller had a night to forget but does that mean he gets the night off? As of my deadline, it’s undecided but I think Jacob Markstrom should start anyways.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Sven Baertschi |
 Markus Granlund |  Brandon Sutter |  Jannik Hansen |
 Loui Eriksson |  Bo Horvat |  Jake Virtanen |
 Alexandre Burrows |  Brendan Gaunce |  Alex Biega |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Chris Tanev |
 Ben Hutton |  Erik Gudbranson |
 Luca Sbisa |  Philip Larsen |
Everyone, Marc Crawford is back! As for all the line changes, click here for the latest. A tumbling loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on the weekend prompted changes throughout the Senators lineup and usually, shakeups like this help the team get motivated enough that they get their old linemates back.
Craig Anderson should start. He was shelled for four goals last year in a Feb 25 loss versus the Canucks.
Ottawa Senators lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Mike Hoffman |  Kyle Turris |  Mark Stone |
 Zack Smith |  Derick Brassard |  Bobby Ryan |
 Jean-Gabriel Pageau |  Chris Kelly |  Tom Pyatt |
 Ryan Dzingel |  Phil Varone |  Chris Neil |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Marc Methot |  Erik Karlsson |
 Dion Phaneuf |  Cody Ceci |
 Mark Borowiecki |  Chris Wideman |
REASONS TO WATCH THIS GAME
- Troy Stecher is finally here! Hopefully, he can shine to the point he never has to go back to Utica, well unless he left his Playstation there or maybe his Archie comics. Stecher was a lock it seemed in the preseason but now he has his opportunity. Will he follow in the footsteps of Bo Horvat and Ben Hutton? Time will tell.
- While a comeback isn’t something to wish for, at least we all know it’s a possibility. The Canucks have proven they are not “out” of any game but against a similar team in Ottawa, they should probably prove they can take a lead and keep it. Thankfully, the Senators haven’t faired well at Rogers Arena so there is a point in the Canucks favour.
- Will it ever get old watching Bo Horvat do something the rest of the Canucks, save maybe Brandon Sutter, can’t do? It’s only a matter of time before the “C” hits Horvat’s chest and his drive to own every shift is worth tuning in. If Willie Desjardins smartens up and puts Sven Baertschi back on his line, we’ll all see how much further the rabbit hole really goes with Bo.
- The game on Sunday wasn’t one to remember and the Luca Sbisa show looked like reruns. Fast forward to tonight and I feel like this season can still be successful for Sbisa. He hits hard and he actually does have offensive talent. I don’t know if there is some perfect time warp/continuum that needs to occur but it’s possible, it has to be.
- Remember that odd pairing of Jannik Hansen and Markus Granlund, it’s weird right? Willie must know something we don’t for those two to be playing together. I checked to see if maybe they’re PDO or CF% was like crazy through the roof, it’s not. 100% PDO and 46.2% CF 5v5. Super small sample size but I don’t get it. This will translate to a 4 point night on that line. Mark it down.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
This is good, I’m impressed. Much like I’ll be impressed with Troy Stecher after this evening.
MY TAKE
I would love to see the Sedin line get going with Loui Eriksson really soon. How has this not happened yet? The whole reason they brought him in was to compliment the Sedins as that Tre Kronor final piece but there hasn’t been that “a ha” moment yet. The assists are there but c’mon he was brought in for the goals. Eriksson had one assist last year against the Senators in 3 games so this may not be the game where the breakout happens.
Still waiting for that moment.
WILL THE CANUCKS WIN?
A banged up Canucks squad will have to rely on some Sedinery to get through the night; it’s starting early this year. It’s possible they win but I think reality sinks in and they lose a heartbreaker.
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