CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 73 – CANUCKS @ BLUES
By Always90four
7 years ago
Buried at the bottom of the NHL standings, the Canucks look to keep the win streak going against the St. Louis Blues. Beating a stacked Blackhawks squad on Tuesday seemed impossible but you can never count out the Canucks these days. We all know the team will give up approximately 40+ shots tonight so scoring chances will be at a premium.
It’s another night in which the “kids” should get more playing time but darn it, Willie Desjardins loves the vets! There is still hope for that #1 overall pick in June but it’s going to take some work. It’s the rubber match to decide the season series and the Canucks are trying to build as many #moralvictories as possible.
Let’s do the hockey!
LINE COMBOS
Markus Granlund is done as we said before with that wrist surgery (what a warrior!). Nikolay Goldobin has his work cut out for him in Willie’s eyes as he gets duty with superstar forward, Brandon Sutter. Joe Labate may slot in unless Alex Biega is asked to play RW again. How messed up is that? Jayson Megna is done for the road trip as well with an upper-body injury. Joseph Cramarossa blocked a shot in Chicago and I’m guessing is a game-time decision.
We joke but Ryan Miller will probably start this one too! There has to be an alternate universe where he doesn’t play every single game of the season. The man is beaten and bruised and needs a rest. HAVE SOME COMPASSION, WILLIE!
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Michael Chaput |
 Sven Baertschi |  Bo Horvat |  Reid Boucher |
 Joseph Cramarossa |  Brandon Sutter |  Drew Shore |
 Jack Skille |  Joe Labate |  Jayson Megna |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Troy Stecher |
 Luca Sbisa |  Chris Tanev |
 Ben Hutton |  Nikita Tryamkin |
Bad news for top pivot Paul Stastny, he’s out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Lineup changes will probably be announced later today.
Jake Allen would be the likely starter for this one.
St. Louis Blues lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Jaden Schwartz |  Paul Stastny |  Vladimir Tarasenko |
 Alex Steen |  Patrik Berglund |  David Perron |
 Zachary Sanford |  Ivan Barbashev |  Magnus Paajarvi |
 Scottie Upshall |  Kyle Brodziak |  Ryan Reaves |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Jay Bouwmeester |  Alex Pietrangelo |
 Joel Edmundson |  Colton Parayko |
 Carl Gunnarsson |  Robert Bortuzzo |
GAME NOTES, STATS, AND OTHER INTERESTING INFO
- Brandon Sutter scored (twice) last game. The last time he scored? Anybody? Yep, the St. Louis freakin’ Blues! He’s going on a heater and we’re all going to witness it in glorious HD, except that one guy you know who has the 32″ Toshiba. He’s just happy he has cable.
- Goldobin is back and his amazing hair is pushing him to show WD he means business. It doesn’t really matter a whole lot because Willie won’t be here next year but it would keep Goldobin in the lineup for at least another game with at least an assist.
- Warning – Some not so kid friendly verbiage ahead. These were simpler times.
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- Willie has some strange reasons for not playing healthy forwards instead of defenseman moonlighting as forwards. The Canucks rank 27th with a 77.3% PK success rate. That’s like saying I drink Venti Mochas instead of Pepsi because I’m trying to cut back on sugar.
- Somehow, ice time is still at a premium for many Canuck players. If playing the kids is such a priority now would it not be beneficial to keep the Sedins as a 3rd line pair and just go H.A.M with the Horvat and Sutter lines? I’m not a coach but I play one on EA Sports.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
I may have to remove my take.
MY TAKE
Screw it, Canucks win big in regulation. Ben Hutton scores and so does Michael Chaput.
IT’S “WHO SCORES A GOAL?” NIGHT. WHO SCORES?
Brandon Sutter had two goals last game, the Sedins were in on a few as well so going down the list it must be Jack Skille, Chaput or Goldobin. All three would be like winning the lotto so let’s just settle for any one of them.
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