CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 77 – CANUCKS VS. KINGS
By Always90four
7 years agoThe Kings are in town to take on your Vancouver Canucks. They recently abused the Flames and kept them from clinching a playoff spot and now they get the ice cold Canucks who are best known for allowing 40+ shots per game. Some familiar faces are returning to the Vancouver lineup so there is a remote chance that 12 actual forwards and 6 actual defenseman play for their hockey club.
I’ll be in my happy place thinking of better times.
LINE COMBOS
What we know: Loui Eriksson and Troy Stecher are returning to the lineup. Nikolay Goldobin will be healthy-scratched but in typical ironic fashion, someone will get sick or injured in pre-game warmups and Goldobin will return. Bank on it. Alex Biega is going to be a forward again because the Kings are very tough to play and there is more grit on sandpaper than in any spot on the Canucks roster.
Griffen Molino will make his NHL debut on the Drew Shore line. He’s been here, what, less than a month and he has his own line? That’s awful.
Ryan Miller is starting again so make sure to keep him in your thoughts and prayers, it could get ugly.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Michael Chaput |
 Sven Baertschi |  Bo Horvat |  Brock Boeser |
 Reid Boucher |  Brandon Sutter |  Nikolay Goldobin |
 Joe Labate |  Drew Shore |  Alex Biega |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Philip Larsen |
 Luca Sbisa |  Chris Tanev |
 Ben Hutton |  Nikita Tryamkin |
Jarome Iginla is a King? Wow! His tilt on Wednesday with Flames Deryk Engelland reminded everyone he still gives a #$%$. I don’t like the motivated Iginla because he hurts the Canucks.
Jonathan Quick should get the start tonight. He’s a real livewire so we could see some crazy stuff go down.
Los Angeles Kings lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Dustin Brown |  Anze Kopitar |  Jarome Iginla |
 Tanner Pearson |  Jeff Carter |  Tyler Toffoli |
 Andy Andreoff |  Nic Dowd |  Brodzinski Jonny |
 Adrian Kempe |  Trevor Lewis |  Kyle Clifford |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Derek Forbort |  Drew Doughty |
 Jake Muzzin |  Paul Ladue |
 Brayden McNabb |  Alec Martinez |
GAME NOTES, STATS, AND OTHER INTERESTING INFO
- If you didn’t hear already, Jacob Markstrom has a torn meniscus and will require surgery thus, ending his season. Why not make the offseason goalie discussion more interesting?
- March hasn’t been kind to Canucks goalies: in 5 of 14 games played, the team has surrendered 40+ shots. They gave up less than 30 shots in only 3 games. I sure hope those chest protectors are comfy.
- Brock Boeser has goals in 2 of 3 since becoming an NHLer. This would be the kind of game Boeser could step up in. That Griffen Molino kid will get the focus in the Vancouver media but quite frankly, he’s just a warm body taking up a valuable spot in the lineup. Maybe I’m bitter, I dunno.
- Willie Desjardins must be caving because Bo Horvat and Troy Stecher are on the top power play unit. The downside is that it’s the least of their worries. If there was some kind of plan to keep the puck out of Vancouver’s zone more, I think we’d all be more interested in that setup.
- As much of a thug as Henrik Sedin is, it isn’t showing up in the box scores this year. This is Henrik’s 4th lowest season for PIM. As slow as he and Daniel have been, the hooking and holding penalties have declined. Have we been too harsh on them?
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
MY TAKE
As each game passes and we get closer to that final day of the season, the depressing feeling we have experienced will go away. We’ll bury it deep down until at least the draft lottery and then hopefully we’ll have something to cheer about. Tonight’s game could end up being a scary reminder of how far back the Canucks actually are from respectability.
The Canucks are going to get pummeled tonight, like fight club pummeled.
APOLOGIZING FOR MY TAKE
Sorry.
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