CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 8 – CANUCKS VS. OILERS

7 years ago

Enjoy the game tonight everyone because what doesn’t eat the Canucks up tonight will most definitely engulf them tomorrow against the Capitals. You’re probably thinking “Ryan, are you saying the Oilers are going to dominate the Canucks tonight?” I’m kind of saying that but what I’m actually saying is that whatever the Canucks have left in the tank will be drained very early versus the Caps.

The Oilers are on a bit of a tear right now winning four straight. BUT, is beating the Jets and Hurricanes something to brag about? No, not really.

Tonight will pit the new Oilers versus the somewhat new Canucks and at the very least, the Canucks defense has promise. This could go a few ways and predicting a ton of goals being scored is probably not the first direction to take.

Basically, it’s Connor Mcdavid and Troy Stecher – pick your side.

BROADCAST INFO

TV: SNET-1

RADIO: TSN 1040

PUCK DROP: 7PM

LINE COMBOS

So here’s the thing: I know the lines below aren’t always bang on, but believe it or not, once this is written things can change! We do our absolute best to have this as up to date as possible so we know it’s a pain sometimes. Thank the Canucks for releasing lines once we all start work.

ANYWAYS, it looks like we’ll see the Sedins back with Loui Eriksson, Bo Horvat gets Sven Baertschi and Jack Skille and rookie central is set up on line four with Jayson Megna, Brendan Gaunce and Jake Virtanen.

Troy Stecher gets what he absolutely deserves and is awarded the top pairing with Alex Edler, good on ya Stech! The Luca Sbisa/Philip Larsen pairing better get things going because when Chris Tanev comes back someone has to go. Troy Stecher should not be that guy.

Ryan Miller should start and it would be safe to say Jacob Markstrom would get the Capitals tomorrow night.

Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:

LW	C	RW
Daniel Sedin	Henrik Sedin	Loui Eriksson
Markus Granlund	Brandon Sutter	Jannik Hansen
Sven Baertschi	Bo Horvat	Jack Skille
Jayson Megna	Brendan Gaunce	Jake Virtanen

Defensive Pairings
Alexander Edler	Troy Stecher
Ben Hutton	Erik Gudbranson
Luca Sbisa	Philip Larsen

This group of players is going to be dangerous. There doesn’t have to be anything said for Connor McDavid, he can change a game by himself. Looking to line 2 with Leon Draisaitl and Jesse Puljujarvi you just have to shake your head and think “How do they continue to draft such amazing talent?” You have to tank pretty hard for a long time to get this team but man oh man at some point it’s going to be a cake walk for the Oilers.

Our boy Zack Kassian is having a great start to his season and he fits right in there so good for him.

And then there’s the defense. It’s anemic. Read aloud these names: Kris Russell, Adam Larsson, Oscar Klefblom and Darnell Nurse. There is a joke there and if you happen to be an Oilers fan reading this, it’s not very funny. Thankfully, there’s too much talent up front that the Oilers don’t need to worry about that full time quite yet.

Oh right, um… Cam Talbot starts.

Edmonton Oilers lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:

LW	C	RW
Milan Lucic	Connor McDavid	Jordan Eberle
Patrick Maroon	Leon Draisaitl	Jesse Puljujarvi
Benoit Pouliot	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	Zack Kassian
Anton Lander	Mark Letestu	Tyler Pitlick

Defensive Pairings
Oscar Klefbom	Adam Larsson
Andrej Sekera	Kris Russell
Darnell Nurse	Eric Gryba

REASONS TO WATCH THIS GAME

How ’bout Troy Stecher on the top defensive pairing? Let’s start there. Troy FREAKING Stecher, he of 1 NHL game has leapfrogged 6 other guys to take Chris Tanev’s spot temporarily. Not Nikita Tryamkin, not Alex Biega and not anyone else; Troy Stecher is for real. We talked about it in the preseason but he’s Ben Hutton for a new generation, a slightly younger generation that maybe didn’t have cable last year. Jason Botchford approves!
There is a realistic chance the Canucks will get back to scoring goals tonight and against the Oilers, the onus should be on Henrik and Daniel Sedin for starters. I don’t need to remind anyone of this –

If in fact, the Canucks reach a point where a power play does indeed occur, seeing a successful Philip Larsen shot turned into a goal from the point would be worth some publication. All roads seem to lead to ~~Stecher~~ Larsen so if everyone wearing an orca believes he’s the guy, scoring a PP goal against the Oilers might not be a bad place to start.
I think we’d all be kidding ourselves if Connor Mcdavid wasn’t a talking point. He’s good, like “did you see the Oilers highlights last night? No I never watch the Oilers, they suck. OK but now there’s a reason to watch them” good. The Canucks only claim to fame against him thus far is that Jake Virtanen hit in the rookie tournament but it’s safe to say their careers have started slightly different since that time.
You actually haven’t read anything I wrote up until this sentence and you thought the Capitals were playing the Canucks tonight. OVECHKIN! There, now I have you convinced.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

7-12 minutes start to finish, that’s the route? Or is that the time it will take for Oilers “miraculous” run to turn into the runaway winner for Nolan Patrick? ~~On November 8, you decide~~ Parade routes are OUR thing you bunch of jerks!

MY TAKE

The Canucks proved to everyone they’re not going to win the Stanley Cup, big surprise. What they also proved to everyone is that they can win in a variety of ways and have the potential to ice a pretty competitive lineup. There’s a chance the biggest issue is Jake Virtanen, I’m ok with that. Have you seen the Oilers? Sure, they’ll score goals but their own end is another story. I like Vancouver’s chances.

WILL THE CANUCKS WIN?

At the beginning of this preview, I didn’t seem too optimistic about the Canucks chances but I’ve changed my tune; I’m dropping the hammer on the Canucks beating the Oilers in regulation via more goals. Original? No. Optimistic? 71%

CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 8 – CANUCKS VS. OILERS

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