CANUCKS ARMY GDT #81 – CANUCKS VS. COYOTES

9 years ago

In the words of the great Bryan Adams “Can’t stop this thing we started, you gotta know its right.” Well said, you Canadian icon. Well said.

So, since the last game was played the Canucks have clinched a berth in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, no big deal. But let’s not dwell on the past – we have a game to play! The Arizona Coyotes are in town this evening and their “sweepstakes” are getting close. You know what I’m talking about.

Vancouver is hoping to lock down home ice advantage for at least the first round with their remaining games, so with the Coyotes in desperate need of a really good player in say, the first overall pick area, maybe a loss to the Canucks isn’t so bad. This series has been a gong show this year and the Canucks took the last game 3-1. Who knows what to expect, but one would assume a Canucks win is probably in the cards.

BROADCAST INFO

Puck Drop: 7:00 PM Pacific

TV: Sportsnet Pacific

Radio: TSN 1040

LINEUPS

LW	C	RW
Daniel Sedin	Henrik Sedin	Alexandre Burrows
Chris Higgins	Nick Bonino	Radim Vrbata
Sven Baertschi	Linden Vey	Derek Dorsett
Ronalds Kenins	Bo Horvat	Jannik Hansen

Defensive Pairings
Alexander Edler	Chris Tanev
Dan Hamhuis	Yannick Weber
Kevin Bieksa	Luca Sbisa

Eddie Lack should start, as Jacob Markstrom has been reassigned to Utica and Ryan Miller is backing up. Zack Kassian is still out which really sucks, but Brad Richardson sounds like he’s close. Shawn Matthias is also hurt now, so Sven Baertschi will play too.

LW	C	RW
Tobias Rieder	Mark Arcobello	Shane Doan
Martin Erat	Sam Gagner	David Moss
Craig Cunningham	Kyle Chipchura	Jordan Szwarz
Tye McGinn	Joe Vitale	B.J. Crombeen

Defensive Pairings
Oliver Ekman-Larsson	Michael Stone
Klas Dahlbeck	Andrew Campbell
John Moore	Connor Murphy

Shane Doan was injured on Tuesday so Henrik Samuelsson may start in his spot. Sean Burke will not start as previously thought, so Mike Smith should be between the pipes.

HEAD TO HEAD

REASONS TO WATCH THIS GAME

Had LA beat the Oilers, we’d be talking about maybe clinching tonight. But we’re in, so I guess home ice is the next big thing, ho hum.
Luca Sbisa and Derek Dorsett are fresh off signing multi year deals for multi millions of dollars. Might be a good time to earn a few of those bucks, Luca. Dorsett is due for something good to happen too. Maybe he’ll fight something or bowl over flopsy the goalie.
John and John have called a great season but who knows if they even get playoff duty. Wouldn’t that be nice? This may be their last game of the season, give em some love.
Great note made on the Pass it to Bulis podcast referencing the Burrows/Vrbata split shift with the Sedins. Keep an eye out for Radim Vrbata after Alex Burrows gets 15 seconds into his shift, apparently they are hybriding that position to offer different looks that could easily confuse the opposition.
When Mike Smith throws out his first flop in the game, get on twitter and rate his effort. I bet he averages at least an 8.
Can the Sedins top their late game heroics from the Kings game on Monday? Tune in to see. Odds are they do something close.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

MY TAKE

Playoff hockey is coming back to Vancouver. It’s hard to get excited for the lowly Coyotes, but if a win means home ice in round one, I’m game. Theres only one more game after tonight so its time to get things in order. Alex Burrows will have a big game and after the zillion mentions of Sbisa and Dorsett, Sbisa will score. Said it last game but I’m sticking by it today. 4-1 Vancouver.