CANUCKS ARMY GDT# 81 – CANUCKS VS OILERS (HNIC)
By Always90four
7 years agoIt’s the final home game for the Canucks this season as the Edmonton Oilers come to town to get an unofficial send-off from the BC crowd before making their way to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2006. The Canucks will then finish off their season tomorrow night in Edmonton and then the questions begin.
If you haven’t seen Jayson Megna in 4K resolution, this is your 2nd last chance to do it. So go out, buy a new TV and buckle up for yet another bumpy ride filled with minimal shots and improper usage of Brandon Sutter.
LINE COMBOS
At some point, everyone needs to acknowledge that the Sedin line needs to be demoted to the second spot and Bo Horvat and Co. to the first. You have to love Nikolay Goldobin’s play with the Sedins lately and Brock Boeser’s drive. This season might be done but these are the positives we can take from an otherwise dreadful season.
Ryan Miller will start.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |  Henrik Sedin |  Nikolay Goldobin |
 Sven Baertschi |  Bo Horvat |  Brock Boeser |
 Reid Boucher |  Brandon Sutter |  Michael Chaput |
 Griffen Molino |  Drew Shore |  Jayson Megna |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |  Troy Stecher |
 Luca Sbisa |  Chris Tanev |
 Ben Hutton |  Nikita Tryamkin |
The big line of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will most likely put on a clinic or try to anyways which means Milan Lucic will probably have a game to remember with fellow British Columbian Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Brock Boeser’s former UND teammate Drake Caggiula will reunite on the ice with Boeser at some point so it’ll be interesting to see that matchup.
Cam Talbot will start tonight.
Edmonton Oilers lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Patrick Maroon |  Connor McDavid |  Leon Draisaitl |
 Milan Lucic |  Ryan Nugent-Hopkins |  Jordan Eberle |
 Benoit Pouliot |  David Desharnais |  Zack Kassian |
 Drake Caggiula |  Mark Letestu |  Iiro Pakarinen |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Oscar Klefbom |  Adam Larsson |
 Andrej Sekera |  Kris Russell |
 Darnell Nurse |  Matt Benning |
GAME NOTES, STATS, AND OTHER INTERESTING INFO
- With 3 more points, Connor McDavid will hit 100 on the season. He is so young and so good. Sadly, the Canucks chose the wrong season to tank. No, in this case, I’m not talking about last season but two seasons ago. They also chose to not tank properly last year and had they done it right, Auston Matthews, he of 39 goals scored, could have been a Canuck. No big deal.
- It’s #BudRedLight night in concert with Fan Appreciation night at Rogers Arena. It would be a crying shame if they weren’t lit up at all but it’s a possibility. They still haven’t sent me one and I’m a bit sad. All my glasses are in the dishwasher so they’d be helping me out of a jam.
- Bo Horvat has lost the 4th most face-offs since March 1. His 196 defeats are coming at a cost of him being on the ice more and being set up against some of the top pivots in the league. He’ll adapt in the offseason, learn how to cheat more and that number will drop.
- Pushback has been an issue all year for the Canucks and it’s no surprise they’re 3rd worst in hits with 1444 aggressions. You won’t find them on the Billboard Top 100 anytime soon. I’ll see myself out.
- Leave it to the Canucks to save their fan appreciation night until the last home game of the year. Vancouver is 5th in the league for least amount of giveaways with 567 freebies. Maybe they were saving it for tonight? I guess not giving the puck away also comes from not having it either.
- Enjoy the game, cheer for everything.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
What a great way to cap off a spectacular season!
MY TAKE
I can’t imagine the Canucks lose out the season and sit at 69 points after tomorrow night. Sure, they’re bad and they haven’t given any signs of intelligent life in weeks but they just CAN’T be that bad. Can they?
WHAT’S LEFT TO SEE?
Might we see Bo Horvat receive the “C” from Henrik Sedin in a pre or postgame ceremony? It will happen at some point and would be a great talking point to finish the season. Something to hope for, I suppose.
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