CANUCKSARMY GDT 9 – CANUCKS @ WILD
By Always90four
6 years agoAll roads lead to Minnesota as the Canucks take on the Wild in the final stop of their five-game road trip. Vancouver is coming off a surprising win against the Red Wings, and the project players are starting to make names for themselves. Can the Canucks sustain the success they have achieved or will tonight’s matchup bring them back to Earth? This season, it’s really tough to say.
Let’s do this!
WATCH / LISTEN / FACE-OFF
TV: SNET-VAN
RADIO: SN650
PUCK DROP: 5:00 PM
LINE COMBINATIONS
Patrick Wiercioch was recalled from Utica as was Thatcher Demko?! We found out Demko was for cap reasons but will be sent down once Alex Edler and Loui Eriksson are put on LTIR. Seeing Troy Stecher go down against Detroit was a heartbreaker but once again, Alex Biega will most likely take Stecher’s spot.
The new home for Jake Virtanen is paying immediate dividends on the Sedin line. His hit on Niklas Kronwall brought back vivid memories of Virtanen laying out Connor McDavid. The project player has matured.
Shut down line and coincidentally the top line of Brandon Sutter, Derek Dorsett, and Markus Granlund has garnered a lot of attention as Dorsett is taking the league by storm. Many believe it’s not “sustainable” but until it isn’t, it’s a great story.
Jacob Markstrom will be in the net after his amazing performance on Sunday.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 DANIEL SEDIN |  HENRIK SEDIN |  JAKE VIRTANEN |
 SVEN BAERTSCHI |  BO HORVAT |  BROCK BOESER |
 SAM GAGNER |  ALEX BURMISTROV |  THOMAS VANEK |
 MARKUS GRANLUND |  BRANDON SUTTER |  DEREK DORSETT |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 BEN HUTTON |  CHRIS TANEV |
 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO |  TROY STECHER |
 DERRICK POULIOT |  ERIK GUDBRANSON |
The Wild are injured, they’re injured pretty bad! Zach Parise, Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, and Charlie Coyle have all fallen to injuries and yet Minnesota has maintained a .500 record. If the Canucks were star-picking tonight, Ryan Suter would be the most unsurprising target. A Brock Boeser slap shot would fell any hero.
Don’t let this team fool you, the Wild have been in almost every game and let leads slip away. Vancouver seems to bring out the best in Minnesota unfortunately, so watch out for these pretenders.
Devan Dubnyk is the man between the pipes for the Wild.
Minnesota Wild lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 JASON ZUCKER |  MIKKO KOIVU |  CHRIS STEWART |
 MARCUS FOLIGNO |  ERIC STAAL |  LUKE KUNIN |
 TYLER ENNIS |  MATT CULLEN |  LANDON FERRARO |
 ZACK MITCHELL |  JOEL ERIKSSON EK |  DANIEL WINNIK |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 RYAN SUTER |  JARED SPURGEON |
 JONAS BRODIN |  MATHEW DUMBA |
 KYLE QUINCEY |  MIKE REILLY |
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- Michael Del Zotto is currently T-5 in SH BkS with six. He has put his body on the line so far this season and is just under one blocked shot on the PK per game. Thankfully, the Canucks aren’t taking as many penalties this year so this hopefully won’t be a regular occurrence. He probably asked Henrik and Daniel to slow down on the hooking penalties.
- In only four games on the road this season, the Canucks are already T-5 in road PP chances with 37, four off the lead of 41 held by the Blackhawks and Rangers. Last season, the Canucks couldn’t draw a penalty even if they had Bob Ross guiding them so Travis Green should be lauded for his progress.
- It goes without saying, this is going to be a special game for Brock Boeser. His first ever game came at the Xcel Energy Center last year and he didn’t disappoint with a GWG to his name. The rest has been as advertised and with A LOT more family in the stands tonight, Boeser will want to make his relatives stand up and cheer.
- Jake Virtanen is stepping his game up and with the right opportunity, more things like this will be on the horizon
- Former Wild forward Thomas Vanek returns to Minnesota and after putting up 93 points over two seasons for them, Vanek will look to continue putting pucks in the net but now, for the opposition.
THE TWITTER TAKE
Left without further comment.
MY 94 CENTS
I really, really want to not believe in this team in 2018 and yeah, I know it’s early but there are way too many signs pointing to the Canucks having moderate success and it’s hard to hold that back. Derek Dorsett is finally healthy and is getting the credit he deserves… maybe not top-line minutes per say but he’s the face of the team this week.
Jake Virtanen has turned a corner and like Trevor Linden did with the Sedins, they both are mentoring young Jake. It turned out well for them, I wonder how Virtanen will benefit long-term from the Sedins?
Local boy, Brock Boeser returns to the building where he got his first career start. I expect Boeser to put on a show, especially against a lesser Wild squad.
OVER / UNDER
Brock Boeser points (+/- 3) Sounds crazy but take the over. Four points just feel like something totally doable for BB tonight.
Michael Del Zotto PPG (+/- 0) Going with the over on this one as well. Just feel like he’s due for some luck.
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