Canucks Army Preseason Game Day 5 – Canucks @ Kings
By Always90four
4 years agoTHE INTRO
If you haven’t been reading these previews yet, what took you so long? The Jay Beagle line was on fire and you read that it would be in this very place. Tonight, the Canucks travel to the metropolis of Salt Lake City to take on the Los Angeles Kings. Sure, that makes sense. Vancouver is an impressive 3-1 so far during the preseason and they’ve discovered how to score goals which they’ll find is a key piece to winning games.
Brock Boeser is slated to make his debut tonight, no doubt with Elias Pettersson and probably JT Miller as well. It’s a good day for hockey.
Let’s Do This!™
TELEVISION / RADIO / PUCK DROP
CANUCKS.COM? / SN650 / 6:00 PM
LINEUPS
Micheal Ferland has been sick so he may not play. Justin Bailey was sent down to Utica on waivers. Interested to see the Sutter/Boucher/Virtanen line tonight as well as the Graovac battery line. This morning the Canucks also sent down Brogan Rafferty, Kole Lind (serious?), Olli Juolevi, Lukas Jasek, and Josh Teves.
Things are getting serious now.
As for the Kings, there are no updates for them either. As this game isn’t televised in Canada, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will play. Maybe the 2002 Men’s U.S. Olympic team will play?
But Ben Hutton is playing so expect a goal from him tonight.
GAME NOTES AND A STAT OR TWO
- Bo Horvat’s line is getting in sync quite early this year. Sven Baertschi hasn’t lost a step with him and it looks like Miller is a fit. How many games will it take for the 1st round pick to lose its sting?
- Loui Eriksson has also been quietly alright and don’t look now but if he keeps up what he’s doing, a line of Adam Gaudette, Eriksson, and Jake Virtanen might actually become a thing. Eriksson hit the score sheet twice in Edmonton and has a smile on his face. He’s not doing anything noticeably different but he’s getting results. Right now, I think that’s all we can ask for.
- No Jacob Markstrom tonight. Yet another area where an offseason of workouts and another year under their belts has benefited players. Vancouver’s tandem will have to be rock solid this year and steal a handful of games, something early on that looks possible. The depth on defense will help that happen and keep the goalies cooler in the net. The Utica Unit will be in the pipes tonight.
- The Canucks need to work on their possession game a bit more, however. They currently sit 30th in the NHL for CF% with 35.25, not good. Los Angeles is 10th with 54.58. The high-danger corsis aren’t any better for the Canucks so again, they’ll need to dictate play more than they have.
- With all the cuts to the roster, the Canucks are firming up their opening night lineup and working on systems now. Their power play has been impressive early on even though it was against the Flames and Oilers B-teams. It will be a hot topic again this season if it faulters but if it’s good, the Canucks could finally get back to the playoffs.
#CANUCKSTWITTER
MY 94 CENTS
There isn’t much to say about this one. It’s Canucks and Kings in a neutral site matchup. Brock Boeser is playing so that’s the real saving grace. The power play is getting a lot of focus lately which I am a huge fan of (stay tuned) and you can see some chemistry building in the lineup.
Also, why do we all love Brogan Rafferty so much?
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