Canucks Army THE GAME DAY – Canucks @ Sabres
By Always90four
4 years agoTHE INTRO
Welcome back to the fray!
This morning, the Canucks will take on the Buffalo Sabres in an expansion sibling showdown. Buffalo has also embraced their roots and hopefully, we get to see their stellar 50th-anniversary white alternates. Vancouver went zero for Florida and will look to get back on the W side of the column today.
The Canucks aren’t playing convincing hockey in the last week so they’ll need to once again get back to basics. The power play will be the key to their success and keeping it fresh will translate into goals.
Let’s Do This!™
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds for today’s game are: (VAN -105/ BUF -115) courtesy of OddsShark.com
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 10:00 AM
LINEUPS
Zack MacEwen has been reassigned to Utica to get more playing time in. Brandon Sutter is also not ready to go yet and Micheal Ferland has not estimated return time either.
It’s anyone’s guess as to how Travis Green will unveil his lineup today but a small shakeup may be in order. With Utica only a few hours away there could be a call-up.
Jacob Markstrom was given the game off against Florida and should be good to redeem himself today. He’s the least of the problems, though.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 TANNER PEARSON Rating: 74.6#34 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 76.7#21 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 70.4#110 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 73.88#25 FL1 |
 J.T. MILLER Rating: 76.0#20 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 79.0#12 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 75.3#29 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.77#3 FL2 |
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 71.1#108 LW |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 70.1#147 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 72.6#66 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.24#21 FL3 |
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 67.7#149 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 67.2#176 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 68.3#132 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 67.72#31 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 75.6#14 LD |  TYLER MYERS Rating: 73.2#41 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 74.42#16 DL1 |
 QUINN HUGHES Rating: 74.8#22 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 71.0#85 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.90#23 DL2 |
 JORDIE BENN Rating: 70.7#110 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 70.9#89 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 70.80#29 DL3 |
Jimmy Vesey saw time on the top line in practice yesterday. Tage Thompson is still out with a UBI and has been out since late November. Vladimir Sobotka is out after he had surgery on his right knee in November. Jeff Skinner is still out with a UBI but hopefully is back by the All-Star break or just after.
Rookie Victor Olafsson is out until mid-February with a lower-body injury and that gives Quinn Hughes a shot at the Calder. Finally, Jake McCabe is out with a UBI as well and won’t play today.
Taro Tsujimoto will not play but is expected in the lineup soon.
It’s possible Carter Hutton gets the nod today after Linus Ullmark was shelled in a 5-1 loss to the Blues the other night.
Sabres lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 RASMUS ASPLUND Rating: 72.1#80 LW |  JACK EICHEL Rating: 81.1#6 C |  SAM REINHART Rating: 76.1#18 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 76.44#11 FL1 |
 MICHAEL FROLIK Rating: 72.1#79 LW |  MARCUS JOHANSSON Rating: 72.8#82 C |  CONOR SHEARY Rating: 73.3#52 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 72.74#28 FL2 |
 ZEMGUS GIRGENSONS Rating: 69.7#157 LW |  JOHAN LARSSON Rating: 70.1#148 C |  KYLE OKPOSO Rating: 69.8#120 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 69.85#31 FL3 |
 JIMMY VESEY Rating: 71.2#106 LW |  CURTIS LAZAR Rating: 70.3#143 C |  SCOTT WILSON Rating: 69.3#164 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.27#23 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 LAWRENCE PILUT Rating: 72.4#73 LD |  RASMUS RISTOLAINEN Rating: 73.4#38 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 72.88#27 DL1 |
 RASMUS DAHLIN Rating: 73.9#37 LD |  COLIN MILLER Rating: 73.0#45 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.47#17 DL2 |
 BRANDON MONTOUR Rating: 72.4#58 LD |  HENRI JOKIHARJU Rating: 71.5#22 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.94#15 DL3 |
GAMES NOTES AND A STAT OR TWO
- Vancouver took the first matchup back in December, 6-5 in overtime. Josh Leivo was rolling along with two goals, Antoine Roussel potted a pair, Tyler Myers scored, and J.T. Miller ended it. It was a marathon game going back and forth on the scoreboard. Don’t expect the same game today. Leivo’s out.
- Jack Eichel is once again on another point streak. He’s currently sitting at five. His last one went a few games further. 18. He has 3G / 2A in his last five.
- As good as Elias Pettersson has been this season, he’s a clean 10 points behind Eichel in the standings. Pettersson has scored every other game since their matchup against Pittsburgh in December. Today’s game would have #40 getting the first name on the score sheet.
- Brock Boeser has only been held off the score sheet four times in the last 20 games. He’s amassed 4G / 14A in that time. Even though he’s being criticized for not being the goal scorer, he’s helping put the puck in the net pretty regularly. (It wouldn’t hurt for him to score, though).
- Buffalo has just a horrible set of special teams. They’re really bad. They might as well decline power plays and just take a -1 when they take a penalty. They’re sitting at 17.6% on the PP (where have I seen that number before?) and their PK is just as bad at 74.0% even. If the Canucks blew them out today on the man-advantage, they’d be close to dead last. See, the Canucks aren’t so bad anymore.
#CANUCKSTWITTER
In this house, we love:
This is a hot taek:
MY 94 CENTS
Well, they did it again. The Canucks need to stop feeling sorry for themselves and get back to playing actual hockey. The Sabres aren’t going to roll over for them and they have a lineup that can win. Buffalo isn’t a world-beater but last time I checked, Jack Eichel can do some damage as can Rasmus Dahlin.
This isn’t the preseason, this is for keeps.
AND ANOTHER THING…
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