Canucks Army THE GAME DAY – Canucks Vs. Blackhawks
By Always90four
4 years agoTHE INTRO
The Canucks finished 2019 on a FIVE… GAME… WIN STREAK!! The sky isn’t falling, Elias Pettersson is in the All-Star Game and there’s a chance Quinn Hughes makes it too! There’s word that if the Canucks win tonight and Vegas loses, Vancouver’s point percentage could vault Travis Green to the Pacific team All-Star coaching gig. Remember when the season was over two weeks ago?
Tonight, the Canucks take on the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver will try and bounce back from their 5-2 loss back in November. Chicago has a ton of injuries (described amazingly below) but they’re on a three-game win streak so someone is losing tonight because ties were eliminated in the great tie purge of 05/06.
Let’s Do This!™
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds for tonight’s game are: (VAN -150/ CHI +130) courtesy of OddsShark.com.
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 7:00 PM
LINEUPS
With the five-game win streak don’t expect any changes to the lineup. Sounds boring, I know.
Jacob Markstrom is going to start tonight and he’s going to be great.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 J.T. MILLER Rating: 75.7#33 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 79.7#12 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 75.7#19 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 77.04#7 FL1 |
 TANNER PEARSON Rating: 72.6#72 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 74.3#52 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 70.0#117 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 72.31#26 FL2 |
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 71.6#94 LW |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 70.5#140 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 72.2#72 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.40#20 FL3 |
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 68.6#138 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 67.9#179 C |  TYLER MOTTE Rating: 69.7#123 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 68.74#30 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 75.9#10 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 71.6#82 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 73.78#22 DL1 |
 QUINN HUGHES Rating: 74.7#24 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 72.1#65 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.40#18 DL2 |
 OSCAR FANTENBERG Rating: 71.2#98 LD |  TYLER MYERS Rating: 73.2#44 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 72.22#16 DL3 |
The Hawks have a plethora of pain resting on IR: Brent Seabrook is going full Iron Man and had shoulder surgery and will get surgery on both hips so his new body may not even be ready at all next season. Calvin De Haan (the shoemaker’s brother) also had shoulder surgery and his season is also over, rats. Drizzy Drake Caggiula is in concussion protocol, as is Andrew Shaw, and with no updated info, he’ll most likely be out tonight.
Brandon Saad has a right ankle injury and will miss a few weeks.
Look below at that lineup, unrecognizable to many but Chicago has a win streak going so watch out!
Robin Lehner will start tonight.
Blackhawks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 DOMINIK KUBALIK Rating: 73.2#58 LW |  JONATHAN TOEWS Rating: 76.1#29 C |  JOHN QUENNEVILLE Rating: 71.9#78 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 73.74#28 FL1 |
 DYLAN SIKURA Rating: 71.2#99 LW |  RYAN CARPENTER Rating: 70.1#150 C |  PATRICK KANE Rating: 81.9#2 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 74.40#15 FL2 |
 ALEX DEBRINCAT Rating: 75.2#27 LW |  KIRBY DACH Rating: 72.6#87 C |  DYLAN STROME Rating: 74.0#40 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 73.93#2 FL3 |
 ZACK SMITH Rating: 69.4#130 LW |  DAVID KAMPF Rating: 70.0#154 C |  MATTHEW HIGHMORE Rating: 72.6#66 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.66#17 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 DUNCAN KEITH Rating: 73.5#47 LD |  ADAM BOQVIST Rating: 73.3#43 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 73.38#23 DL1 |
 ERIK GUSTAFSSON Rating: 74.6#27 LD |  CONNOR MURPHY Rating: 72.5#58 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.54#15 DL2 |
 OLLI MAATTA Rating: 70.8#107 LD |  DENNIS GILBERT Rating: 72.4#61 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.58#24 DL3 |
GAME NOTES AND A STAT OR TWO
- Elias Pettersson has nine even-strength goals at home this season, seven behind Auston Matthews for first. Pettersson has been great this season and 5v5 apparently hasn’t been terrible either. 2020 is where he evens things u… I can’t make that joke, I’m sorry.
- Tanner Pearson is the king of shorthanded goals this season. He’s already tallied two and is one behind the league-lead of three. His three empty netters aren’t tops in the NHL but they’re close. Sebastian Aho has five. Stay tuned.
- Vancouver’s win streak is impressive and it hasn’t been that long since their last lengthy one. Actually, 2016/17 was the last time they had five or more wins in a row. That year, they won six in a row. Is this a team that can equal that impressive run AND makes the playoffs as well?
- Alex Edler has 36 penalty minutes this season, that’s T-10 for defensemen. That sounds like a lot but the leader of that category was an impressive junior player, has a big frame, and has a sweet red jacket. That player? Erik Gudbranson with 86 penalty minutes. Edler is a saint.
- He doesn’t get enough credit but Tanner Pearson has low-key been an important part of this team this season. He’s three points away from 200 and it’s doable he’ll get there in the next game or two as he has six points in his last five games.
#CANUCKSTWITTER
Don’t normally put sponsored tweets here but this is a good read:
This one is in the bag:
MY 94 CENTS
That Blackhawks lineup looks pretty brutal but that win streak scares me. Chicago always seems to bring it to the Canucks but this Canucks team has a weird vibe to it. I think Vancouver can win this one but they’ll need to own the first and come out strong. Will the Canucks continue the trend of allowing rookies to score, like Kirby Dach?
That’s a yes.
AND ANOTHER THING…
And goodbye to a horrible decade of pain:
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