Canucks Army THE GAME DAY – Canucks Vs. Blues
By Always90four
4 years agoTHE INTRO
The Canucks are back home and couldn’t be happier to face the St. Louis Blues for the second time in less than a month. Vancouver mounted an impressive comeback in October, not quite to the level George Costanza countered against Reilly in 1997, but close. Coincidentally, Ryan O’Reilly’s Blues blew (no pun intended, OK, now I guess there is) a 3-1 lead and lost in a shootout to the Canucks in their last meeting and since then, Canucks fans are worried the goal store is going to call because they’re out of the juicy goals we’ve become accustomed to in the last month.
Jerk store, goal store, stocked, all out, let’s figure this out.
Let’s Do This!™
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds for tonight’s game are: (VAN -130/ STL +110) courtesy of OddsShark.com
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 7:00 PM
LINEUPS
Bo Horvat… yet again, has another new linemate. Adam Gaudette is flanking Horvat’s right-wing while Tanner Pearson remains on the left side. Sven Baertschi still hasn’t made his way back into the lineup which is kind of surprising. Josh Leivo would be an easy target to swap out, put Gaudette on the third line and put Baertschi up with Bo. Just me, but I’d say it would work.
On the back end, Quinn Hughes may return after a scare a few games ago. That being said, Oscar Fantenburg practiced yesterday with Troy Stecher (TFR)
Jacob Markstrom will be back in net after Thatcher Demko spelled him for a game. The tandem of Markstrom/Demko has turned heads not only in the BC market but around the league as well. Check the deets below to find out why.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 TANNER PEARSON Rating: 72.4#70 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 77.1#23 C |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 69.0#181 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 72.83#29 FL1 |
 J.T. MILLER Rating: 76.3#16 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 79.1#10 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 76.4#13 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 77.27#3 FL2 |
 JOSH LEIVO Rating: 72.3#64 LW |  BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 71.7#116 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.8#77 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.95#14 FL3 |
 TIM SCHALLER Rating: 71.7#83 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 69.8#169 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 70.8#93 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.77#19 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 77.6#5 LD |  TYLER MYERS Rating: 73.9#33 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 75.75#10 DL1 |
 JORDIE BENN Rating: 73.1#56 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 72.1#69 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.60#22 DL2 |
 OSCAR FANTENBERG Rating: 71.5#95 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 73.3#44 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 72.42#18 DL3 |
Vladimir Tarasenko had shoulder surgery and is out for at least five months. A huge blow to the Blues but for a team that is still performing after winning a Stanley Cup, they’ll survive.
Jordan Binnington will want to avenge the loss from the last time these two teams met so he should be in the pipes tonight.
Blues lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 JADEN SCHWARTZ Rating: 76.6#14 LW |  BRAYDEN SCHENN Rating: 75.6#37 C |  ROBERT THOMAS Rating: 71.3#126 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 74.51#24 FL1 |
 ZACH SANFORD Rating: 71.2#105 LW |  RYAN O’REILLY Rating: 77.3#21 C |  DAVID PERRON Rating: 77.0#12 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 75.19#8 FL2 |
 ALEX STEEN Rating: 71.5#90 LW |  TYLER BOZAK Rating: 72.3#100 C |  SAMMY BLAIS Rating: 70.9#91 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.57#21 FL3 |
 MACKENZIE MACEACHERN Rating: 70.9#109 LW |  IVAN BARBASHEV Rating: 70.6#118 C |  OSKAR SUNDQVIST Rating: 70.9#136 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.80#17 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 CARL GUNNARSSON Rating: 72.2#85 LD |  ALEX PIETRANGELO Rating: 78.2#5 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 75.17#14 DL1 |
 JAY BOUWMEESTER Rating: 73.1#58 LD |  COLTON PARAYKO Rating: 76.1#15 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 74.61#7 DL2 |
 VINCE DUNN Rating: 75.5#14 LD |  JUSTIN FAULK Rating: 76.2#14 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 75.82#1 DL3 |
GAME NOTES AND A STAT OR TWO
- Everyone is talking about how the Canucks are a favoured team to not only make the Stanley Cup Final this season but win it. You won’t find that here. What you will find is scorching hot analysis of players you know and respect. Starting with Elias Pettersson, you’ll be happy to know that he ranks fourth in the NHL for On-ice xGoals % with 64%, nutty! His xGoals per 60 minutes on the PP is 2.4 which is impressive but that’s not even in spitting distance, unless there was a second spitter, of Bo Horvat’s 3.42 per 60. Thanks to MoneyPuck.com (created by a CA alum).
- Great stat right? What if you kept reading and found out that the “Lotto Line” was also fourth in xGoals % with 64%. Simply stunning. On the flip side, the absolute least likely line to score in the NHL was on the Blues. Ryan O’Reilly (we mentioned him earlier), David Perron, and Sammy Blais clock in at a paltry 40.6%. I imagine that’s why they broke up. #TeamLikeThat would have owned them.
- We’re running a Money Puck parlay tonight! GOALIES! You’ve heard about ’em but now we’re going to inform you on the impending goalie controversy about to roll through Vancouver. Thatcher Demko has the fourth-highest save % of unblocked shots in the NHL. That number: 96.56% Hated villain Tuukka Rask of Boston sits first with 96.98%. He’s also played three more games than Demko so it’s possible the Canucks could host the greatest goalie in the league when the games align. Jordan Binnington has a 95.17 rating good for 29th in the league in that category. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
- Elias Pettersson was named the NHL’s first star of the week and you know what, he earned it. Three goals and six assists in four games helped Pettersson achieve the status that will almost definitely get him free Popeye’s Chicken sandwiches when they come back. You get first star, you get the chicken. Pretty sure that’s a saying.
- I’m all out of stats but it’s totally weird that fourth place came up a lot today, right? How many stats exist where a Canuck or the team itself is fourth, I want to know. It just blows my mind we got this far and you’re sick of seeing anything with the number four. Good thing Gudbrandson isn’t on the Canu…..THERE IT IS AGAIN!
#CANUCKSTWITTER
Wanna hear a crazy story, check this out:
Podkolzin doing Podkolzin things
MY 94 CENTS
I just don’t know if I can fully buy-in that this Canucks team is real. I said if they’re still performing like this after the Avalanche (skate jersey) game on Nov 16, then this is the team we’ll see for the rest of the year. The Blues will be playing Vancouver hard tonight and won’t give them a lot of room to move. Bo’s line has another crafty option with Gaudette and it could pay dividends immediately. Gaudette has produced since he’s returned and Horvat’s line has been heavily involved.
If we look to Vincent’s Picks, he has the Canucks winning in regulation.
AND ANOTHER THING…
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