Canucks Army THE GAME DAY – Canucks Vs. Sharks
By Always90four
4 years agoTHE INTRO
Happy Lunar New Year!
Tonight, the Canucks take on the Sharks in a very important Western Conference tilt… for the Canucks at least. San Jose has been pretty stingy against the Canucks since 2017 but Vancouver does have wins in two of their last three meetings with the Sharks. This game has a lot to talk about from the surging Jake Virtanen to Bo Horvat to Loui Eriksson’s dominance.
This is also the final game before the Canucks bye week and eventually the 2020 NHL All-Star Game. Expect the Canucks to do something tonight that has the league talking after this one.
Let’s Do This!™
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds for tonight’s game: (VAN -160/ SJS +140) courtesy of OddsShark.com
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
CBC / SN 650 / 7:00 PM
LINEUPS
Brandon Sutter made a surprising return which sent Tim Schaller to the press box along with Zack MacEwen. It’s unlikely Tyler Motte sits so “The Big Fella” will probably be scarfing popcorn again this evening.
Is it even possible that Thatcher Demko gets the last start before the bye? Markstrom is going to the ASG so giving him a true week-long rest would be a smart move and would give Demko a worthy opponent to try and earn a big win off of. Travis Green obviously has a plan but they need to get Thatcher in there soon.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 TANNER PEARSON Rating: 73.9#39 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 77.1#21 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 70.1#110 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 73.67#26 FL1 |
 J.T. MILLER Rating: 76.3#27 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 78.8#13 C |  JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 71.4#81 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 75.50#7 FL2 |
 ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 70.5#120 LW |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 69.8#165 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 76.5#12 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.25#12 FL3 |
 TYLER MOTTE Rating: 69.9#126 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 67.8#185 C |  BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 70.8#140 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 69.48#27 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 75.0#16 LD |  TROY STECHER Rating: 72.2#65 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 73.60#18 DL1 |
 QUINN HUGHES Rating: 74.9#18 LD |  CHRIS TANEV Rating: 71.5#77 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.17#21 DL2 |
 OSCAR FANTENBERG Rating: 70.5#107 LD |  TYLER MYERS Rating: 73.3#35 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.93#17 DL3 |
Dalton Prout is still out with a UBI. Logan Couture is out until February with a fractured ankle. That can’t be good.
San Jose hasn’t tipped their hand as to who the starter will be but if I had to guess, it’s Aaron Dell.
Sharks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 EVANDER KANE Rating: 76.0#20 LW |  TOMAS HERTL Rating: 78.6#15 C |  KEVIN LABANC Rating: 74.2#38 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 76.27#10 FL1 |
 PATRICK MARLEAU Rating: 71.5#92 LW |  ANTTI SUOMELA Rating: 71.5#111 C |  TIMO MEIER Rating: 76.1#16 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 73.02#25 FL2 |
 BARCLAY GOODROW Rating: 71.2#100 LW |  JOE THORNTON Rating: 71.5#112 C |  MARCUS SORENSEN Rating: 69.8#114 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 70.83#25 FL3 |
 MELKER KARLSSON Rating: 68.8#123 LW |  JOEL KELLMAN Rating: 72.5#89 C |  STEFAN NOESEN Rating: 69.2#122 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.20#23 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 BRENDEN DILLON Rating: 71.3#93 LD |  BRENT BURNS Rating: 76.8#10 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 74.07#15 DL1 |
 MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC Rating: 72.4#66 LD |  ERIK KARLSSON Rating: 77.1#7 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 74.77#3 DL2 |
 RADIM SIMEK Rating: 71.4#91 LD |  MARIO FERRARO Rating: 70.8#92 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.12#27 DL3 |
GAME NOTES AND A STAT OR TWO
- Bo Horvat may have found a home with Tanner Pearson and Loui Eriksson and his last five games have been electric. Bo has crushed it with four goals in his last five and his merry men each have a goal as well in that time. Horvat is one goal back of the franchise leader Daniel Sedin since 2015 against the Sharks. Daniel has six goals while Bo sits at five. Expect the Captain to put at least one in tonight to get the tie.
- Jake Virtanen and Brock Boeser are the next two highest-scoring Canucks against the Sharks in that same time frame with seven points apiece. Virtanen feels like he’s been producing lately but his two goals have come in the last four games and then that’s it; his last point before that was an assist at the beginning of January.
- The Lotto line still leads the Canucks in Corsi with all three guys above 53%. Add Quinn Hughes to that as well (because obviously) but the guys that are getting eaten alive reside on the fourth line. Jay Beagle (37.34) and Tim Schaller (39.46) are the low men on the pole and they’ve been asked to play a severe defensive role but c’man, that’s just awful. Loui Eriksson has even found a way to be resourceful so the “checking line” needs to reevaluate.
- It’s Lunar New Year night at Rogers Arena and this beauty will grace the warm-ups and all I can say is “hook these into my veins”. It’s a shame the NHL doesn’t allow special jerseys like this for a game. EA Sports lets you do whatever you want. Step up NHL!
- Speaking of Loui Eriksson, well we were a little while ago, he’s sporting a healthy 51.84 xGF% at this point in the year. It’s kind of crazy that he’s also .993 in the PDO section of the newspaper. That’s always a funny stat and you shouldn’t put any weight on it but if he is supposed to get back to 100, there’s a BETTER Loui than we’ve seen so far. How much better could he be? Sign me up.
#CANUCKSTWITTER
That’s a lot of goals:
More Comets below, things are happening down there:
MY 94 CENTS
The Canucks and Sharks history is interesting. You never really know what you’ll get with these two. San Jose got dummied against the Avalanche a few nights ago and they’ll want blood tonight. Vancouver is coming off a win that has people talking and two points would put the Canucks at the top of the Pacific.
It won’t matter a whole lot who’s in net for the Sharks because the Canucks have only won two of their last 11 against the Bay area team. #bonusstat
AND ANOTHER THING…
Well, the Sharks will be ready to win tonight:
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