CanucksArmy Presents: The Game Day feat. Canucks Vs. Senators Part 2

Photo credit:Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

3 years ago

OPENING FACE/OFF

“One game does not a season make” – Triple H/Yoda

The Canucks needed a confidence boost and they got one in the form of the Ottawa Senators. Thankfully, they get to face the very same team this evening, catering to the Eastern media, it starts at 5:00 pm. Brandon Sutter is still waiting on his McFlurry from Nate Schmidt so maybe a two-goal game will secure the smarties and soft-serve delicacy.

Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller are still looking for a place to break out and if the penalties are handed out like party favours once again, they may get the chance. Don’t worry about Petey, he’s like a bag of Hot Wings flavoured Thunder Crunch chips; he’s special.

The switch up on defence is a new look and might allow Vancouver to be more offensive this evening.

Let’s Do This!™

WHERE CAN I FIND THIS GAME?

TV: SNP / RADIO: SN 650 / PUCK DROP: 5:00 PM

LINEUPS

Jalen Chatfield was back on the ice yesterday practicing with Nate Schmidt while Tyler Myers paired up with Alex Edler??? Are we expecting the Demegorgan to come soon?

Still no sign of Adam Gaudette.

Thatcher Demko put up the Canucks first goaltending performance of the season that stood out. Sure, the score was 7-1 but he stole Vancouver two points. He bailed out his teammates regardless of the score. It would be the first consecutive appearance for either goaltender this season. Going out on a limb, Demko starts.

CANUCKS LINES COURTESY OF DAILYFACEOFF.COM:

LW	C	RW	Forwards
J.T. MILLER Rating: 78.5#7 LW	ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 77.7#14 C	BROCK BOESER Rating: 74.1#41 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 76.78#11 FL1
TANNER PEARSON Rating: 73.7#38 LW	BO HORVAT Rating: 74.8#34 C	NILS HOGLANDER	FL2 Rating Rating: 74.25#11 FL2
JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 72.0#78 LW	BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 70.1#131 C	ZACK MACEWEN	FL3 Rating Rating: 71.09#23 FL3
ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 71.0#97 LW	JAY BEAGLE Rating: 68.4#163 C	TYLER MOTTE Rating: 68.8#144 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 69.39#28 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
NATE SCHMIDT Rating: 75.5#18 LD	ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 74.3#26 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 74.89#16 DL1
QUINN HUGHES Rating: 75.2#15 LD	JORDIE BENN Rating: 70.9#101 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 73.04#16 DL2
OLLI JUOLEVI	TYLER MYERS Rating: 72.6#50 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 72.56#10 DL3

Sensational rookie Tim “Jimmy” Stützle was back in the lineup last game along with his Germany skates. He didn’t get a lot done but he’s fun to watch. As a whole, the Senators didn’t get to play the game they would have liked and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say they bounce back after their poor outing in the previous game.

Matt Murray wasn’t so lucky on Monday night so it’s possible we’ll see Marcus Hogberg in net this evening. I mean, how much worse could it get?

SENATORS LINES COURTESY OF DAILYFACEOFF.COM:

LW	C	RW	Forwards
BRADY TKACHUK Rating: 75.0#27 LW	JOSH NORRIS	DRAKE BATHERSON	FL1 Rating Rating: 73.71#26 FL1
NICK PAUL Rating: 71.2#105 LW	ARTEM ANISIMOV Rating: 72.2#75 C	EVGENII DADONOV Rating: 73.1#53 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 72.16#26 FL2
TIM STÜTZLE	CHRIS TIERNEY Rating: 72.2#77 C	CONNOR BROWN Rating: 72.6#66 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 72.37#9 FL3
ALEX GALCHENYUK Rating: 70.8#115 LW	DEREK STEPAN Rating: 72.7#67 C	AUSTIN WATSON Rating: 69.1#140 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 70.88#16 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
THOMAS CHABOT Rating: 74.5#23 LD	NIKITA ZAITSEV Rating: 70.5#97 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 72.54#28 DL1
MIKE REILLY Rating: 72.4#64 LD	ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 71.3#77 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 71.85#27 DL2
CHRISTIAN WOLANIN Rating: 71.8#67 LD	JOSH BROWN	DL3 Rating Rating: 71.80#20 DL3

GAME NOTES, INTERESTING STATS, AND BAR DOWN SUTTER

The Canucks sit third in the league in xGF% with 43.76%, via Natural Stat Trick, but when you click the arrow it actually shows you they’re 29 out of 31. Not a good look early on for a team expected to score more goals than they have. A turn of the tide on the Lotto Line will help this big time. Seriously, when does the madness end?
Jake Virtanen leads the Canucks with a 71.43 GF% with players over 30 minutes of 5v5. Zack MacEwen, Olli Juolevi, and Nate Schmidt are the only other players to be at 60% or above. (Jordie Benn is perfect with 100% but his sample size is nil). A good chunk of those numbers are due to Sutter so this may regress but Jake could keep this going if he does more than occasionally get noticed in the offensive zone.
Tyler Motte is to hockey what “Now That’s What I Call Dad Rock” is to music: an endless hit machine. Motte currently has 33 hits on the season, good for second in the league behind Brandon Tanev. The straw stir in the drink, Motte is all over the place and he’s making a literal impact.
Tyler Myers already has 18 blocked shots this season and he’ll be asked to block a lot more. Who needs Chris Tanev, right?
In the Canucks illustrious 50+ years, they have had 144 hat tricks under their tutelage. Since the quasi-rebuild began around 2014 (we’re not quite sure if that even was the year), they’ve recorded 12. There are a few relatives to share this feat as well: Rich Sutter had one against the Devils and Brandon now has one against the Sens. Geoff and Russ Courtnall each had two
There were also 12 instances where four goals were scored but there has never been a Canuck to score five. Pavel Bure, Tony Tanti, and Markus Naslund each had a perfect 10 hat tricks for Vancouver.

TWITTER TOLD YOU

Please never leave

MY 94 CENTS

There are so many things that could have happened this season and Brandon Sutter outscoring Elias Pettersson wasn’t one I had on my list. I’m still not convinced the Canucks are as good as that game showed but I was a bit surprised the Sens looked that bad. Another convincing win against the Senators would help the organization but it doesn’t fix the problems they currently have.

Brock Boeser looked close to putting up a pair last game and I bet he puts at least one in the net tonight.

THE FINAL WORD

Look, it’s the Ottawa Senators. It’s not exactly a litmus test but it does keep the wolves at bay. Don’t go betting the farm on this game because everyone gets fooled by the joker.

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