CANUCKSARMY GDT 38 – CANUCKS VS. BLACKHAWKS
By Always90four
6 years agoWelcome back!
After a disappointing stretch ended at the Christmas break, the Canucks look to bounce back tonight against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
The Hawks are in a similar situation as the Canucks sitting towards the bottom of the Western Conference and points will be at a premium, not that we’re whining or anything. It looks like the walking wounded are starting to return to Vancouver as Chris Tanev may return this evening. Imagine a world where the Canucks don’t have any Comets in the lineup… OK, back to reality.
Let’s Do This!
WATCH / LISTEN / FACE-OFF
TV: SNET-P
RADIO: SN650
PUCK DROP: 7:00 PM
LINE COMBINATIONS
Chris Tanev was an active participant in practice yesterday and all signs point to him playing. Alex Biega and Troy Stecher were the fourth-pairing so we may see an extra defenseman as a forward again. Brandon Sutter isn’t quite ready to come back which is actually concerning and obviously Bo Horvat is still on the mend.
Jacob Markstrom was the goalie that didn’t get a stern talking to from Travis Green so he’s probably the starter. Stay tuned.
Vancouver Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 DANIEL SEDIN |  HENRIK SEDIN |  LOUI ERIKSSON |
 THOMAS VANEK |  SAM GAGNER |  BROCK BOESER |
 NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN |  MARKUS GRANLUND |  JAKE VIRTANEN |
 BRENDAN GAUNCE |  NIC DOWD |  REID BOUCHER |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 ALEXANDER EDLER |  CHRIS TANEV |
 MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO |  DERRICK POULIOT |
 ERIK GUDBRANSON |  BEN HUTTON |
The Blackhawks lines received the blender treatment and David Kampf will most likely start between Richard Panik and Alex Debrincat. Duncan Keith missed his plane and wasn’t at practice yesterday but he’ll play tonight.
Corey Crawford is on the shelf, Anton Forsberg will start and Jeff Glass has been recalled as the backup.
Chicago Blackhawks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 PATRICK SHARP |  JONATHAN TOEWS |  BRANDON SAAD |
 NICK SCHMALTZ |  ARTEM ANISIMOV |  PATRICK KANE |
 ALEX DEBRINCAT |  RYAN HARTMAN |  RICHARD PANIK |
 LANCE BOUMA |  TOMMY WINGELS |  JOHN HAYDEN |
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- Backup goaltender? Check. Red-hot Brock Boeser in the lineup? Check. Sounds like a good recipe for goals off of number six’s stick this evening. OK, maybe we should relax for a bit, Boeser has only played 43 NHL games so far, or so we were told.
- The Canucks will have their hands full with a Blackhawks team that beat them in their only meeting at Rogers Arena last season. Jonathan Toews was the star in their last meeting in Vancouver when he netted four points against an unravelling Willie Desjardins-led team. Things look to be different now but Toews hasn’t changed. Yikes.
- Erik Gudbranson might be on borrowed time with the Canucks. The trade rumours are swirling, OK maybe floating, and every game he plays will need to have a heavier focus on his “good” attributes. Jim Benning might need more time.
- Vancouver needs to curb the whole “letting in a lot of goals” thing. They’re currently sixth in the league with a GA/GP of 3.22. If the Canucks pull it off this evening, there will be goals, there will be lots and lots of goals.
- Last season, the Canucks, although awful, enjoyed a healthy power play and penalty kill in three meetings versus the Hawks. Vancouver’s 42.9 PP% and 80.0 PK% through three games was impressive. We all remember how bad that team was with zero direction and a coach that basically checked out of his job. This could be a big game for the boys in blue.
THE TWITTER TAKE
Sounds like “Molly’s Game” is a pretty stupid movie. Can’t imagine any Canucks fans will go see this after this information. But why would they put that in there, to begin with? I must know.
MY 94 CENTS
I have had enough turkey to believe the Canucks can rebound from their disastrous final run of games before Christmas, you could say I’m FULL of optimism. Corey Crawford is out with an injury and Chris Tanev sounds like he’ll be back as well. The rivalry isn’t what it once was but Brock Boeser has kept Canucks fans entertained. It will probably be a tight one but the Canucks pull it off.
OVER / UNDER
Awful first period showing for Canucks (+/- 1) The post-Christmas first period of play can be pretty bad sometimes, but it looks like Travis Green ran the team hard yesterday. Go with the under.
Thomas Vanek breakaway w/ goal (+/- 0) Vanek is the man with the plan tonight, take the over.
The Pint is your home for all things game day. Come down for game day specials like $5 mugs of bud and bud light and get 20% off food if you’re a season ticket holders
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