CanucksArmy Presents: The Game Day feat. Canucks Vs. Senators Part 3
By Always90four
3 years agoOPENING FACE/OFF
“We’re going streaking!” -Nate Schmidt -Frank The Tank
The Vancouver Canucks have strung together two-straight wins for the first time this season and even though it’s against the lowly Ottawa Senators, the wins were impressive. Elias Pettersson appears to be back a la John Wick and Thatcher Demko has won himself a better look as the main guy in net.
Travis Green has pushed the right buttons this week but his team isn’t out of the woods yet. The Senators do have some upfront talent but they’ll have to stay up pretty late with Jake from State Farm to find the best way to save themselves from getting embarrassed again.
Let’s Do This!™
WHERE CAN I FIND THIS GAME?
TV: SNP / RADIO: SN 650 / PUCK DROP: 7:00 PM
LINEUPS
Olli Juolevi sat yesterday for Jalen Chatfield and Jalen had a pretty good game. It appears Adam Gaudette is still in the doghouse but anything is possible. The team has a pair of convincing wins so Gaudette might be out for yet another game.
Braden Holtby would be a wise choice after Thatcher Demko faced a nerf war yesterday. That being said, Green might be thinking “Bubble Demko Mode” and he slates Thatcher for another start.
CANUCKS LINES COURTESY OF DAILYFACEOFF.COM:
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 TANNER PEARSON Rating: 73.7#38 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 74.8#34 C |  NILS HOGLANDER | FL1 Rating Rating: 74.25#23 FL1 |
 J.T. MILLER Rating: 78.5#7 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 77.7#14 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 74.1#41 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.78#3 FL2 |
 JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 72.0#78 LW |  BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 70.1#131 C |  ZACK MACEWEN | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.09#24 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 |  JALEN CHATFIELD | DL1 Rating Rating: 75.47#11 DL1 |
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 74.3#26 LD |  TYLER MYERS Rating: 72.6#50 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.43#15 DL2 |
 QUINN HUGHES Rating: 75.2#15 LD |  JORDIE BENN Rating: 70.9#101 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 73.04#6 DL3 |
There was a bit of a message sent from coach D.J. King to his team last night so there may be a few switchbacks including Alex Galchenyuk. Check out DFO for the latest.
Matt Murray’s turn. Yikes!
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 |
 TIM STÜTZLE |  CHRIS TIERNEY Rating: 72.2#77 C |  CONNOR BROWN Rating: 72.6#66 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 72.37#24 FL2 |
 NICK PAUL Rating: 71.2#105 LW |  COLIN WHITE Rating: 70.3#129 C |  EVGENII DADONOV Rating: 73.1#53 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.53#18 FL3 |
 CEDRIC PAQUETTE Rating: 70.7#118 LW |  DEREK STEPAN Rating: 72.7#67 C |  AUSTIN WATSON Rating: 69.1#140 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.84#15 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 |  BRAYDON COBURN Rating: 72.0#77 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.90#19 DL3 |
GAME NOTES, INTERESTING STATS, AND DEMKO
- Going over the list of players that have goals already this season, the only surprising names left off are Alex Edler and Antoine Roussel. Believe it or not, 14 players have scored for the Canucks already, and even though we’ve all been convinced the sky is falling, scoring by committee is a sight for sore eyes. With the top-six each putting up multiple goals thus far, the trend has carried right down to the fourth line.
- The tailored divisions will allow for some skewed point totals this season but seeing Bo Horvat once again with a strong start and 10 points to his name, two back of the league-lead is a great feeling. A goal tonight puts him tied for tops in the NHL. Bo Horvat, Rocket Richard nominee.
- Quinn Hughes leads all defensemen in the NHL with nine points in nine games. Cale Makar has eight assists but it’s Hughes’ single goal that has him ahead. Tylers Myers has been a penalty machine this season so it makes sense Travis Green moved Jordie Benn to that pairing so Quinn could continue to excel.
- Watching the Lotto Line struggle to start the season hasn’t been easy and until recently, the power play was pretty stagnant. It hasn’t gone unnoticed. Vancouver has the worst unblocked shot attempts for % at 43.41%. Somehow, they also have the league’s third-best shooting % at 13.2%. Figure that out.
- Thatcher Demko has faced 198 shots; only Mikko Koskinen of the Oilers has seen more. Now that he seems to have eased into his game, it would be nice to see Tylers Myers and Co. get in front of a few more shots to lessen the load.
TWITTER TOLD YOU
I really didn’t want to include this tweet because Drance does just fine on his own, but man oh man, this was a beauty. Frame this thing:
MY 94 CENTS
The buy-in seems legitimate on Vancouver’s side but they’re giving up shots at an alarming rate against a team that isn’t alarming. I still think the Senators have at least one in the chamber that can make the Canucks pay. We haven’t seen a Tim Stützle game yet but that might be ok if Nils Höglander puts on a show instead.
Just happy Petey is making waves, we all needed to see that.
THE FINAL WORD
Vancouver is beating a team they should beat. The panic should not subside because of a few wins against a bottom-dweller. The Canucks need to show they can pump teams when given the chance and when they start playing teams like the Leafs, they have to have everything rolling. The Lotto Line had a great showing last night and were robbed of at least two goals so hopefully, they cash in on the ones they missed.
It’s fun hockey but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
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