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Canucks Army Game Day 28 – Canucks Vs. Golden Knights (Gambling With The Idea Of Playoffs Edition)
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Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie - USA TODAY Sports
Always90four
Nov 29, 2018, 15:34 EST
THE INTRO
The Canucks are back at it tonight as they take on the visiting Vegas Golden Knights. Vancouver is coming off an embarrassing loss to the Kings, the Willie Desjardins’ Kings no less, while Vegas is looking to make the Canucks their fifth-straight win. Injuries have definitely caught up with Vancouver and a streaking Golden Knights team isn’t going to be easy to beat.
They wouldn’t have been easy to beat anyway.
Brock Boeser will play in his second game after coming back from a groin injury and hopefully with a faster paced game he’ll be able to factor into the game more. They could really use a Lyft tonight.
Let’s Do This!™
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 7:00 PM
LINEUPS
Still no Sven Baertschi due to ongoing concussion symptoms, Jay Beagle is nearing return and Brandon Sutter should be as well. Erik Gudbranson (neck) most likely is a game-time decision after sitting out against the Kings. Gudbranson has actually been a solid defender (eye test anyway) but that most likely means both Troy Stecher and Alex Biega will factor in.
Jacob Markstrom should see the start tonight.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
LWCRWForwards
Antoine Roussel

ANTOINE ROUSSEL
Rating: 70.5#109 LW
Bo Horvat

BO HORVAT
Rating: 76.1#42 C
Sam Gagner

SAM GAGNER
Rating: 71.6#122 RW
FL1 Rating
Rating: 72.77#31 FL1
Nikolay Goldobin

NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN
Rating: 71.7#79 LW
Elias Pettersson

ELIAS PETTERSSON
Rating: 75.8#43 C
Brock Boeser

BROCK BOESER
Rating: 81.0#5 RW
FL2 Rating
Rating: 76.18#6 FL2
Loui Eriksson

LOUI ERIKSSON
Rating: 71.2#98 LW
Markus Granlund

MARKUS GRANLUND
Rating: 70.3#157 C
Jake Virtanen

JAKE VIRTANEN
Rating: 71.1#85 RW
FL3 Rating
Rating: 70.87#26 FL3
Brendan Leipsic

BRENDAN LEIPSIC
Rating: 71.0#99 LW
Adam Gaudette

ADAM GAUDETTE
Rating: 71.6#123 C
Tyler Motte

TYLER MOTTE
Rating: 69.4#106 RW
FL4 Rating
Rating: 70.68#14 FL4
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGSDefense
Michael Del Zotto

MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO
Rating: 72.1#68 LD
Chris Tanev

CHRIS TANEV
Rating: 70.7#82 RD
DL1 Rating
Rating: 71.44#29 DL1
Ben Hutton

BEN HUTTON
Rating: 69.9#123 LD
Erik Gudbranson

ERIK GUDBRANSON
Rating: 68.0#100 RD
DL2 Rating
Rating: 68.97#31 DL2
Alexander Edler

ALEXANDER EDLER
Rating: 73.7#41 LD
Alex Biega

ALEX BIEGA
Rating: 71.2#73 RD
DL3 Rating
Rating: 72.49#9 DL3
Paul Stastny and Erik Haula are both out at least until Christmas with lower-body injuries. The Golden Knights haven’t faltered in their absence with a four-game win streak and they look to be getting back into form to challenge their impressive run from a season ago.
Marc-Andre Fleury is riding high right now and will get the start against the Canucks.
Golden Knights lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
LWCRWForwards
Jonathan Marchessault

JONATHAN MARCHESSAULT
Rating: 81.5#7 LW
William Karlsson

WILLIAM KARLSSON
Rating: 80.3#18 C
Reilly Smith

REILLY SMITH
Rating: 77.7#18 RW
FL1 Rating
Rating: 79.82#8 FL1
Max Pacioretty

MAX PACIORETTY
Rating: 77.3#22 LW
Cody Eakin

CODY EAKIN
Rating: 71.2#136 C
Alex Tuch

ALEX TUCH
Rating: 76.6#23 RW
FL2 Rating
Rating: 75.04#12 FL2
Daniel Carr

DANIEL CARR
Rating: 70.7#106 LW
Tomas Nosek

TOMAS NOSEK
Rating: 70.2#162 C
Ryan Carpenter

RYAN CARPENTER
Rating: 70.6#89 RW
FL3 Rating
Rating: 70.52#28 FL3
Will Carrier

WILL CARRIER
Rating: 70.6#108 LW
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare

PIERRE-ÉDOUARD BELLEMARE
Rating: 70.2#161 C
Ryan Reaves

RYAN REAVES
Rating: 70.7#87 RW
FL4 Rating
Rating: 70.51#19 FL4
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGSDefense
Brayden McNabb

BRAYDEN MCNABB
Rating: 72.3#58 LD
Nate Schmidt

NATE SCHMIDT
Rating: 76.6#15 RD
DL1 Rating
Rating: 74.46#16 DL1
Shea Theodore

SHEA THEODORE
Rating: 78.1#8 LD
Deryk Engelland

DERYK ENGELLAND
Rating: 71.7#66 RD
DL2 Rating
Rating: 74.92#8 DL2
Nick Holden

NICK HOLDEN
Rating: 73.4#45 LD
Colin Miller

COLIN MILLER
Rating: 78.2#16 RD
DL3 Rating
Rating: 75.82#1 DL3
INFORMATION YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW
  • Vancouver has only one victory against the Golden Knights since their arrival into the league last season. That came last month. At first glance, the odds aren’t exactly leaning in the Canucks favour but it’s not unreasonable to think they can pull off a win with Boeser and Pettersson controlling play. The Canucks won’t need a perfect game but anything better than their effort against the Kings the other night will give us hope today.
  • Troy Stecher has been the least of Travis Green’s worries and yet he was eerily close to back-to-back healthy scratches. His 51.94 CF% is second only to Michael Del Zotto’s 52.27 for all Canucks defenders. He has a 0.91 P/60 at 5v5 and yet Green wants to send a message? Ben Hutton was dealt this card a season ago and is better for it but it’s a slippery slope when it happens a bit more regularly. Thankfully, Pettersson was able to play the first game of the season.
  • Scoring goals, OK lots of goals, might not be on the menu tonight. Going into this game, Vegas has a 2.92 G/GP while the Canucks are a quick Lyft ride away in the standings with 2.85. That being said, both teams have spread out their scoring with the Golden Knights having 17 skaters with at least one goal this season and the Canucks have 21 players that are equal to that task.
  • Bo Horvat has been a leader of men this season, a Captain some may say. Bo has been a point-per-game player over his last 11 matches putting up 4G and 7A in that time. Much has been made of the stars a line above his own but the Canucks will go as far as Bo Horvat.
  • Loui Eriksson has not tallied a point since the Islanders game November 13. Now that the top two lines have come back into form there should be more opportunity for Eriksson to feed off of Jake Virtanen and get into the dirty areas. If he plays well enough, maybe Karl Alzer would be available in a trade?
This is not a good idea.
MY 94 CENTS
It feels weird to say but the Canucks might have a chance in this one tonight. Everything suggests they could get waxed but if the game has a steady pace, the Canucks could play up to their competition. It’s a tactic they’ve employed for years. I’m looking forward to Elias Pettersson having a game we can talk about tomorrow.
Not sure if I can take another one like Tuesday. Paint drying is only so fun.
THE FINAL WORD