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Canucks Army GDT #37 – Canucks vs. Red Wings

By Rhys Jessop

Jan 3, 2015, 15:36 ESTUpdated:

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Vancouver rang in the new year in probably the least desirable way possible with a no-show against the Los Angeles Kings. Though they had a 2-1 lead with moments to go, the Canucks’ poor play caught up with them, resulting in one of the most disappointing losses of the season. They’ll look to keep pace in the Pacific division tonight and avoid a similar performance against a resurgent Detroit Red Wings team on Hockey Night in Canada.

Read past the jump for a preview.

Broadcast Info

Puck Drop: 7:00 PM PST

TV: CBC

Radio: TSN 1040

Lineups

Courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com

LW	C	RW
Daniel Sedin	Henrik Sedin	Radim Vrbata
Chris Higgins	Nick Bonino	Jannik Hansen
Shawn Matthias	Brad Richardson	Zack Kassian
Alexandre Burrows	Bo Horvat	Derek Dorsett

Defensive Pairings
Alexander Edler	Chris Tanev
Ryan Stanton	Kevin Bieksa
Luca Sbisa	Yannick Weber

Zack Kassian returns to the lineup, taking Linden Vey’s spot on the third line. Kevin Bieksa is probable for tonight, but Bobby Sanguinetti will play if he can’t go. Ryan Miller gets the start in goal.

LW	C	RW
Henrik Zetterberg	Pavel Datsyuk	Justin Abdelkader
Tomas Tatar	Riley Sheahan	Tomas Jurco
Johan Franzen	Darren Helm	Gustav Nyquist
Drew Miller	Luke Glendening	Stephen Weiss

Defensive Pairings
Jonathan Ericsson	Niklas Kronwall
Kyle Quincey	Dan DeKeyser
Brendan Smith	Xavier Ouellet

Jimmy Howard gets the nod in net for the Red Wings.

Head to Head

Storylines

Zack is Back – After being a somewhat controversial healthy scratch against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, Zack Kassian will return to the lineup tonight against the Red Wings. He said the extended absence was frustrating, but now that he’s in the lineup, he’s “not going to come back out.” The Canucks seem insistent on Kassian being a “power forward,” which generally means they’re looking for a type of player that simply doesn’t exist. Unless they radically alter their expectations of Kassian and begin to see him as a useful young forward rather than a stone they have to try and squeeze blood from, they will continue to be disappointed in his play.
So Long, Tom – While not directly related to today’s game, Tom Sestito has cleared waivers and assigned to the Utica Comets. Sestito wasn’t helping the Canucks this season, playing in only three games, and wasn’t helping them while he was in the lineup either. He easily was Vancouver’s worst puck possession player in 2013-2014, and was among the worst players in the NHL in GoalsAgainst/60. In his Canucks career, he played 103 games, scoring 6 goals, 5 assists, and 273 penalty minutes.
Unfamiliar Territory – Thanks to contributions from their young guns, the Detroit Red Wings are not only relevant, but quite good once again this season. The schedule has been rather friendly to them so far this year though, as they have barely left the Eastern time zone. Tonight’s game will be their first in the Pacific all season, making this their second venture out of the East. They played one game in Winnipeg as well. Perhaps unfamiliarity with travel will help the Canucks, although the Wings have been in town for a few days now.