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Canucks Army THE GAME DAY – Canucks Vs. Oilers
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Photo credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
Always90four
Dec 1, 2019, 15:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 1, 2019, 20:58 EST
THE INTRO
The Vancouver Canucks are back from a road trip they’d prefer to not have to deal with again and they take on a familiar team, the Edmonton Oilers, for the second-straight night. Travis Green’s club took the Oilers to the woodshed last night in a surprising 5-2 victory thanks to Tanner Pearson, Loui Eriksson, and Jacob Markstrom.
Tonight, he’ll need just as good of an effort if not better if the Canucks are going to steal away two valuable points in the standings. The Oilers will be cranky after allowing Vancouver’s forgotten ones to own them. Don’t expect a cakewalk for the Canucks. It’s possible Antoine Roussel makes his anticipated debut as well. (He will not play tonight)
Let’s Do This!™
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds for tonight’s game are: (VAN -125/ EDM +105) courtesy of OddsShark.com.
TV / RADIO / PUCK DROP
SNP / SN 650 / 7:00 PM
LINEUPS
As mentioned above, Antoine Roussel has been called up and could make his season debut tonight (nope). That, in turn, means a bump to the press box for one of Loui Eriksson or Nikolay Goldobin or possibly Tyler Graovac. What a world we live in where you have to decide who is more valuable?
Alex Edler left last night’s game with a back injury and may not play tonight. Could that mean Oscar Fantenberg draws in?
Thatcher Demko is the likely starter after Jacob Markstrom went the distance last night. UPDATED: Is Demko injured? Jacob Markstrom gets the whole weekend to himself and will start in consecutive games.
Canucks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
LWCRWForwards
J.T. Miller

J.T. MILLER
Rating: 74.7#38 LW
Bo Horvat

BO HORVAT
Rating: 74.8#47 C
Nikolay Goldobin

NIKOLAY GOLDOBIN
Rating: 70.7#95 RW
FL1 Rating
Rating: 73.40#28 FL1
Jake Virtanen

JAKE VIRTANEN
Rating: 71.4#102 LW
Elias Pettersson

ELIAS PETTERSSON
Rating: 78.6#15 C
Brock Boeser

BROCK BOESER
Rating: 76.0#14 RW
FL2 Rating
Rating: 75.34#11 FL2
Tanner Pearson

TANNER PEARSON
Rating: 72.3#80 LW
Adam Gaudette

ADAM GAUDETTE
Rating: 70.6#160 C
Josh Leivo

JOSH LEIVO
Rating: 72.0#89 RW
FL3 Rating
Rating: 71.65#23 FL3
Tim Schaller

TIM SCHALLER
Rating: 68.9#147 LW
Tyler Graovac

TYLER GRAOVAC
Rating: 72.9#91 C
FL4 Rating
Rating: 70.88#23 FL4
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGSDefense
Alexander Edler

ALEXANDER EDLER
Rating: 75.5#19 LD
Chris Tanev

CHRIS TANEV
Rating: 71.8#83 RD
DL1 Rating
Rating: 73.63#23 DL1
Quinn Hughes

QUINN HUGHES
Rating: 75.4#22 LD
Tyler Myers

TYLER MYERS
Rating: 72.1#72 RD
DL2 Rating
Rating: 73.73#14 DL2
Jordie Benn

JORDIE BENN
Rating: 71.5#102 LD
Troy Stecher

TROY STECHER
Rating: 72.0#76 RD
DL3 Rating
Rating: 71.74#22 DL3
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will not play tonight as mentioned in yesterday’s THE GAME DAY. Everyone else is accounted for in Edmonton.
Mikko Koskinen should start after Mike Smith played last night.
Oilers lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com:
LWCRWForwards
Leon Draisaitl

LEON DRAISAITL
Rating: 83.7#3 LW
Connor McDavid

CONNOR MCDAVID
Rating: 85.6#1 C
Zack Kassian

ZACK KASSIAN
Rating: 71.7#80 RW
FL1 Rating
Rating: 80.32#2 FL1
James Neal

JAMES NEAL
Rating: 72.6#71 LW
Sam Gagner

SAM GAGNER
Rating: 71.9#121 C
Alex Chiasson

ALEX CHIASSON
Rating: 71.6#81 RW
FL2 Rating
Rating: 72.05#29 FL2
Jujhar Khaira

JUJHAR KHAIRA
Rating: 70.5#129 LW
Riley Sheahan

RILEY SHEAHAN
Rating: 69.0#186 C
Josh Archibald

JOSH ARCHIBALD
Rating: 69.6#113 RW
FL3 Rating
Rating: 69.71#31 FL3
Markus Granlund

MARKUS GRANLUND
Rating: 70.9#120 LW
Gaetan Haas

GAETAN HAAS
Rating: 72.9#93 C
Patrick Russell

PATRICK RUSSELL
Rating: 71.9#76 RW
FL4 Rating
Rating: 71.87#8 FL4
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGSDefense
Darnell Nurse

DARNELL NURSE
Rating: 74.4#34 LD
Ethan Bear

ETHAN BEAR
Rating: 72.9#51 RD
DL1 Rating
Rating: 73.67#22 DL1
Oscar Klefbom

OSCAR KLEFBOM
Rating: 74.7#30 LD
Caleb Jones

CALEB JONES
Rating: 72.3#65 RD
DL2 Rating
Rating: 73.50#18 DL2
Kris Russell

KRIS RUSSELL
Rating: 71.6#97 LD
Adam Larsson

ADAM LARSSON
Rating: 70.9#92 RD
DL3 Rating
Rating: 71.22#27 DL3
GAME NOTES AND A STAT OR TWO
  • It’s believed Antoine Roussel will start tonight which is super fitting as he looked up to Alex Burrows as a shift-disturber. There will be a lot of emotion in this game tonight and the Rooster might rest a few points on the board, or hey, the GWG. UPDATED: No Roussel until possibly Tuesday. Regardless, Edmonton won’t forget how they got worked one night ago.
  • People have been dumping on Bo Horvat to be more. They’ve always done this. Get faster, score more goals, why aren’t you the captain yet? Stuff like that. Bo has faced a ton of criticism which isn’t really even warranted but he’s shutting up the haters. In his last five games, Bo has 1G / 6A which basically means he IS driving play, he’s Captaining like a boss and he’s helping his teammates produce. Good on you, Bo!
  • Not talking about how great Quinn Hughes is is tough. So you won’t find that void here. He’s not going to catch John Carlson of the Capitals as the top defender but he’s on a run right now. Hughes is six points back of Dougie Hamilton for second-most points by a defenseman. His 20 assists are tied with Elias Pettersson on the Canucks. Do you know who else has 20 assists or more on the Canucks? NOBODY! J.T. Miller is the next closest with 15. Quinn Hughes is a special, special talent and he isn’t being hyped enough. That’s about to change.
  • Will this be the year Jake Virtanen notches 20 goals? He’s currently on pace for 21. He sits at seven goals as of today and wouldn’t he be a fitting player to honour Burrows? A Jake Virtanen hat-trick you say? Preposterous!
  • Tim Schaller hasn’t put up a point in over a month. If Tanner Pearson and Josh Leivo can do it, so can he. BOOK IT! Tim Schaller point night.
#CANUCKSTWITTER
A breakdown no one wanted to admit:
This stat could be a little skewed but I’ll run with it:
MY 94 CENTS
I had to miss last night’s game due to a work Christmas party so seeing that the Oilers were thumped by the Canucks lessers was quite a surprise. What also surprised me was that none of the Canucks big guns really factored on the score sheet. Bo Horvat had three helpers and Quinn Hughes had one as well.
AND ANOTHER THING…