Bruce Boudreau is an honest man.
That’s why it was surprising — yet somehow not surprising in the slightest — when he told Patrick Johnston of The Province the following when asked about the challenge of a third game in four nights for his club.
Lethargic?!
That’s certainly not a word you want to hear used to describe a game as important as this one, because the Canucks need every win they can get from here on out, and they especially need this one against the Dallas Stars, a team they’re trailing in the hunt for the second wild card spot.
But first, the lineup!

Lineup

  • Matthew Highmore is out of the lineup with an upper-body injury. Boudreau clarified that it was not a concussion, but “another part of his body” ailing Highmore.
  • Will Lockwood, who our resident prospect/Abbotsford Canucks expert Chris Faber is itching to get a look at in an NHL game, will slot in alongside Nic Petan and Brad Richardson for his first NHL game this season. Lockwood has 25 points through 46 games in Abbotsford this season.
  • Thatcher Demko starts in goal.

What was said

We’d be remiss if we didn’t present Bruce Boudreau’s lethargic quote in its full context, word for word in the what was said section.
So that’s what we’ll do.
PJ: This is the third game in four nights. The first you were obviously at altitude, the second game you guys get in late, get a day off here. But how hard is that third game in that sequence no matter where you’ve played before?
Boudreau: Well I find it always the hardest game. You can still get by in the second game with adrenaline, third game, once you get in and you get in late and you’re tired. You usually do nothing the next day and are sort of really lethargic and so you have to have a good morning skate to get the most out of it. Our morning skate was pretty lethargic today, and I told them that, so hopefully they’ll you know perk up a little bit more by game time.
Will Lockwood is ready to seize the opportunity and said Boudreau wants to see the following from him tonight:
“Just bringing physicality aspect to the game,” said Lockwood. “Keeping it simple, don’t try to go out there and do too much. That’s kind of been the message.”
“It was nice to get those couple games in last year and kind of get an idea of things I needed to work on and develop in my game, and the organization has done a great job. [They’ve] helped me get to a point where I’m at now and you know, instead of being as nervous as I was in that first game, in the second game, it’s kind of — I have an understanding of what the organization wants and how I can be effective and help this team.”
Currently, Dallas has three games in hand on the Canucks and sit four spots ahead of them in the Western Conference wild card standings.
The Canucks weren’t expecting to win either of the first two games on this road trip, so getting three of a four possible points certainly has the team feeling good about themselves heading into tonight.
The main question will be if they’re indeed ready to play their third game in four nights after a less-than-ideal morning skate. Puck drop is at 4 PM Pacific time from the American Airlines Center in Texas.