Much like the Bernie and his mitts meme dominating the internet, Tyler Toffoli and his filthy mitts are doing the same thing to the Canucks this week. It felt like it was going from bad to worse and then it actually did. The Canucks will try and salvage anything they possibly can after the colossal beat down they received by the Montreal Canadiens.

If ™ can stay out of the penalty box just long enough for the Canucks to gain some ground, it may not be all bad. After all, Brandon Sutter turned into Wayne Gretzky overnight so maybe things are looking up?

Let’s Do This!™

WHERE CAN I FIND THIS GAME?

TV: CBC / RADIO: SN 650 / PUCK DROP: 4:00PM

LINEUPS

Jordie Benn is believed to be in the lineup tonight as Brogan Rafferty has been put back on the taxi squad. There is still no word on Alex Edler and Travis Hamonic is out for a few games. When will we see Loui Eriksson? The Canucks have taken a ton of penalties so why not have an expert PK specialist on the ice?

Braden Holtby should be starting but is there a definite number one yet?

CANUCKS LINES COURTESY OF DAILYFACEOFF.COM:

LW	C	RW	Forwards
J.T. MILLER Rating: 78.5#7 LW	ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 77.7#14 C	BROCK BOESER Rating: 74.1#41 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 76.78#13 FL1
TANNER PEARSON Rating: 73.7#38 LW	BO HORVAT Rating: 74.8#34 C	NILS HOGLANDER	FL2 Rating Rating: 74.25#8 FL2
ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 71.0#97 LW	ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 70.2#130 C	JAKE VIRTANEN Rating: 72.0#78 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 71.08#22 FL3
TYLER MOTTE Rating: 68.8#144 LW	JAY BEAGLE Rating: 68.4#163 C	BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 70.1#131 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 69.09#30 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS	Defense
QUINN HUGHES Rating: 75.2#15 LD	JALEN CHATFIELD	DL1 Rating Rating: 75.21#14 DL1
OLLI JUOLEVI	TYLER MYERS Rating: 72.6#50 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 72.56#17 DL2
NATE SCHMIDT Rating: 75.5#18 LD	BROGAN RAFFERTY	DL3 Rating Rating: 74.16#1 DL3

Joel Armia is in concussion protocol after ™ put a dirty hit his way and took him out of the game. Stay tuned to their taxi squad for the replacement.

Carey Price should start this evening.

CANADIENS LINES COURTESY OF DAILYFACEOFF.COM:

LW	C	RW	Forwards
TOMAS TATAR Rating: 77.7#10 LW	PHILLIP DANAULT Rating: 75.5#29 C	BRENDAN GALLAGHER Rating: 78.3#7 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 77.20#9 FL1
JONATHAN DROUIN Rating: 73.0#48 LW	NICK SUZUKI	JOSH ANDERSON Rating: 73.4#42 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 73.16#20 FL2
TYLER TOFFOLI Rating: 75.9#25 LW	JESPERI KOTKANIEMI	JOEL ARMIA Rating: 73.1#54 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 73.18#4 FL3
ARTTURI LEHKONEN Rating: 71.7#81 LW	JAKE EVANS	PAUL BYRON Rating: 71.8#78 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 71.77#6 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS	Defense
BEN CHIAROT Rating: 73.8#38 LD	SHEA WEBER Rating: 76.5#15 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 75.15#15 DL1
JOEL EDMUNDSON Rating: 73.8#39 LD	JEFF PETRY Rating: 76.7#13 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 75.23#3 DL2
BRETT KULAK Rating: 73.4#46 LD	ALEXANDER ROMANOV	DL3 Rating Rating: 73.43#2 DL3

GAME NOTES, STATS, AND “OH JEEZ, TOFFOLI SCORED AGAIN”

If you didn’t already know, Tyler Toffoli has scorched the Canucks for five goals this season. This isn’t just putting up five goals, it’s personal and he’s embarrassing the Canucks on every opportunity he gets. It stings even more knowing he would have loved to hang around and see it through. There are painful reminders of what the team is stuck with which forced Jim Benning to let the proven performer walk.
Bo Horvat has adjusted to being a dad and a Captain. He has put the team on his back and has scored some pretty important goals, three on the power play to be precise. He went dormant against the Flames but has shown up against the Habs. Travis Green even had him on a line with Pettersson to try and get something going. There’s a bullrush goal coming soon, count on it.
With all the giveaways, lacklustre performances, and painful defensive performances, is it fair to say the ghost of Luca Sbisa is haunting the Canucks? How do they exorcise him? Is it Pettersson that does it or a masterful Quinn Hughes performance? Something needs to give.
Vancouver is one of only three teams to have played six games. They have surrendered the most shots against with 37/GP in those six games and it begs the question “Will this be the same porous defence as last season?” No Jacob Markstrom to steal games and no Chris Tanev to keep the puck away, combined with a rookie backend that will be forced into a major workload. Discipline will be key tonight.
The Canucks are averaging just over 13 minutes per game in penalties. They don’t have the personnel to maintain that rate. They barely have enough players to play 5v5. This one could get dicey.

TWITTER TOLD YOU

Interesting take here. It’s tough to take out recency bias but breaking down what each player brings as a whole (cap, salary, minutes, points, play style, role).

Teddy Wong III 🤙🏾🌺

@Tee3ree

·Follow

Serious question. Myers vs Stecher. Taking everything into account. Age(30/26) physical attributes (6"8 230/5"10 186), contract(6Mx5/1.7Mx2), role, & what ever you can muster from an analytics stand point. Who would you rather have. I'm hearing a split crowd. Settle it.

4:02 PM · Jan 22, 2021

Read 6 replies

MY 94 CENTS

The Canucks aren’t as bad as they look. Puck luck is dominating this team and it’s going to take a garbage goal to bump the slump… well that and a win. Pettersson is due to get back to normal and I think we should all be thankful that the return of Boeser is overshadowing Petey’s performance.

THE FINAL WORD

Probably more of the same again tonight. Fewer penalties but a Canadiens win is most likely in the cards. If the game gets out of hand at least you have the rest of the evening to go out and do whate… nevermind, it’s still COVID.