Photo via Twitter / @VanCanucks
So things may have gotten on the wrong foot for Vancouver on Friday night. That’s okay. You never want to lose by six goals, but if you can turn it into a learning experience and take some positives out of it, then there’s no point in stressing out. Today, the Canucks of the future gain a shot at redemption against the Winnipeg Jets.

Lineup

Travis Green has shifted the forwards around a little bit, perhaps in an effort to generate a couple more goals than the game before. The projected lines for tonight are as follows:
Brendan Gaunce – Jared McCann – Jake Virtanen
Hunter Shinkaruk – Dmitri Zhukenov – Dane Fox
Joseph Labate – Cole Cassels – Rodrigo Abols
MacKenze Stewart – Kyle Petit – Jonathon Martin
Ashton Sautner – Ben Hutton
Guillaume Brisebois – Jordan Subban
Anton Cederholm – Carl Neill
Jackson Whistle is likely to get the start in goal; unsurprising given Clay Witt’s less than stellar performance. When Whistle spoke to the media, he seemed up to the challenge. “I have done all this before and know what to expect heading in. I know to just go out there and play, not be nervous and just have fun with it.” [via CDC]

The Opponents

Winnipeg’s lines for tonights game aren’t out there just yet, but here’s what they rolled out against the Flames on Friday:
Brendan Lemieux – Nicolas Petan – Nikoaj Ehlers
Chase De Leo – Andrew Copp – Scott Kosmachuk
Axel Blomqvist – Ryan Olsen – Jimmy Lodge
Matteo Gennaro – Jansen Harkins – Michael Spacek
Josh Morrissey – Nelson Nogier
Peter Stoykewych – Jan Kostalek
Aaron Harstad – Marcus Karlstrom
Connor Hellebuyck / Eric Comrie (split start)
It’s worth noting that Jiri Fronk, will be coming in to take Spacek’s spot, and that Brennan Serville will come in for Stoykewych. It’s not known whether there will be any further changes to the lines. As well, Hellebuyck will play the full sixty minutes (barring injury or a blowout, obviously).
Nelson Nogier told WinnipegJets.com that he likes his team’s odds against the Canucks. “We had a slower start, not the start we would have wanted to have. But as the game went on we started to gel a little bit more,” Nogier said. “That showed today in practice. The lines were clicking and it was a fast pace. Hopefully that translates into tomorrow’s game.”

What’s Ahead

Green emphasized yesterday that he felt that the Canucks didn’t play in a way that deserved a six-goal deficit, and he has an opportunity to prove it tonight. Whistle has a prime opportunity to make a statement in net, as they’ll be looking to him to bring stability that Witt wasn’t able to bring on Friday. Loading up the top line with the three top forward performers of the game before might leave the team shallow if others don’t step up, but with Winnipeg having the big guns that they do, it might be a necessity if the Canucks want to pick up the two points.
Puck drop is at 2:00 PST, and will likely be streamed on Youtube one again (hopefully without technical difficulties cutting into sick fire-fighting b-roll like last time).