Morning hockey is really stupid. That being said, grab your coffee and we'll see if the Canucks can continue their road dominance this season as they take on the Red Wings.

Vancouver Canucks (12-7-3) vs. Detroit Red Wings  (10-11-2)

9:30 am PST; 12:30 pm EST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet One

Radio: Sportsnet 650

Again, it's not about how they get it done right now, it's simply about getting it done, and that's what the Canucks did in Buffalo Friday afternoon. Despite coughing up the two goal lead in the third period, a timely save from Kevin Lankinen, and a beauty between the legs from Conor Garland sealed the deal in OT against Vancouver's expansion cousins, moving their road record this season to 9-2-0.

The Canucks are in the 2nd wild card slot at the moment, so they must keep the points coming, as unfortunately for them, their Pacific Division rivals continue to pile them up as well. And while they have a tough one Tuesday against the Wild in Minnesota, they should be able to keep things going against a Detroit Red Wings team that continues to just sputter along despite being years into the Yzerplan.

It's a busy December for Vancouver, with today's game being the first of 12 games between now and the Christmas break. Normally, we'd say it's a good thing the majority of those are at home, but given the way the Canucks have played at Rogers Arena, it's almost like we'd prefer them to stay on the road for this stretch.

One factor that should help the Canucks win this one today will be special teams. Their penalty kill has been much improved, and it will be tested by one the league's best in Detroit today. The Wings are the worst in the NHL on the penalty kill, so look for the Canucks to try and make every power play count in this one. Other than a strong power play, Detroit struggles to score, being near the bottom of five on five goals this season.

LINEUPS

Scrawled in pizza sauce outside the arena, this is what to expect from these teams today (also, it's on nhl dot com...)

Canucks projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Danton Heinen -- Teddy Blueger -- Max Sasson

Nils Hoglander -- Aatu Raty -- Kiefer Sherwood

Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers

Erik Brannstrom -- Vincent Desharnais

Carson Soucy -- Noah Juulsen

Kevin Lankinen

Arturs Silovs

Scratched: Arshdeep Bains

Injured: Derek Forbort (knee), Filip Hronek (upper body)

Red Wings projected lineup

Vladimir Tarasenko -- Dylan Larkin -- Lucas Raymond

Tyler Motte -- J.T. Compher -- Alex DeBrincat

Michael Rasmussen -- Andrew Copp -- Christian Fischer

Joe Veleno -- Marco Kasper -- Jonatan Berggren

Simon Edvinsson -- Moritz Seider

Ben Chiarot -- Jeff Petry

Erik Gustafsson -- Justin Holl

Cam Talbot

Ville Husso

Scratched: Albert Johansson

Injured: Alex Lyon (lower body), Patrick Kane (upper body)

It should be interesting to see what the first line of Pettersson, DeBrusk and Boeser can do against the Wings today. And don't look at Kiefer Sherwood on the fourth line as any kind of punishment. He continues to be an impact player for the Canucks. After the way they played in Buffalo, I would expect the pairing of Carson Soucy and Noah Juulsen to get less ice time today. And watch Max Sasson today. He's playing in front of family and friends at home for the first time, so a first career goal for Sasson shouldn't come as a shock.

For the Wings, you know things aren't great when you're rolling Tyler Motte on your second line. No offence to Motte, but that speaks volumes about their depth. No Patrick Kane today, which is good, because fuck that guy, man.

GAME DAY CHATTER

Gotta admire the love fans have for JT Miller, as evidenced by this moment during the WWE's Survivor Series last night at Rogers... Here's some pregame thoughts from the coach... JPat shows a little love to Vancouver's Short King, who truly has been their most consistent forward this season...

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Stumbled across this killer recording of Overkill a few days ago at the Vogue Theatre, opening for King Diamond. Bobby Blitz and the boys can still bring it after all these years. Make sure and check out the Loud Flash youtube page, they've got a ton of heavy bands that have visited Vancouver on there, and you're sure to find something you like there.

Get some coffee. Make yourself a hearty breakfast. And enjoy this game. Go Canucks Go!