Same as it ever was, eh? If there was ever a time without drama, struggles, injuries and controversy with the Vancouver Canucks, we're not aware of it. And I'll be honest, the constant sideshow (and reactions to it) are getting old and tired.

Vancouver Canucks (16-10-6) vs. Ottawa Senators  (17-13-2)

7:00 pm PST; 10:00 pm EST

TV: Sportsnet, CBC, City TV

Radio: Sportsnet 650

One of the downfalls of the current status in the Pacific Division is that there's hardly any room to breathe for any team, even Vegas. Just 8 points separate first place from the Utah Hockey Clubs, who are currently out of the playoff picture, one point ahead of the Canucks and Dallas Stars. When you look at Vancouver's record, it's not great, but it's not horrible either. The problem they're faced with now is that run where they were picking up points even when they lost isn't happening as frequently, and they squandered the games in hand they had on the other teams in the division.

So while the Canucks sputter along, the Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers continue to rack up the wins. And we find ourselves almost at Christmas where we have to yet again deal with the reality of the past decade, where the Canucks are simply not good enough to make the playoffs, let alone a run at the Cup.

So why is this happening? Is it the now publicly acknowledged feud between Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller? Is it the chemistry that had developed last season was disturbed? Is it the injuries that the team has had to deal with so far? Is it the defence, and the lack of quality goaltending from the backup when Demko was out? Well, yes.

All of these things have played a role in getting the Canucks to where they are at this point. It's become clear that there has to be some sort of change with this team's make up if they hope to stop the constant 'one step forward, two steps back' thing they've been doing for over a month now. And while some are digging trenches, prepared to yet again battle another civil war on social media over Miller and Pettersson, what they actually need GM Patrik Allvin to do is get on the phone and get some help for the defence.

When Filip Hronek went down, the drop off from the Canucks top D pairing became a plunge into an abyss of inconsistency. And while Carson Soucy and Noah Juulsen have had moments where it looked like they could work, everyone else on that back end, apart from Quinn Hughes has been struggling, and someone's gotta go. The problem being that in order to bring in a player who will have the kind of impact the Canucks need will require them to give up a major piece, either in terms of prospect or roster, but most likely both, and that's not going to make things better either.

And no matter how good you think the Canucks are doing this season, the fact that the Ottawa Senators have more wins this season so far should be absolutely sobering. Sure, the Sens weren't gonna stay bad forever, and getting a top quality goaltender in Linus Ullmark has certainly helped. Think back to the meeting between these teams earlier this season, where the Canucks had a 3 goal lead with just over 11 minutes left, and skated away with a 4-3 win. These third period collapses are going to be the death of this team, as is their inability to play a solid 60 minute game, regardless of opponent.

LINEUPS

Scrawled inside a Pirate Pak, we found tonight's possible lines, but apparently they're also on nhl dot com...

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Tim Stutzle -- Claude Giroux

Drake Batherson -- Josh Norris -- Ridly Greig

Nick Cousins -- Shane Pinto -- Michael Amadio

Noah Gregor -- Zack Ostapchuk -- Adam Gaudette

Thomas Chabot -- Nick Jensen

Jake Sanderson -- Travis Hamonic

Tyler Kleven -- Jacob Bernard-Docker

Leevi Merilainen

Linus Ullmark

Scratched: Cole Reinhardt

Injured: Artem Zub (fractured foot), David Perron (upper body), Anton Forsberg (undisclosed)

Canucks projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Conor Garland

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Linus Karlsson

Danton Heinen -- Teddy Blueger -- Kiefer Sherwood

Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers

Carson Soucy -- Noah Juulsen

Derek Forbort -- Vincent Desharnais

Kevin Lankinen

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Erik Brannstrom, Max Sasson, Nils Hoglander

Injured: Filip Hronek (upper body)

While some are thinking that the Sens giving Leevi Merilainen, he of the two career NHL starts, the crease tonight is going to work in the Canucks' favour. This has trap written all over it, as I fully expect him to play like the second coming of Ken Dryden. Kevin Lankinen gets the start for the Canucks, who are rolling with the same lines we saw against Vegas on Thursday, hopefully with a different result.

GAME DAY CHATTER

The coach has some pregame thoughts, and comments on their inconsistent play, as well as the JT/Petey beef... The Captain also weighs in on things, and I like what I hear from Hughes here... And an interesting note about tonight's officials, as brothers Travis and Brandon Gawryletz, from Trail, BC will be working the lines tonight.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

The pride of Costa Rica are back and sound as pissed as ever! CHEMICIDE have a new deal with LISTENABLE Records, and recently released the title track of their upcoming album 'Violence Prevails', which hits stores in February.