In the long run, it's not going to change much, but when the team and their fan base really needed a feel good win, they came through. Another tough challenge today as they take another one of the teams in the Pacific mix that is better than they were last season in San Jose.

Vancouver Canucks (10-12-2) vs. San Jose Sharks (11-10-3)

SAP Center at San Jose, Anaheim, CA

1:00 pm PST; 4:00 pm EST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific

Radio: Sportsnet 650

When the team really needed a goaltender to stand tall, Nikita Tolopilo, all 6'6" of him, came up with a huge night, stopping 37 shots in a 5-4 Canucks win over the Pacific Division leading Anaheim Ducks. They got two goals from the Abbotsford line, an Evander Kane PPG, a goal that will be part of the video tribute they play for Conor Garland whenever he makes his first visit back to Vancouver after being traded, and another one from Drew O'Connor to hang on for the win.

They're going up against a team pretty similar not only to Anaheim, but themselves in San Jose this afternoon. The Sharks, led by local kid Macklin Celebrini, are close to being a playoff team again after years of awfulness once their Stanley Cup window closed. And all they had to do was just keep being awful and win the draft lottery. Voila, a soon to be contender, if they continue this trajectory. Sure, they'll need to tweak some things, but this is a good test for the Canucks today. Heading into a tough back to back, can they keep up with another speedy young team, and give their goaltender enough support to get a much-needed two points?

LINEUPS

From the nhl dot com whoosywhatsit, here's what you'll likely see today:

Canucks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Elias Pettersson -- Jake DeBrusk

Conor Garland -- David Kampf -- Brock Boeser

Drew O'Connor -- Aatu Raty -- Kiefer Sherwood

Arshdeep Bains -- Max Sasson -- Linus Karlsson

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Elias Pettersson -- Tyler Myers

Marcus Pettersson -- Tom Willander

Jiri Patera

Nikita Tolopilo

Scratched: P.O. Joseph, Kevin Lankinen, Lukas Reichel

Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Teddy Blueger (lower body), Nils Hoglander (lower body), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)

Sharks projected lineup

William Eklund -- Macklin Celebrini -- Will Smith

Philipp Kurashev -- Alexander Wennberg -- Tyler Toffoli

Adam Gaudette -- Ty Dellandrea -- Collin Graf

Barclay Goodrow -- Zack Ostapchuk -- Ryan Reaves

Dmitry Orlov -- Timothy Liljegren

Mario Ferraro -- Shakir Mukhamadullin

Sam Dickinson -- Vincent Desharnais

Alex Nedeljkovic

Yaroslav Askarov

Scratched: Vincent Iorio, Nick Leddy, John Klingberg

Injured: Michael Misa (lower body), Jeff Skinner (lower body)

No changes for the Canucks, apart from Jiri Patera likely to get the start today, with either Tolopilo or Kevin Lankinen getting the start tomorrow in Los Angeles. Lankinen has rejoined the team, and along with Thatcher Demko, means the Canucks have four goaltenders with them right now. Neat. Watch for Reichel to get slotted in for Raty, though. After that dangerous top line for the Sharks, they'll also have to be wary of Tyler Toffoli, who'll likely get a hat trick today, Adam Gaudette, and Ryan Reaves, who can always be counted on to do something stupid. Maybe he goes after Kane? Anyway, this should be a fun one, like the game on Wednesday.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Sometimes, you just gotta take a chance on bands, so you don't miss out on something amazing. Scouring the youtubes for a battle hymn, I came across a band called BONGABONGA. I gave it a pass, and after 20 minutes went back to it just to see what the deal was. Glad I did, because this OSDM-influenced thrash act from Jakarta, Indonesia absolutely rips. Check out 'Seribu Tiga Ratus Dua Belas', the title track from their album on Brutal Mind Records.

Enjoy the game. Fuck fascism. Go Canucks Go!!