Unlike pretty much every other game in this historic losing streak, the Canucks probably deserved a better fate than they were dealt on Monday night against the Islanders. The problem is, things are so bad with the Canucks that they simply cannot make a mistake, because when they do, it ends up in the back of their net.

Vancouver Canucks (16-28-5) vs. Washington Capitals (24-20-6)

Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC

7:00 pm PST; 10:00 pm EST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific

Radio: Sportsnet 650

Honestly, it's hard to be mad at the Canucks over that loss to the Islanders on Monday evening. They fought hard, and gave the Islanders all they could handle. In the end, mistakes made were costly, and ended being the difference, as well as another failure from one of the NHL's most inept penalty kills. I though overall it was a much better effort team-wise, but still, we're at 11 games and counting right now, and something has to give.

The last time these teams met was a fairly eventful contest. Tyler Myers had a goal and an assist, Elias Pettersson got his first of the year, as did Teddy Blueger. Blueger's goal put the Canucks up 4-0, and they were able to hang on for the 4-3 win. It was a costly one, though. Tom Wilson's garbage hit on Filip Chytil went unpunished, and Chytil is still out of the lineup, recovering from concussion issues.

If there's a team they might be able to bump the slump against, maybe it's Washington? They've lost 3 straight, are 10-10-3 on the road and have not won a road game this season where their opponents scored first. They're also 0-5 in shootouts this season. I shouldn't have to tell you that it really doesn't matter how they win, but getting one just for everyone's mental health should be the priority.

And while we know it's hard to bring yourself to watch the Canucks right now, what with the at times unwatchably horrid hockey they're playing, world events, and new episodes of The Traitors, but this could potentially be the last visit of Alexander Ovechkin to Rogers Arena, so this one will be worth the watch, I am sure. Oh, and a little payback to Tom Wilson probably wouldn't hurt, while they're at it.

LINEUPS

From that nhl dot com thang, here's what we should likely see on the ice tonight:

Capitals projected lineup

Connor McMichael -- Dylan Strome -- Ryan Leonard

Aliaksei Protas -- Justin Sourdif -- Tom Wilson

Alex Ovechkin -- Nic Dowd -- Anthony Beauvillier

Brandon Duhaime -- Hendrix Lapierre -- Ethen Frank

Jakob Chychrun -- John Carlson

Martin Fehervary -- Matt Roy

Rasmus Sandin -- Declan Chisholm

Logan Thompson

Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: Trevor van Riemsdyk, Dylan McIlrath, Sonny Milano, Ivan Miroshnichenko

Injured: Pierre-Luc Dubois (lower body)

Canucks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Elias Pettersson -- Jake DeBrusk

Drew O’Connor -- David Kampf -- Brock Boeser

Liam Ohgren -- Teddy Blueger -- Conor Garland

Nils Hoglander -- Max Sasson -- Linus Karlsson

Elias Pettersson -- Filip Hronek

Zeev Buium -- Tyler Myers

Marcus Pettersson -- Tom Willander

Kevin Lankinen

Jiri Patera

Scratched: P.O. Joseph, Arshdeep Bains, Aatu Raty

Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Marco Rossi (lower body), Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)

The big news is that Teddy Blueger is good to go and will be in the lineup tonight, which shows you just how badly the Canucks are hurting for good news of any kind at the moment. That means Arshdeep Bains is going back to Abbotsford. With Demko and Forbort likely done for the season, that means Chytil (who could play soon) and Rossi (scheduled to be back after the Olympic break) are the only ones left still hoping to get back in. Washington is mostly healthy, with just Pierre-Luc DBag the only one out at the moment, and it will be Kevin Lankinen vs Logan Thompson in goal.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Yesterday saw a new tune drop from Bay Area thrash pioneers EXODUS, and it's an absolute beast of a track! I know there's a lot of hype for the upcoming Megadeth swan song, but this is the album I will be waiting impatiently for. From the album entitled 'Goliath', this is '3111', featuring Rob Dukes on vocals. Dukes rejoined the band last year, after serving in that role from 2005-2014.

Enjoy the game, folks! Fuck Fascism and Fuck Trump! Go Canucks Go!