The Canucks head to Orange County after getting shutout by a bunch of Tron cosplayers in LA last night, can they drop another one and stay in the bottom 10 and retain a shot at winning the draft lottery, no matter how small?
VANCOUVER CANUCKS (36-37-7) vs ANAHEIM DUCKS (23-45-12)
7:00 PM PST
HONDA CENTER, ANAHEIM, CA
TV: SN PACIFIC. RADIO: SN650
Well, I would call that an uninspired effort, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate. The Kings tried to send a message to the Canucks last night, and at best it seemed ill-advised, as Sean Durzi probably regretted trying to fight Sheldon Dries after a clean hit and got a face full of fist for his trouble. Later, Adrian Kempe asked J.T. Miller twice to drop the gloves, and Miller obliged the second time. Much like Durzi in his tilt with Dries, got more than he bargained for with a smaller opponent, as Miller landed a number of shots in the scrap. Something something moral victories, right?
I thought it was interesting that the Canucks started Collin Delia last night, with Thatcher Demko getting the easier opponent tonight in Anaheim. As the season winds down, it seems that two things that were a constant all year long: the Canucks high-powered offence and a top 10 power play, are coming to a sputtering halt. It may do wonders for those faint draft lottery hopes, but it's certainly not doing anything to make these remaining games remotely watchable. I mean, if you caught that Canada/USA game from the Women's Worlds last night, it was more entertaining a mile. Perhaps that's not a fair comparison, but still, all we really want is just not to be bored to death on top of the ceaseless misery that accompanies Canucks fandom.
LINEUPS
From the ol' nhl.com thingy, this is what these teams will probably throw out on the ice tonight:
Canucks projected lineup
Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Vitali Kravtsov
Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser
Anthony Beauvillier -- Sheldon Dries -- Conor Garland
Dakota Joshua -- Nils Aman -- Aidan McDonough
Quinn Hughes -- Kyle Burroughs
Scratched: Jack Studnicka
Injured: Filip Hronek (shoulder), Vasily Podkolzin (hand), Christian Wolanin (lower body), Travis Dermott (undisclosed).
Ducks projected lineup
Frank Vatrano -- Trevor Zegras -- Ryan Strome
Adam Henrique -- Mason McTavish -- Troy Terry
Max Jones -- Isac Lundestrom -- Jakob Silfverberg
Benoit-Olivier Groulx -- Derek Grant -- Nikita Nesterenko
Jackson LaCombe -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Simon Benoit -- Nathan Beaulieu
Scratched: Sam Carrick, Brett Leason, Jayson Megna, Colton White
Injured: Scott Harrington (upper body), Brock McGinn (upper body), Max Comtois (upper body)
Just a couple changes from last night, as Aidan McDonough gets back in, and Thatcher Demko gets the start.
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Some local metal for you today. From their album 'From Hell With Hate', it's one of Canada's thrash pioneers AGGRESSION and 'Return Of The Frozen Aggressor'.
Enjoy the game, everyone. Go Canucks Go, I guess?
