10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, SNP
The Canucks are off to a start that I never expected. While they have struggled against Eastern teams (1-2-1), they have dominated the Western teams they have faced. In past years, tonight's game would be the one where the team shits the bed. The Sharks are a bad team. Their logo should be changed to a whale shark. They can't score...even on the PP. They have allowed the 3rd most goals against per game in the league. The nicest thing I can say is that their PK is only slightly worse than the Canucks. So, like I said, the Canucks losing tonight would be a gimme last year.....
The Canucks are coming of a game where they played mediocre to poor for part of a game and then Petey put on a cape and got things moving in the right direction. If he stays healthy (knock on Jimmi's head), Petey will have a monster year that might make Aquilini second-guess re-signing him to long term. Having the three-headed monster of Petey-Hughes-Miller makes it that this team can have an off night from one of them and still have a chance of winning. It also makes it so that players like Brock can have streak of games where they don't score and the media doesn't jump on them. (except me)
As for this..
I don't mind JT losing his shit from time to time and I don't think Tocchet does either. There is growing confidence within the team that they can kill penalties and that means dumb plays won't always cost them. But Tocchet has also draw the line in the sand that all players are held accountable by benching Miller and that is a good thing for any team. The fact that media wants to ask the same stupid question a hundred different ways is annoying.
November sees the Canucks play division opponents 9 times and 3 of those games are against San Jose. Games like tonight are must win. They must beat these lower teams and get the two points. Playing down or up to the level of the competition has not worked out well in years past. It's time to take care of business in these types of games.
Canucks projected lineup
Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Ilya Mikheyev
Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser
Anthony Beauvillier -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland
Nils Hoglander -- Sam Lafferty -- Jack Studnicka
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Ian Cole -- Mark Friedman
Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers
Thatcher Demko
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Noah Juulsen, Jack Studnicka
Injured: Teddy Blueger (foot), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion)
Sharks projected lineup
Anthony Duclair -- Tomas Hertl -- Fabian Zetterlund
William Eklund -- Mikael Granlund -- Luke Kunin
Filip Zadina -- Nico Sturm -- Kevin Labanc
Givani Smith -- Ryan Carpenter -- Jacob MacDonald
Mario Ferraro -- Kyle Burroughs
Nikolai Knyzhov -- Jan Rutta
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Nikita Okhotiuk
Kaapo Kahkonen
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scratched: Ty Emberson, Mike Hoffman
Injured: Logan Couture (lower body), Alexander Barabanov (broken finger), Matt Benning (undisclosed)
Status report
Demko could make his fourth start in five games after making 27 saves in a 5-2 win against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. ... The Sharks held an optional morning skate Thursday. ... Kahkonen will start after Blackwood made 39 saves in a 3-1 loss at the Washington Capitals on Sunday. ... Okhotiuk could make his Sharks debut. - NHL.COM
I think the goals for this team should be simple. Don't ever get blown out by 3 or more. Win games against bad opponents and back up goalies. Never let Myers on the 1st pairing.
One final thought: Anthony Beauvillier needs to score. This is his 500th game and he has offensive talent....somewhere.
Late addition GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN!
Jimmi asked for this....I can deny him. Let's hope the Canucks can take this advice.
Go Coconuts Go!