After two inconsistent efforts on home ice saw the Canucks drop both games in extra time, they head out for the first Eastern road swing of the season, starting with the desolate wasteland that is Tampa, Florida.
Vancouver Canucks (0-1-1) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (1-0-0)
4pm PDT; 7 p.m. ET
TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet One
Radio: Sportsnet 650
Frustration, thy name is the Vancouver Canucks.
I don't know how anyone can be happy with what went down in the season opener against Calgary, or Friday night's Bettman loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Sure, there were moments where we saw things we either hoped or expected to see. And there were also moments, where we saw things we hoping we'd not have to see again.
That's not to say any of us should be pushing the panic button here. I mean, it's not like they're the Edmonton Oilers, right? Maybe it's time they realized they've got the NHL's two biggest coach killers playing on their team, some people might be thinking right now. But that's not our concern.
What the Canucks need is for this year's model to get back into last year's defensive mindset. There was a fair amount of turnover, so perhaps this stutterstep to start isn't totally surprising. The biggest issue heading forward right now, is that they need to start giving Arturs Silovs and Kevin Lankinen some support so they can hold the fort until Thatcher Demko is ready to roll. It's goaltending by committee this season, and if they want a healthy and rested Demko ready for the postseason, they have to get wins out of these other two guys, and that means giving them the chance to get those wins.
As far as the rest, that too will come together. We're seeing signs that Elias Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk and Daniel Sprong are starting to gel, and we've already seen scoring from the bottom six and defencemen, so playing a more complete, 60 minute, 200 foot game will lead to better results. Something, something shots on net.
In Tampa, while I am sure they're just happy the power is on and the arena is able to host a hockey game tonight, they still don't really know what they have this season. I mean, moving out a player like Steven Stamkos is something that can impact a team positively or negatively, depending on who replaces him, and how the remaining players respond to the guy who was the heart and soul of the team for so long, no longer being there.
They looked good in a 4-1 win in their season opener over Carolina, that saw a 3G 1A performance from Nikita Kucherov. He's the guy now in Tampa, and his health will be a bigger factor than ever if the Bolts want to remain competitive in a strong division.
LINEUPS
Inside the discarded box that once contained the lifts that Ron De Santis wears so people won't think he's comically short, we found the lineups for this afternoon's tilt. Or maybe it was nhl dot com?
Canucks projected lineup
Nils Hoglander -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser
Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Danton Heinen
Pius Suter -- Teddy Blueger -- Kiefer Sherwood
Nils Aman -- Aatu Raty -- Conor Garland
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy -- Vincent Desharnais
Derek Forbort -- Tyler Myers
Kevin Lankinen
Arturs Silovs
Scratched: Arshdeep Bains, Noah Juulsen, Daniel Sprong
Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Dakota Joshua (testicular cancer recovery)
Lightning projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel -- Anthony Cirelli -- Nicholas Paul
Cameron Atkinson -- Conor Geekie -- Michael Eyssimont
Zemgus Girgensons -- Luke Glendening -- Mitchell Chaffee
Victor Hedman -- Janis Moser
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Darren Raddysh -- Nick Perbix
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Scratched: Emil Lilleberg, Conor Sheary
Injured: None
It seems a little crazy to even have it as a possibility, but yes, Tyler Myers may be ready to roll after suffering what appeared to be a pretty serious knee injury when he tried to hit the Flyers' Joel Farabee, but it does appear he will be a game time decision. And the Canucks will go back to Silovs tonight, who will face the Lightning for the first time in his career.
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
So, I don't think I can ever hear about Tampa and not think about death metal. The home of Morrisound Studios, the place where some of the metal's absolute classics were recorded. Bands like Obituary, Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, Atheist, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Kreator and many more forged some of their finest moments there.
And of course, there's the band that started it all: Death.
Chuck Schuldiner's gift to metalheads recorded all but their debut at Morrisound, and left a legacy in the world of death metal that cannot be matched. It's just a shame he was stolen from us by cancer so early, but we do have a wealth of material to enjoy in remembrance. From their fourth album 'Human', this is 'Lack Of Comprehension."
Enjoy the game everyone. Go Canucks Go!