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Game Preview / Gamethread #43: Canucks @ Winnipeg Jets

January 14, 2025
- Kent Basky

Yeah, that was a pretty impressive win on Saturday, especially in context. Perfect? Far from it, and it won't mean a lot if the Canucks don't follow it up with an equally memorable performance tonight in Winnipeg.

Vancouver Canucks (19-13-10) vs. Winnipeg Jets  (29-12-3)

5:00 pm PST; 8:00 pm EST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, TSN 3

Radio: Sportsnet 650

It will definitely go down as the most satisfying win of the season, for sure. Mired in a four game losing streak, playing for the third time in four nights, and having to endure ridiculous weather-related delays, everything about this game pointed to a Canucks loss. The problem is, someone told them that, and they took it personally.

Sure, it wasn't perfect. But to hold the Leafs to no high danger chances in the last forty minutes, being as tired as they were, was simply impressive. And yeah, the fact that the Canucks literally don't present a threat whatsoever unless Quinn Hughes is on the ice is concerning. Still, they needed a big game, and they got it, not just from Hughes, but from Elias Pettersson, who in the showcase on HNIC, put forth one of the best defensive efforts we've seen from a Canucks forward in years.

They got timely goals, some puck luck, and did a fantastic job of keeping the Leafs under check. They also got saves when they needed them from Kevin Lankinen as he picked up his fourth shutout of the season in the win. And while that was a much needed two points, tonight's game is even more critical because it's back in their conference.

The Jets have been pretty much one of the best teams this season, and while they have cooled off a bit from their record setting pace to start the season, they still remain one of the teams to beat in the NHL right now. And they're even tougher on home ice than the Leafs, with just four losses at home so far this season. With everyone in the Pacific playing tonight except the Kings and Oilers, this is absolutely a must win game for the Canucks. The Flames are ahead of the Canucks now for that last playoff spot, and if they don't start winning multiple games in a row, this team isn't going to be playing hockey in late April...

LINEUPS

At the bottom of a Slurpee cup in a downtown Winnipeg alley is where you'll find tonight's potential lines, but we are aware that this information can also be found on nhl dot com...

CANUCKS (19-13-10) at JETS (29-12-3)

8 p.m. ET; SNP, TSN3

Canucks projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser

Nils Hoglander -- J.T. Miller -- Conor Garland

Danton Heinen -- Pius Suter -- Kiefer Sherwood

Phil Di Giuseppe -- Teddy Blueger -- Jonathan Lekkerimaki

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers

Derek Forbort -- Noah Juulsen

Kevin Lankinen

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Max Sasson, Vincent Desharnais, Guillaume Brisebois

Injured: Dakota Joshua (lower body)

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Gabriel Vilardi

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Adam Lowry -- Alex Iafallo

Nino Niederreiter -- Rasmus Kupari -- Cole Perfetti

Dominic Toninato -- David Gustafsson -- Morgan Barron

Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo

Dylan Samberg -- Neal Pionk

Logan Stanley -- Ville Heinola

Connor Hellebuyck

Eric Comrie

Scratched: Dylan Coghlan

Injured: Haydn Fleury (lower body), Mason Appleton (lower body), Colin Miller (fractured larynx), Vladislav Namestnikov (lower body)

Exciting news tonight because as expected, Filip Hronek will make his return to the lineup after missing 21 games with an upper body injury. Getting that kind of a boost defensively should help, and the Canucks are now almost back to their full slate of regulars, with just Dakota Joshua still out. It says that Kevin Lankinen is going to get the start tonight, and while I don't think that this is anything remotely close to a goaltending controversy, it is a little surprising that Thatcher Demko is not getting the crease tonight. I will say though, that Lankinen definitely earned the start with the shutout in Toronto, so let's hope this pays off for the Canucks.

GAME DAY CHATTER

If the Canucks want to keep their playoff hopes alive, they need to start stringing wins together, something that has been a major issue this season... Erik Brannstrom cleared waivers and is in Abbotsford, so Pass It To Bulis' Daniel Wagner did a deeper dive on the why and how this happened.. And just in case you need some more visual evidence, there's charts showing his play 5 on 5 as being very not good... And when we say the Canucks have their hands full tonight, we're not kidding... the Coach's comments ahead of one of the biggest games of the season so far... And it's the Jets Hockey Talks night, so both teams will wear helmet decals honouring Rick Rypien, who was a fan favourite for the Manitoba Moose before making it to the NHL with the Canucks...

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

When you think about some of the biggest metal releases from 40 years ago, it's impossible to not have ANTHRAX in that conversation. After firing vocalist Neil Turbin, and a brief stint with Matt Fallon behind the mic before settling on Joey Belladonna, they also saw founding bassist Dan Lilker leave, replaced by Frankie Bello. While they did release the Armed and Dangerous EP as a preview, this album took what ANTHRAX had started on 'Fistful of Metal' and cranked it up, faster, louder, and with a better vocal performance than they were ever going to get from Turbin, they signed with Island Records for this release, and cemented their place as one of the Big 4 of thrash metal. From 'Spreading The Disease' this is 'Madhouse'.

Enjoy the game, everyone! Go Canucks Go!

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