Another must win game against a Western Conference team where the Canucks actually outplayed their opponent? A three game winning streak? Is this a reason for hope? Oh, don't be silly. Well, maybe it is...?
Vancouver Canucks (23-17-10) vs. Dallas Stars (32-17-1)
5:00 pm PST; 8:00 pm EST
TV: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 650
Again, while it wasn't without its blemishes, the Canucks put together another solid road performance on Wednesday night en route to a 3-1 win over the Predators in Nashville. Vancouver's now won three straight games for the first time in November, and can finish off this road swing with a perfect record if they can manage a win tonight against a very good Dallas Stars squad.
Much like the game on Saturday against Washington, this is a real test for the squad to see if they actually deserve to be in the playoff spot they currently are one point out of. I suppose if there's anything encouraging, it's that they've been getting some scoring that wasn't Quinn Hughes, and the goals were coming from guys who really needed to get going in Nils Hoglander and Pius Suter. Another bright light, was this was definitely the best performance this season from Thatcher Demko, and while it may be a little too early yet to claim that he's back, he's definitely trending in the right direction.
And whether it's Demko or Kevin Lankinen in goal tonight, the Canucks will need their D to be at their absolute best if they hope to come out of Big D with the two points they so desperately need. And that means, and I am fully aware of how this sounds, they need Tyler Myers to be at his best tonight.
Are we done laughing? Good.
Since returning from suspension, Myers has been rather impressive, putting in a ton of minutes, as well as the one goal, one assist performance on Monday in St Louis. Dallas is a fast, offensively skilled team, and making things as easy as possible for whoever is occupying the crease for Vancouver tonight is going to help them a long way towards getting that win.
And pardon me if you've heard this one, but it would be wonderful if the best players on the Canucks showed up in an offensive way tonight, and by that I mean producing goals and not the offensive performances we've been treated to this season. It's time for Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller to go on a freakin' tear if for no other reason than to spite each other. Let the hate flow through you, and it shall lead you to victory.
LINEUPS
This lineup was found carved into the floor of the basement at the Alamo... though I am pretty sure it's on nhl dot com, too...
8 p.m. ET; Victory+, SN
Canucks projected lineup
Danton Heinen -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser
Nils Hoglander -- Elias Pettersson -- Linus Karlsson
Jake DeBrusk -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland
Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Teddy Blueger -- Dakota Joshua
Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers
Derek Forbort -- Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy -- Noah Juulsen
Thatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched: Elias Pettersson, Vincent Desharnais
Injured: Kiefer Sherwood (lower body)
Stars projected lineup
Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Wyatt Johnston
Jamie Benn -- Matt Duchene -- Mavrik Bourque
Evgenii Dadonov -- Sam Steel -- Logan Stankoven
Brendan Smith -- Oskar Back -- Colin Blackwell
Thomas Harley -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Lian Bichsel -- Esa Lindell
Kyle Capobianco -- Mathew Dumba
Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: None
Injured: Miro Heiskanen (knee), Nils Lundkvist (upper body), Mason Marchment (face), Tyler Seguin (hip)
While I was certain that the Canucks would go with Lankinen given he had two strong performances against Washington and St Louis, Demko gets the nod tonight, and in the tradition of Ted Cruz, the Stars are being absolute cowards and not letting Casey De Smith face his old team, opting for Jake Oettinger just because he's really good or something stupid like that.
The Stars are dealing with a bunch of injuries, including a couple key ones in Heiskanen and Seguin, while the Canucks are only down Sherwood, who's back in Vancouver recovering.
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Today in our look at the best metal releases from 1985, we look at the second album from US progressive metallers FATES WARNING. Following up on their debut 'Night On Brocken', 'The Spectre Within' saw the band continue to grow in proficiency. This album would get a good response, and they would release one more with vocalist John Artch (Awaken The Guardian) before replacing him with Ray Alder. This track was featured on the soundtrack of River's Edge, a great 80's movie starring Dennis Hopper, Crispin Glover and a young Keanu Reaves. That soundtrack also featured four songs from SLAYER, plus tracks from HALLOWS EVE, and punk band AGENT ORANGE.
Enjoy the game, everyone! Go Canucks Go!