Nothing like coming back from the break to hand two points to a divisional rival. The Canucks need to shake off a frustrating loss to Vegas last night and get the win to help keep the nameless ones from nipping at their heels in the Western Conference Wild Card race.
Vancouver Canucks (26-19-11) vs. Utah Hockey Club (24-24-9)
5:00 pm PST; 8:00 pm EST
TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: Sportsnet 650
I feel like, out of a number of reasons to be frustrated with last night's result in Sin City, wasting one of Kevin Lankinen's best outings of the season was probably the biggest one. Lankinen stood on his head, stopping a number of quality chances, and deserved at least a shot to try and salvage the game in extra time, but despite a hard push in the third, the Canucks couldn't get it done, passing up two much needed points as they try and keep Calgary and Utah from passing them for the last playoff spot in the West.
Sure, if the Canucks have Quinn Hughes in the lineup, they probably pull this one off. Instead, we got treated to a Canucks team that looks like they can actually hang with some of the big boys, apart from the bit where there doesn't seem to be anyone who can actually score. Sure, Jake DeBrusk did get his 20th of the season (which is remarkable, considering he went the first ten games without scoring a goal), and Pius Suter had a goal disallowed on a somewhat liberal interpretation of goaltender interference.
At the end of the day, if the Canucks can't somehow start finding the net a little more often than they have, the chances that one of the two teams trying to catch them for that wild card spot will do just that, thus making tonight's game even more critical that they come away with a regulation win.
And with Thatcher Demko moved to the IR today, that means we're going to need Lankinen, and Arturs Silovs, to help drag this team's carcass across the line, and also a better defensive effort by the rest of the lineup to help them get that done. Getting Hughes back will definitely help that, but until then, they need to ensure they're giving the goaltenders less work down the stretch.
They go up against a Utah team that, like the Canucks, are where they are thanks to being able to get into the extra session a lot. Normally, I would be concerned about the Canucks playing in the back end of a back to back, but with the (Insert Name Heres) also having lost last night, that shouldn't be too much of a factor. They've also been struggling over their last ten, and with the Canucks having done well against this franchise in its previous incarnation, they should be able to pull out a win, with a strong game from Silovs tonight.
LINEUPS
Apparently this lineup was discovered written on golden tablets somewhere in the wilderness, oh wait, we're hearing that it's actually from nhl dot com...
8 p.m. ET; Utah16, SNP
Canucks projected lineup
Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Kiefer Sherwood
Drew O’Connor -- Filip Chytil -- Brock Boeser
Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland
Nils Aman -- Teddy Blueger -- Nils Hoglander
Derek Forbort -- Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson -- Tyler Myers
Elias Nils Pettersson -- Carson Soucy
Arturs Silovs
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched: Arshdeep Bains
Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Noah Juulsen (lower body), Quinn Hughes (undisclosed)
Utah projected lineup
Clayton Keller -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Nick Schmaltz
Dylan Guenther -- Barrett Hayton -- Michael Carcone
Lawson Crouse -- Jack McBain -- Josh Doan
Liam O’Brien -- Kevin Stenlund -- Nick Bjugstad
Mikhail Sergachev -- John Marino
Olli Maatta -- Sean Durzi
Ian Cole -- Michael Kesselring
Karel Vejmelka
Connor Ingram
Scratched: Mattias Maccelli
Injured: Logan Cooley (lower body), Robert Bortuzzo (lower body)
While it's unlikely he plays tonight, expect to see him in the lineup at some point during this road swing, along with Arshdeep Bains, unless the lineup they ice tonight goes on a roll. There is a chance that Hughes gets the green light tonight, but I am gonna believe that doesn't happen until Wednesday in Los Angeles.
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Writing off nazis because you can't believe they're not actually who they show and say who they are is a mistake. Our forefathers showed us how to deal with this problem.
Enjoy the game, folks. Punch nazis. Fuck the USA. Go Canucks Go!
