A stark new world faces the Canucks tonight. Yes, they're going to try and soldier on without Carson Soucy patrolling the back line.
Vancouver Canucks (28-22-11) vs. Minnesota Wild (36-22-4)
7:00 pm PST; 10:00 pm EST
TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: Sportsnet 650
With word that Brock Boeser is on the ice for the morning skate with the Canucks today, it seems like yet again, they'll be standing pat. Does it mean that they're going to extend Boeser? Perhaps, and we can definitely have a discussion on whether or not that's a good thing, but again, we'll see what happens. I can pretty much guarantee you, if Boeser walks and the Canucks don't get anything for him, the backlash from this fan base will be monstrous. The speed with which this team went from looking like things would be different to reverting back to business as usual has been absolutely whiplash-inducing. It feels like we're back in the Jim Benning regime again, with a bunch of guys who had us convinced were smarter and better than that.
At least we had some good vibes from the last game, right? A solid effort against the Ducks, in a game that was nowhere near as close as the score would suggest. Filip Hronek isn't Quinn Hughes, but he's definitely putting in the effort to try and mitigate that loss for the Canucks. Two assists, and some solid d work all night long. Elias Pettersson may not have scored, but that was a far better performance from him than we've seen in a while. 20 for 25 in the faceoff circle, especially on a team that's been absolutely brutal in the dot all season, is a positive sign. He could still shoot more, but there was attempts, at least.
And the best part of the night? Conor Garland feeding Trevor Zegras his lunch with five seconds remaining in the game. Zegras, who's getting a reputation as a bit of a pest who's completely unwilling to drop the gloves, had already speared Drew O'Connor earlier in the evening after O'Connor was steered into John Gibson by Ducks D Drew Helleson then refused to fight, got into it with Garland, and thought he'd show up the smallest player on the Canucks roster in a scrap. What could possibly go wrong? Seeing Garland chucking uppercuts on the latest Ducks douchebag was absolutely cathartic.
Tonight they're gonna go up against a Minnesota team that is looking to move past a disappointing first round exit in last year's playoffs, and are a solid, albeit boring squad. I suppose it's hard to complain if you win games, but why are they always, no matter who is coaching, running such dreadful to watch squads? Sure, they have Kiril Kaprizov, Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy, but still, they're not terribly exciting.
LINEUPS
10 p.m. ET; SNP, FDSNNOX, FDSNWI
Wild projected lineup
Gustav Nyquist -- Ryan Hartman -- Matt Boldy
Marcus Johansson -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Foligno -- Marco Rossi -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Yakov Trenin -- Devin Shore -- Justin Brazeau
Jake Middleton -- Brock Faber
Declan Chisholm -- Jared Spurgeon
Jon Merrill -- Zach Bogosian
Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: David Jiricek, Brendan Gaunce
Injured: Kirill Kaprizov (lower body), Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body), Jonas Brodin (undisclosed)
Canucks projected lineup
Dakota Joshua -- Elias Pettersson -- Conor Garland
Drew O’Connor -- Filip Chytl -- Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Jake DeBrusk -- Pius Suter -- Brock Boeser
Nils Hoglander -- Teddy Blueger -- Kiefer Sherwood
Elias Nils Pettersson -- Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson -- Tyler Myers
Derek Forbort -- Victor Mancini
Kevin Lankinen
Arturs Silovs
Scratched: Nils Aman
Injured: Quinn Hughes (lower body), Thatcher Demko (lower body), Noah Juulsen (lower body)
So, with the lineup still intact, the Canucks head into the last 20 games of the season still not knowing if and when they'll get Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko back. So that means no changes for the forward lines from last game, and just one change on the back end, with Victor Mancini slotting in to replace Carson Soucy. D Elias Pettersson is on the top pairing with Filip Hronek, and really hasn't looked out of his depth. This kid's gonna be an absolute steal if he continues to progress the way he has so far. The Wild are missing two of their best players, with Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson-Ek out of the lineup again tonight, and there's a chance we could see former Canuck prospect Brendan Gaunce in the lineup for Minnesota tonight.
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Another Canadian band today, and the perfect soundtrack to a riot (IYKYK). From their second album 'To Each A Zone', this is Payload by THE SMALLS.
Enjoy the game, if that's possible. Sell the team, Frankie. Fuck Nazis, Fuck Trump, and Fuck the USA. Go Canucks Go!
