While they lost the ground yesterday that they gained on Friday night, the Canucks can yet again vault into that final Western Conference wild card slot with a win over the Stars at home tonight.
Vancouver Canucks (29-22-11) vs. Minnesota Wild (36-22-4)
6:00 pm PST; 9:00 pm EST
TV: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 650
While it was definitely a game that Kevin Lankinen stole, Vancouver's 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild had a lot of positive signs in it. Most notably, an Elias Pettersson sighting, as he ripped home a clapper on a first period power play that was absolutely classic EP40. We also saw another multi-point game from Filip Hronek, and Keifer Sherwood joining Elias Pettersson in leaving the "I haven't scored in 16 games club". And how about goals in back to back games for Teddy Blueger? Minnesota is a defensively smothering team, especially missing some of their big offensive firepower, so full marks to the Canucks for getting through that trap fest and coming out with a much needed two points.
A tougher challenge awaits tonight as they host the Dallas Stars. Already one of the NHL's better squads, they swapped out Logan Stankoven for Mikko Rantanen at the deadline, and became an even bigger threat in the West. Speed, skill, size, and goaltending, this Dallas team has it all and is an excellent measuring stick for any team to see how they stack up.
The Canucks dropped a 5-3 decision to the Stars in Dallas on Jan 31st, sunk by a SHG from Roope Hintz to make the score 4-1 in the third. With the Calgary Flames shutting out the Montreal Canadiens last night (who are next up for the Canucks as they host the Habs Tuesday before flying to Calgary to take on the Flames Wednesday), the Canucks are yet again on the outside looking in as we head into the final quarter of the NHL season. It would really be nice to get a little run going here and get some breathing room, with the Flames, The Utah (Insert Name Heres), and St Louis Blues all nipping at their heels. The Canucks have a game in hand on the Flames and Utah, which they will use tonight, and three on the Blues, which may come in handy down the stretch if they can get back in and hold on.
LINEUPS
Scraped into a grease barrel behind a Denny's in Burnaby, we found tonight's lineups, though we're being told it's what you can also see on nhl dot com...
9 p.m. ET; SN, Victory+
Stars projected lineup
Jason Robertson -- Wyatt Johnston -- Mikko Rantanen
Mason Marchment -- Matt Duchene -- Mikael Granlund
Jamie Benn -- Mavrik Bourque -- Evgenii Dadonov
Oskar Back -- Sam Steel -- Colin Blackwell
Thomas Harley -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Esa Lindell -- Cody Ceci
Lian Bichsel -- Matt Dumba
Casey DeSmith
Jake Oettinger
Scratched: Brendan Smith
Injured: Roope Hintz (face), Miro Heiskanen (knee), Nils Lundkvist (shoulder), Tyler Seguin (hip)
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)
If the Stars were ever ripe for an upset, it might just be tonight. Playing in the back end of a back to back, and possibly being without Roope Hintz after he took a puck to the face in Edmonton last night, and was taken to hospital as a precaution. No word on his status yet, but it would be pretty surprising if he was good to go. They're already missing Miro Heiskenen and Tyler Seguin, and add in Casey De Smith getting the start as they played Jake Oettinger last night, and maybe, just maybe there's a chance. Looks like there's not going to be any changes for the Canucks from Friday's version, including Lankinen getting another start. I would expect Arturs Silovs to start one of the back to back games this week though, and my money would go to him getting the crease Tuesday against the Habs.
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
More Canadian metal for you today, as we offer up a classic from Anvil, singing about the game we love. From 'Pound For Pound' this is 'Blood On The Ice'. '
Enjoy the game, everyone. Fuck nazis, Fuck Trump and Fuck the USA. Go Canucks Go!
