Another day, another blown opportunity. Despite being the better team for most of the night, the Canucks and their inability to score lost again, putting even more pressure on them to win tonight in a game that very likely could decide their fate this season.
Vancouver Canucks (29-24-11) vs. Calgary Flames (30-23-10)
6:00 pm PST; 9:00 pm EST
TV: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 650
Please note: While it's usually me who forgets to change the game number on these posts, the past couple days were not my fault. All complaints should be directed to Jimmi and Westy. Thank you.
Driving a man with one kidney to the point of needing multiple drinks seems like a cruel thing to do, yet here we are. The Canucks, a team that at one point last season had us believing they could actually make a run at a Cup, are now so utterly unwatchable, I am genuinely struggling as to why we should even bother at this point. I mean, how many different ways can you say this team is just pure, unadulterated garbage? Another frustrating night of posts, missed shots, missed opportunities and mistakes that saw them come out of another game with nothing to show for it.
It's so weird how anytime the Canucks earn a little bit of praise for doing something right, they seemingly light that trait on fire at the nearest opportunity. Over the past few games, in spite of their record, their defensive play has been noteworthy. Last night, not so much. Sure, they didn't give the Habs a lot to work with, but when they did, it ended up in the back of the net. And that's the problem with the kind of low event hockey team that Rick Tocchet has created. There is zero room for error. If they were capable of putting four goals behind opposition goaltenders a night, they simply wouldn't be in this situation. Instead, they have spent a large portion of the year chasing leads, and playing utterly frightened when they actually do have a lead. Gifted offensive players seem utterly lost, and the team is so predictable, that shit teams are able to handle them with relative ease. We're back to more Benning-era hockey and I for one can't take it any more.
I've said from the start it would be a challenge for this team. Regression on an unsustainable shooting percentage last season and lateral moves to improve the defence would make it hard for the Canucks to improve on last season's surprising results. Even at my most pessimistic, I didn't see this nightly shit show happening, and it's only because of their previous ability to squeak out loser points that they're even still in the mix right now. No matter how well they play the rest of the way, it will be some other team failing even harder that gets the Canucks into the playoffs. And that's just not very likely to happen.
The Flames aren't much better, and are also still in the mix thanks to double digit loser points. They score even less than the Canucks, but unfortunately, are a much better team at home than they are on the road, and with the Canucks coming in tired after a loss last night and this being their third game in four nights, I see a couple things happening.
First, someone's gonna get hurt. The Canucks are a team that have long been cursed by the hockey gods when it comes to injuries, and it's gonna be someone this team relies on. Quinn Hughes is almost ready to return, but you can feel something bad approaching like a runaway train. The other thing that's gonna happen tonight? Kevin Lankinen gets absolutely lit up. He's been playing a lot, and while he's earned the starts this year, putting him in a three in four nights scenario, when the Canucks should have started Arturs Silovs last night is extremely frustrating. Or maybe he's the one that gets hurt and we can pretty much either hope for Playoff Silovs to return or just hop in the tank and go for a cruise.
LINEUPS
Scrawled in crayon on the back of a flyer promoting some dumb-ass group of traitors who think leaving Canada to join the US would be awesome because some Albertans are natural born traitors and Quislings, we found the lineup for tonight's game... but it's also on the nhl dot com whatchamacallit, too...
9 p.m. ET; SN
Canucks projected lineup
Drew O’Connor -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser
Dakota Joshua -- Teddy Blueger -- Conor Garland
Jake DeBrusk -- Filip Chytil -- Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Nils Hoglander -- Pius Suter -- Kiefer Sherwood
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson -- Tyler Myers
Derek Forbort -- Victor Mancini
Kevin Lankinen
Arturs Silovs
Scratched: Nils Aman, Elias Nils Pettersson
Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Noah Juulsen (lower body)
Flames projected lineup
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Nazem Kadri -- Matt Coronato
Joel Farabee -- Mikael Backlund -- Blake Coleman
Yegor Sharangovich -- Morgan Frost -- Martin Pospisil
Ryan Lomberg -- Kevin Rooney -- Connor Zary
Kevin Bahl -- Rasmus Andersson
Joel Hanley -- MacKenzie Weegar
Jake Bean -- Brayden Pachal
Dustin Wolf
Dan Vladar
Scratched: Adam Klapka, Daniil Miromanov
Injured: None
It's certainly pointing to Quinn Hughes returning to the Canucks lineup tonight, and unlike last time, I think everyone should be tempering their enthusiasm. Until we see that he's actually back to 100% (or close enough to it that it's not an issue) healthy, I will hold off on jumping up and down. Despite how last night turned out, Filip Hronek's play during the Hughes absence is one of the reasons the Canucks have managed to stay in the hunt at all. But with the Canucks being held to three or fewer goals in twenty-four of the last twenty-five games, they're not going anywhere if they can't get more five on five scoring, especially from their forwards. Having to do it against the one good goaltender that the Flames have, as well as in a back to back scenario, where the Canucks have been consistently awful this season, doesn't fill me with hope.
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Dark times produce songs of protest that can inspire you to have the strength to fight back, and we're blessed to have a band like PROPAGHANDI in Canada. The timing of their new album couldn't be any better, honestly. In stores and online May 2nd on Epitaph Records, this is the title track from 'At Peace'.
Try and enjoy the game, if that's even possible. Fuck Musk, Fuck Trump, Fuck Nazis & Fuck the USA! Go Canucks Go!
