10 p.m. ET; SN1, CITY, SNP, MNMT2
I think we as a group let out our frustration over the last game over in the recap for the Avs game. This team has lessons to learn about holding a lead against great teams. Keeping composure and continuing to skate hard in the third. Taking penalties continues to be an issue. When you keep your feet moving, there shouldn't be slashing and hooking penalties as you're not chasing the opponent. We have two Swedes who continue to perplex us. Petey is all in some games and has disappeared in other games. I am not sure what has happened this year...maybe teams are just better prepared for him, which means he has to find better ways to get open. He is a player that won't outskate anyone. Lindholm is an interesting case. I think we all thought that Lindholm would come in and be put on a top 2 line and provides playmaking abilities for Miller or Petey. Instead, he has been asked to be the third center this team has needed and try and get a third line scoring. I am not sure he has been put in that position before. For other teams he has been on the top 2 lines, which had more skilled players to feed off of and he exceled. Here, he has been on a shutdown line sometimes or put out with grinders who might not have the skill set to be where he expects them to be. It has been interesting to watch. I wonder what happens when Joshua comes back. You would have to think that Teddy/Garland/Joshua has to be reunited before the playoffs. Would that mean that Lindholm replaces Suter in the top 6 (Pius shouldn't there) and Miller's line has 2 centers?
Tonight the Canucks face an average team in the Washington Capitals. The Caps can't seem to score a lot of goals, but are only 5 points out of third in their division. Ovie is not the team leader in points or goals and this year seems to be the wall he needs to get around if he is to have any shot at Gretzky's goal record. The Caps are 4-3 in the month of March and are coming off a 2-1 win in Seattle on Thursday.
Conor Garland and Filip Hronek had some words with each other at practice.....encouraging each other to play better and you hope that the frustration leads to better play.
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Connor McMichael -- T.J. Oshie
Ivan Miroshnichenko -- Dylan Strome -- Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty -- Hendrix Lapierre -- Sonny Milano
Beck Malenstyn -- Nic Dowd -- Aliaksei Protas
Martin Fehervary -- John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin -- Nick Jensen
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- Alexander Alexeyev
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Michael Sgarbossa, Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Injured: Ethan Bear (illness)
Canucks projected lineup
Ilya Mikheyev -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser
Nils Hoglander -- Elias Pettersson -- Pius Suter
Vasily Podkolzin -- Elias Lindholm -- Conor Garland
Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Teddy Blueger -- Sam Lafferty
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers
Ian Cole -- Nikita Zadorov
Casey DeSmith
Arturs Silovs
Scratched: Mark Friedman, Nils Aman, Noah Juulsen
Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Dakota Joshua (upper body)
Status report
Oshie will be a game-time decision after leaving the Capitals morning skate early Saturday because of an upper-body injury; Oshie's next game will be his 1,000th in the NHL. ... Aube-Kubel, a forward, took Oshie's spot during the skate. ... Bear, a defenseman, will miss his second straight game. ... Lindgren is expected to start for the eighth time in nine games. … The Canucks did not conduct a morning skate Saturday but Myers is expected to return after missing five games with a lower-body injury and will play on a pair with Soucy, who moves back to his natural left side. ... DeSmith will make his second straight start. - nhl.com
Game Day Battle Hymn
Special request by Twitch I believe. This better work or else John Tesh for the rest of the year.
I jest
Go Canucks Go!
