3:30 p.m. ET; SN360, SNP, TNT, MAX
Happy Easter Everyone! The Canucks have arisen from playoff oblivion and will get at least 4 games in the promised land for Franny to make some profit.
So while it's great to have those games to look forward to, it sure would be nice if the Canucks could look like a winning team again and get some confidence before those 4 games, so maybe it could be more than 4 games....like 10 or 20 games. I know it sounds greedy after the past 9 years, but I guy can dream.
Here is what Coach Taco had to say about this team after practice yesterday...and before clinching the playoff spot.
It sounds funny to call this a must win game, but the Canucks could sure use home-ice advantage for the first round and it is still in the realm of possibility that a losing streak could drop the Canucks down to 3rd place.
The powerplay is a shitshow at this point. They struggle against aggressive PKs the pressure the shot and pass. The movement of the players is static and so passes are easier to predict. So many penalties last game. You can only play a game at a time, so the Canucks better focus on helping Silvos in his first start this year.
Ducks projected lineup
Alex Killorn -- Leo Carlsson -- Troy Terry
Frank Vatrano -- Trevor Zegras -- Ryan Strome
Isac Lundestrom -- Mason McTavish -- Brett Leason
Ross Johnston -- Bo Groulx -- Jakob Silfverberg
Cam Fowler -- Olen Zellweger
Pavel Mintyukov -- Gustav Lindstrom
William Lagesson -- Urho Vaakanainen
Lukas Dostal
John Gibson
Scratched: Ben Meyers, Jackson LaCombe Olen Zellweger
Injured: Radko Gudas (upper body), Max Jones (upper body)
Canucks projected lineup
Nils Hoglander -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser
Dakota Joshua -- J.T. Miller -- Conor Garland
Ilya Mikheyev -- Pius Suter -- Sam Lafferty
Vasily Podkolzin -- Teddy Blueger -- Arshdeep Bains
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers
Ian Cole -- Noah Juulsen
Arturs Silovs
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Mark Friedman, Phillip Di Giuseppe, Nils Aman, Nikita Zadorov
Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Elias Lindholm (upper body)
Status report
Dostal is expected to start after Gibson made 31 saves in a 6-1 loss at the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. … Pettersson missed practice Saturday for maintenance but will play. … Silovs will make his first start this season and sixth in the NHL. … Zadorov likely will sit out as part of a rotation to rest defensemen. … Lindholm, a forward, is listed as day to day and is skating on his own but has not been on the ice with the team since a 4-2 win against the Calgary Flames on March 23. -NHL.COM
Game Day Battle Hymn
My time running out until Kent blows out my eardrums with mental, so I should try and sneak in some songs before then. John Tesh might make a comeback.
Go Canucks Go!
