Another regulation loss has just about sealed the fate of the Vancouver Canucks. With just 8 games remaining, they have just eight games left. They'll need to pretty much run the table AND get help to make the playoffs.
Vancouver Canucks (34-27-13) vs. Seattle Kraken (31-38-6)
7:00 pm PST; 10:00 pm EST
TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: Sportsnet 650
A frustrating season is drawing to a close, as once again, high expectations proved to be unwarranted, and despite early indications in this regime that things would change, yet we seem to be stumbling down the same mediocre path we've been enduring for years now. In a season where missing the post season after last year's unexpected success should be met with accountability, instead we hear the team is preparing to re-sign Rick Tocchet and punish this fan base with more uninspired, ineffective drivel trying to pass itself off as NHL hockey. It makes one wonder what we did to deserve this?
But, since we're getting paid to um... wait, we're not getting paid anymore. Dammit. Okay, so while this all feels as pointless as life itself right now, we're going to do what one does in this situation: put on a barely passable smile and go through the motions.
IF the Canucks are to go on a run and do the thing, I suppose starting it off on a team that's already playing for nothing is a good place to start. As expansion teams go, the Seattle Kraken are definitely not the Vegas Golden Knights. And that's good, because a) the way the NHL and other teams enabled Vegas to become as powerful as they are is shameful, and b) fuck those guys for not doing anything to build an actual rivalry with the Canucks.
Another thing they need to do? Roll with Demko. Play Lankinen against the Ducks Saturday and then back to Demko Sunday against Vegas. And then the rest of the way. It's not like he's been ground down by a 60 start season. He's as fresh as he'll ever be at this time of the year, so ride that horse to the got dang playoffs, man.
It doesn't look like they'll get much help the rest of the way. Nils Hoglander is still out, but will be the first to return, which, given there's just eight games left, means there's a real chance that Elias Pettersson will join Filip Chytil in the "not coming back this season" club. Of course, that's not for certain, but he hasn't started practicing yet, so the bulk of the work they need to do to get to the postseason will have to be with Petey sidelined. You have to believe he'll be available for playoff games, should that happen, though.
LINEUPS
Hey look, it's tonight's possible lineups, taken from that nhl dot com thing...
10:30 p.m. ET; SNP, TVAS2, KONG, KING 5, KHN
Kraken projected lineup
Tye Kartye -- Matty Beniers -- Kaapo Kakko
Jani Nyman -- Chandler Stephenson -- Jordan Eberle
Jared McCann -- Shane Wright -- Andre Burakovsky
Ryan Winterton -- John Hayden -- Mikey Eyssimont
Vince Dunn -- Adam Larsson
Ryker Evans -- Brandon Montour
Jamie Oleksiak -- Cale Fleury
Joey Daccord
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Josh Mahura
Injured: Eeli Tolvanen (undisclosed), Jaden Schwartz (undisclosed)
Canucks projected lineup
Jake DeBrusk -- Pius Suter -- Brock Boeser
Drew O'Connor -- Teddy Bleuger -- Conor Garland
Linus Karlsson -- Nils Aman -- Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Dakota Joshua -- Aatu Raty -- Kiefer Sherwood
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson -- Tyler Myers
Derek Forbort -- Elias Nils Pettersson
Thatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched: Victor Mancini
Injured: Filip Chytil (concussion), Noah Juulsen (lower body), Elias Pettersson (upper body), Nils Hoglander (undisclosed)
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Not sure how I missed this one back in the day, but I stumbled across a great cover of SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' 'Trip At The Brain' from Danish thrashers HATESPHERE.
Enjoy the game, everyone. Fuck fascists, fuck Trump, fuck Elon and fuck the Conservative party. Go Canucks Go!
