It's another Hughes family reunion as Quinn and the Canucks take on brothers Jack and Luke in a battle for Hughes family supremacy. Also, the New Jersey Devils are involved.

Vancouver Canucks (16-8-1) vs New Jersey Devils (11-10-1)

7:00 PM PST

ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC

SPORTSNET PACIFIC, MSG NETWORK, NHL NETWORK

Fresh off a big Pacific Division win Saturday night in Calgary, the Canucks are back at it, after a luxurious two day break. A win tonight is vital, in that it will move them to within two points of first place Vegas, and also ensure that the LA Kings stay at least two points behind them.

After struggling through November compared to their torrid start to the season, the Canucks kicked December off on the right foot Saturday night with a 4-3 win over the Flames in Calgary. They're beginning a stretch of five straight at home, beginning with a team that they've been finding hard to handle of late: the New Jersey Devils.

It's the first time that Quinn Hughes will face off against both of his siblings in an NHL game, and while the Canucks will be focused on securing two points, the eyes of hockey fans across North America are definitely trained on tonight's contest. The Devils have won four of the last five meetings between these teams, including both games last year. And while the Canucks have been one of the true surprises of the NHL this season, the Devils have too, only not in a good way. Many had the Devils pencilled in to be Cup contenders in the East, but they've stumbled out of the gate, and find themselves four points out of a wild card slot in the Eastern Conference. They're 4-6-0 in their last ten games, and are hoping this Western road swing will help them get back on track.

And while the Hughes brothers matchup is getting all the press, there's one other factor to tonight's game that shouldn't be overlooked. Travis Green is set for his first appearance behind the visitors bench since he was fired as the Canucks head coach two years ago today. If that's not some sort of universal karma/schedule guy trying to mess with people, I dunno what is.

LINEUPS

We found this potential lineup spray-painted on the side of a transport trailer parked alongside Highway 1 out in the valley, but I am pretty sure they got it from nhl dot com.

Devils projected lineup

Erik Haula -- Jack Hughes -- Tyler Toffoli

Ondrej Palat -- Nico Hischier -- Jesper Bratt

Timo Meier -- Dawson Mercer -- Alexander Holtz

Curtis Lazar -- Michael McLeod -- Nathan Bastian

Jonas Siegenthaler -- Simon Nemec

Kevin Bahl -- John Marino

Colin Miller -- Luke Hughes

Vitek Vanecek

Akira Schmid

Scratched: Chris Tierney

Injured: Tomas Nosek (foot), Dougie Hamilton (torn pectoral muscle)

Suspended: Brendan Smith

Canucks projected lineup

Ilya Mikheyev -- Elias Pettersson -- Sam Lafferty

Andrei Kuzmenko -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Teddy Blueger -- Conor Garland

Nils Hoglander -- Nils Aman -- Linus Karlsson

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Ian Cole -- Noah Juulsen

Nikita Zadorov -- Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Phillip Di Giuseppe, Mark Friedman

Injured: Pius Suter (lower body), Carson Soucy (foot), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion)

No changes for the Canucks, as PDG continues to ride pine in favour of Linus Karlsson, while Sam Lafferty continues his improbable run on the Canucks first line. With every passing game, that signing looks better for Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin. While it may not sit well with some, Noah Juulsen is in again in favour of Mark Friedman.

The Devils found out recently that they'll be without Dougie Hamilton long term after he suffered a torn pectoral muscle. It'll be Vitek Vanacek vs Thatcher Demko in the crease tonight.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

While the UK may be the birthplace of heavy metal, it always seemed somewhat lacking when it came to contributions to thrash metal. Apart from bands like Xentrix, Onslaught and Hellbastard, UK thrash acts never really seemed to move the needle. That's all changed over the last decade, with the New Wave Of Thrash Metal. Bands like Evile, SSS, Shrapnel and Pest Control have put out some fantastic stuff, and while the first three may be a little more familiar to metal heads, Pest Control is one you don't wanna sleep on.

Born in Leeds during the lockdown, their debut album 'Don't Test The Pest' is holding up as one of the better thrash discs of 2023. Check out their video for 'Enjoy The Show'!

This one should be fun! Enjoy the game, eh? Go Canucks Go!

Injuries are beginning to mount alongside the losses. The Canucks face more adversity as they start a back to back with an almost 840 mile trip in between.

Vancouver Canucks (13-5-1) vs Seattle Kraken (8-8-5)

CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA, SEATTLE, WAS

7:00PM PST

SPORTSNET PACIFIC

The underwhelming feeling that followed the loss in Denver on Wednesday night is nothing compared to the oh so familiar feeling of "Dear god, what now?" when it comes to injuries the Canucks have been dealing with over the last few days. With Carson Soucy and Pius Suter now listed on injured reserve, requiring the Canucks to put in a call to Abbotsford for forwards to bolster the beleaguered lineup.

It's not all bad news, thankfully.

It was looking as though they wouldn't have either of them available for tonight's contest, but it's not just the guys who are out that give cause for concern. Whether it's an injury he's playing through or an illness, something is clearly not right with Elias Pettersson for these past few games. He's out there, and sure he's getting points here and there, but he definitely isn't the same EP40 we saw earlier in the campaign.

We could go on about the frustration that was Wednesday's game against the Avalanche (and believe me, there's an f'ing list of shit I could talk about), but much like the team themselves, the focus must stay on the task at hand, and with tonight's contest the first of five straight against Pacific Division opponents, these are must win games if the Canucks want to keep the distance they've built between themselves and their rivals.

A chance for payback is always good, and when you look at that 4-3 loss to the Kraken a few days ago, it's definitely a game where the Canucks deserved a better fate. Bad bounces, a goaltender playing far above his average for the season, and some questionable calls made for a frustrating loss, but that can all be erased tonight with a win. Fatigue will definitely be an issue though, as the Canucks have played a lot of hockey over the past three weeks, and with a jaunt down to San Jose tomorrow night, it's definitely something to keep in mind.

One thing they'll have to do is play smart. Avoiding the penalty box is going to ensure they can roll all four lines and keep the top six from getting burnt out. They have the luxury of a backup goaltender they can rely on, and we'll see Casey DeSmith in the crease for one of these two contests. Finishing the month on a high note as they head to December is important, and with the Vegas Golden Knights and first place in the Pacific still within striking distance, getting on a roll will help that in a big way.

LINEUPS

Canucks projected lineup

Sam Lafferty -- Elias Pettersson -- Ilya Mikheyev

Anthony Beauvillier -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Teddy Blueger -- Conor Garland

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Nils Aman -- Nils Hoglander

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Mark Friedman -- Tyler Myers

Ian Cole -- Cole McWard

Thatcher Demko

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Andrei Kuzmenko, Akito Hirose

Injured: Pius Suter (undisclosed), Carson Soucy (foot), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion)

Kraken projected lineup

Jared McCann -- Matty Beniers -- Jordan Eberle

Jaden Schwartz -- Alexander Wennberg -- Brandon Tanev

Eeli Tolvanen -- Yanni Gourde -- Oliver Bjorkstrand

Tye Kartye -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Kailer Yamamoto

Vince Dunn -- Adam Larsson

Jamie Oleksiak -- Will Borgen

Brian Dumoulin -- Justin Schultz

Joey Daccord

Chris Driedger

Scratched: Jaycob Megna

Injured: Andre Burakovsky (upper body), Philipp Grubauer (undisclosed)

Well, some might be surprised by this, but if you are, you haven't really been paying attention to how Rick Tocchet runs things, as we'll see a pretty significant lineup shuffle, as well as Andrei Kuzmenko listed as a healthy scratch tonight. We knew there was going to be regression after his incredible debut last season, and if the Canucks had been truly struggling this season, this might have happened sooner. This is clearly an attempt to send a message to both player and team that things cannot rest solely on the shoulders of the stars, so watch for a response both tonight, and tomorrow when Kuzmenko returns to the lineup.

Will these lines hold? Who knows. I'm all here for the team actually trying to address issues instead of just shuffling along when things obviously need a shakeup.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Some more Japanese metal weirdness for you. With 'Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now', this is HANABIE. You're welcome.

Enjoy the game. Go Canucks Go! Make sure to check out the post game wrap up and then we'll do this all again tomorrow.

With the losing skid snuffed out after a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks, the Canucks are on the road for a hellacious 3 games in 4 nights that features a ridiculous amount of travel. They can do themselves a massive favour if they start it off with a win over the Avs tonight.

Vancouver Canucks (13-5-1) vs Colorado Avalanche (11-6-0)

7:00PM PST

Ball Arena, Denver, CO

Sportsnet Pacific

It wasn't perfect, and the Canucks still look like a tired team, but they got the job done against a San Jose team that looked a hell of a lot better than the one they embarrassed a couple weeks back. While it's good they stopped the losing before it became a genuine streak, it certainly doesn't bode well heading into tonight's contest against one of the best in the West, with the altitude and issues related to that in consideration.

That's not to say we should just write this one off, mind you. The Avs have been struggling of late, just 5-5 in their last ten, and four of those are in the last three weeks. Those losses saw them outscored 23-8, including a 7-0 loss in Vegas and an 8-2 stomping at home to the St Louis Blues. It's not that they're not good, but it does show you even good teams, especially when they have to deal with injury issues, can struggle. Something to keep in mind over the next few weeks.

A lot of the hype heading into tonight is about the matchup between Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar, and while it's going to be a treat to see two of the NHL's best defencemen go head to head. But for me, this is a test for the Vancouver Canucks, and a chance for them to show they're ready to take this next step against a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. That's far more important to me than any one player's night. Sure, we'd love to see Quinn show everyone why he's quite likely the best in the NHL right now, but it's not the most important thing here. I'd take Hughes getting held off the scoresheet if the Canucks can roll outta Denver with two points in their pockets tonight.

One thing they'll need to do is get another one of those games from Thatcher Demko, and if there's a spot where the Canucks have a clear advantage over the Avs, it's in goal. They're going to need to make sure they all show up for one of those lunch pail kind of nights on defence. The Avs, in spite of recent struggles, are still very capable of scoring in bunches. That means things will need to be a hell of a lot tighter than they have been over the past few games, and more like what we saw when they played Dallas, for example.

LINEUPS

This potential lineup was found scrawled on the back a program for Beetlejuice: The Musical. Or maybe it was on nhl dot com.

Canucks projected lineup

Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Ilya Mikheyev

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Teddy Blueger -- Conor Garland

Nils Hoglander -- Sam Lafferty -- Anthony Beauvillier

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Ian Cole -- Noah Juulsen

Mark Friedman -- Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Akito Hirose

Injured: Pius Suter (undisclosed), Carson Soucy (foot), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion)

Avalanche projected lineup

Valeri Nichushkin -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen

Jonathan Drouin -- Ryan Johansen -- Tomas Tatar

Miles Wood -- Ross Colton -- Logan O'Connor

Andrew Cogliano -- Fredrik Olofsson -- Joel Kiviranta

Devon Toews -- Cale Makar

Bowen Byram -- Josh Manson

Jack Johnson -- Caleb Jones

Alexandar Georgiev

Ivan Prosvetov

Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid, Samuel Girard

Injured: Artturi Lehkonen (upper body)

Looks like we'll see the same lineup as we saw on Monday in the win over the Sharks. The Avs are going to be without D Samuel Girard, who is away from the team for personal reasons.

GAME DAY CHATTER

With three games in four nights, and the Canucks leaving Pius Suter at home, we should expect a call-up from Abbotsford to ensure that they have enough forwards to get through this.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Got an absolutely breathtaking cover of DIO's 'Rainbow In The Dark' from Denver doom metal crew KHEMMIS for you today. This is off their live mini album 'Doomed Heavy Metal'. It's only available digitally through Nuclear Blast Records, but if you like your metal slow and sludgy, these guys are well worth a listen.

Enjoy the game, everyone. Go Canucks Go!

Call it regression. Call it exhaustion. Call it whatever you want, but that loss in Calgary wasn't pretty. Pay close attention to how the Canucks respond, as they get ready to do another stupid 5 games in 8 nights run.

Vancouver Canucks (12-3-1) vs Seattle Kraken (6-8-4)

7:00PM PST

ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC

CBC, SPORTSNET, CITY

We knew a regulation loss was coming, it just sucks that it had to come against the Flames. They're not that good, and combined with the aforementioned 5th game in 8 nights scenario, and some mind-blowingly bad officiating, and this one was done before puck drop.

Thankfully, they're at home, and have had a day's rest, and this next 5 game set sees them play Seattle and San Jose twice, broken up by a highly anticipated match against another of the best in the west when they travel to Denver to take on the Colorado Avalanche. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. This is another Western Conference game, and if we're being honest, these are the truly important ones. Ensuring they stay in the top 3 in the Pacific Division and home ice in round one of the playoffs is the goal, and considering how well they've done against Western opponents so far, garnering an impressive 16 of 18 possible points so far. Rattling off four of the next 5 will go a long way to ensuring their post-season drought comes to an end this year.

The anticipated Canucks regression gets a lot of print space right now, but I think more should be said about what's happening just South of Vancouver. After an impressive sophomore season, complete with playoff games and their first ever playoff series win in that seven game series victory over the Colorado Avalanche. The Kraken have struggled so far this season, including losing four straight to start the year. They're gonna need to go on a run in order to make up the ground they've lost, as they're two points out of the last wild card slot at the moment, and they've played more games than any other team in the West. It's not looking good, and it shouldn't be a shock if they can't pull this off.

That's not to suggest that the Canucks should take this, or any game lightly, and one of the more impressive things so far this season is how the Canucks have responded to losses. Take the way they responded in Montreal after a frustrating loss in Toronto the night before. Or the win in Florida after dropping a heart breaker to the Tampa Bay Lightning. This team is mentally stronger than in the past, and that's going to pay dividends as the season wears on.

LINEUPS

Scrawled in spraypaint on an overpass along Highway 1 near Chilliwack was this potential lineup. Or was it nhl dot com?

Kraken projected lineup

Jared McCann -- Matthew Beniers -- Jordan Eberle

Jaden Schwartz -- Alexander Wennberg -- Brandon Tanev

Eeli Tolvanen -- Yanni Gourde -- Oliver Bjorkstrand

Tye Kartye -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Kailer Yamamoto

Vince Dunn -- Adam Larsson

Jamie Oleksiak -- Will Borgen

Brian Dumoulin -- Justin Schultz

Philipp Grubauer

Joey Daccord

Scratched: Jaycob Megna, Andrew Poturalski

Injured: Andre Burakovsky (upper body)

Canucks projected lineup

Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Ilya Mikheyev

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Teddy Blueger -- Conor Garland

Nils Hoglander -- Sam Lafferty -- Anthony Beauvillier

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Ian Cole -- Noah Juulsen

Akito Hirose -- Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Mark Friedman

Injured: Pius Suter (undisclosed), Carson Soucy (foot), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion)

The good news is that Andrei Kuzmenko will return to the lineup tonight. The not so good news? Noah Juulsen still can't seem to play his way to the pressbox. Akito Hirose will draw in with Tyler Myers tonight.

This should be a winnable game for the Canucks, who are going to need to see more 5 on 5 production to bolster a lethal power play. They're also going to need to be better on the PK. They've improved a lot since last season, but it's still not where it needs to be.

GAME DAY CHATTER

This is the Gary Bettman expansion dilemma. It's either a bare minimum against divisional rivals, or not getting to see some of the Eastern teams at all. Personally, I think the NHL has done sweet fuck all to try and build a Vancouver/Seattle rivalry, and I would rather see them play each other four times than against the bloody Oilers or Flames. It's insane that they play those two as well as the Sharks four times, yet their geographically closest opponent will only appear here once this season.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Emerging from the ashes of Texas thrash kings POWER TRIP after the tragic death of their vocalist Riley Gale, FUGITIVE have come to continue along the path forged by the Dallas crossover bangers. This single is available as a 7" from 20 Buck Spin Records, and we should expect a full length from them next year. This is one of those tunes that really, truly makes me miss the moshpits from back in the day.

Enjoy the game, everyone. Go Canucks Go!

The Eastern Canadian road swing moves on to Montreal after a disappointing night in Toronto. This is not a bad thing, nor cause for alarm. Regression was going to happen, but it's not going to be nearly as bad as some might think. What matters is how they respond to a game where they were clearly not the better team last night.

CANUCKS (10-3-1) at CANADIENS (7-5-2)

4:00PM PST Bell Centre, Montreal, PQ

Sportsnet Pacific, TSN 2

Losing to that team sucks. No easier way to put it. What sucks worse is that the Canucks somehow got away from doing all the little things that have been the source of their success so far this season. They looked checked out, and while I don't think it's indicative of any kind of trend, it's frustrating that this was the night that the team's best players decided to shit the bed.

Of course, all of that can be forgotten with a win tonight as they head to Montreal, but to do that, we need them to show up. It's not as though Toronto forced them to play horrible, and if anything, they looked like the tired team, not the Leafs. So getting some fresh legs in the form of Teddy Blueger in the lineup tonight will definitely help.

The Habs are going to be in the mix all season, and if they can overcome their goaltending deficiencies, they should be able to make a return to the postseason come April. And with them coming off an emotional OT win over Boston last night, with the Canucks eager to make amends for taking a night off, and the potential for an emotional let down game from their opponents, this could see them back on track to head home for that big game against the Islanders later in the week.

I want to stress that last night wasn't all bad. The Canucks did a fantastic job of making sure Toronto's best players (apart from Nylander) weren't a factor, and let's be honest, Toronto got a ton of bounces, especially on Nylander's second goal, which wasn't going in until Tyler Myers tried to "help". Add in an uncharacteristically bad night from Thatcher Demko as well as the worst performance this season from the pairing of Quinn highes and Filip Hronek and that's your game.

The Canucks have been decent at rebounding from losses this year, and it's silly to think this is anything more than an off night. Sure, this is their third in four nights, but it's a good test, and with the accountability and level of professionalism this team has shown so far this season, you should feel confident heading into this one.

LINEUPS

The following potential lineup for tonight was written in both official languages on the back of an ad for some black market poutine... no, wait. It was nhl dot com.

Canucks projected lineup

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Ilya Mikheyev -- Elias Pettersson -- Andrei Kuzmenko

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Sam Lafferty -- Teddy Blueger -- Anthony Beauvillier

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Ian Cole -- Mark Friedman

Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers

Casey DeSmith

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Nils Hoglander, Jack Studnicka, Noah Juulsen

Injured: Guillaume Brisebois (lower body), Tucker Poolman (head)

Canadiens projected lineup

Alex Newhook -- Nick Suzuki --Josh Anderson 

Juraj Slafkovsky -- Christian Dvorak -- Cole Caufield

Tanner Pearson -- Sean Monahan -- Brendan Gallagher

Michael Pezzetta -- Jake Evans -- Rafael Harvey-Pinard 

Mike Matheson -- Justin Barron 

Kaiden Guhle -- Johnathan Kovacevic

Arber Xhekaj -- Jordan Harris

Jake Allen

Sam Montembeault

Scratched: Jesse Ylonen, Joel Armia, Cayden Primeau

Injured: David Savard (hand)

As expected, Blueger is in and Nils Hoglander is out. No other changes as the Canucks are thankfully still mostly healthy. It'll be DeSmith versus Jake Allen tonight as Sam Montembault was in the crease last night for Montreal's 3-2 OT win over the Bruins.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

I tested positive for COVID 35 days ago, and I'm still not feeling better. That means I have a lot of free time on my hands. Which means I find weird shit like this. This is VALKYRIE ZERO, from Japan. The song is called 'Frogs Of The Round. What the hell does that even mean? What I do is this song f'n rips. You're welcome.

Enjoy the game. Go Canucks Go!

After a thorough stomping of the San Jose Sharks, who are truly awful, the Canucks find themselves with another big Saturday Night test as they host one of the best in the West, the Dallas Stars. Thursday was a trap game, but this one is absolutely a measuring stick game to see if the Canucks are for real.

CANUCKS (7-2-1) at STARS (7-1-1)

Comparables are fun. And for those of us who have enjoyed this sudden rebirth of the Vancouver Canucks as a team that can actually be called good, this is absolutely a game to see just where they are in terms of the upper echelon in the Western Conference. Not what we were expecting at this point of the season, let alone at any point during this campaign.

Generally, the rule of thumb is that if you're in a playoff spot after American Thanksgiving, you're a fairly safe bet to be in the post season dance. Thanks to an absolutely torrid start from the Canucks, and the embarrassingly bad performances from the Oilers and Flames, the Canucks are in a situation to lock themselves in, especially with a Pacific Division heavy schedule this month. Eight of their next fourteen games remaining in November are against Pacific Division opponents.

That's a potential 16 points with regulation victories that won't go to the teams they're battling with for playoff spots. Add in tonight's contest against Dallas, and a game later this month against Colorado, and that's 20 potential points. I'm not suggesting the Canucks are gonna run the table on this set of games, but when you consider that it's Edmonton, Calgary, Anaheim, Vegas, and two each against Seattle and San Jose, there's some absolutely winnable games here.

And when things are rolling, you don't want to mess with them, so it shouldn't come as a shock that we'll see Thatcher Demko in goal again tonight. With the Canucks set to start another Eastern road swing next week, which includes a weekend back to back against Toronto Saturday and Montreal Sunday, it's not like they won't be getting Casey DeSmith in on the action. Sometimes, you have to let elite goaltenders go on a run, and the way Demko is stopping the puck right now, this is exactly what Rick Tocchet is doing.

Tonight they're up against a very good Dallas team that resembles the Canucks in a lot of ways. They have some elite forwards, star defencemen and a solid approach to team defence, as well as outstanding goaltending. This one is gonna come down to special teams, and most specifically: the NHL's 3rd best penalty killing team trying to stop the 2nd best power play so far this season. Dallas has killed off 93% of their penalties so far this year, but they've also played a lot of bad teams so far.

LINEUPS

This lineup was found on the bathroom stall of a blues joint somewhere on the outskirts of Amarillo... or maybe nhl dot com, I think.

Stars projected lineup

Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski

Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Evgenii Dadonov

Mason Marchment -- Matt Duchene -- Tyler Seguin

Ty Dellandrea -- Sam Steel -- Craig Smith

Ryan Suter -- Miro Heiskanen

Thomas Harley -- Jani Hakanpaa

Esa Lindell -- Nils Lundkvist

Jake Oettinger

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Joel Hanley

Injured: Radek Faksa (upper body)

Canucks projected lineup

Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Ilya Mikheyev

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Anthony Beauvillier -- Sam Lafferty -- Nils Hoglander

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Ian Cole -- Mark Friedman

Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Noah Juulsen, Jack Studnicka

Injured: Teddy Blueger (foot), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion)

So Dakota Joshua is back from his one game press box exile, and it's natural we should expect him to be noticeable tonight, lest he find his rear back there on Monday when the Oilers roll in. Other than that, no changes, no new injuries. Stars are essentially healthy, so this is two teams at their best, going head to head. I think we'll be in for a fun night of hockey.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Found myself in a mood for something in the vein of old school ENTOMBED or DISMEMBER, and this new one from ENDSEEKER fits the bill quite nicely. The German band has a new one out on METAL BLADE Records, so check out the title track from 'Global Worming'!

Enjoy the game everyone! Go Canucks Go!

After a frustrating OT loss on Saturday where the Canucks were deserving of a much better fate, they'll look to finish a surprisingly strong October with a visit from Nashville.

CANUCKS (5-2-1) vs PREDATORS (4-4-0)

7:00 PM PST

SPORTSNET One

We could go on about the atrocious officiating on Saturday, but there's not really much else one can say. The Rangers got a gift, but the Canucks proved they can hang with one of the best, and that's something we weren't ready to be able to say this season, let alone in the first ten games. And yet, here we are. The Canucks are (with the full caveat that it's still early), very much one of the team that should be in the Western Conference mix this year. It's a surprise, especially given there are still numerous areas where the team can play better.

Sure, it helps they've got one of the best one-two goalie combos to start the season, and their best players have been absolutely lights out. Defensively they've been outstanding and the offensive contributions from the backend are already making a massive difference. There's still room from growth on the defensive end, the penalty kill, while better can still be improved, and they need more out of their bottom six. It's hard to criticize the bottom six too much when they're all playing a solid two way game, and there's rarely been a game with passengers, but this team being a bigger threat to score regardless of which line is on could turn them into a legit contender.

They're going up against a Nashville team tonight that they beat a week ago, withstanding a comeback and putting together a strong, inspirational finish to a road trip that begun to look dire after back to back losses in Philadelphia and Tampa. They are starting the first of four at home before making their annual Eastern Canadian road swing, and with the last two of those four against a very good Dallas Stars team and a third meeting with divisional rivals Edmonton Oilers, they'll want to get as many points as they can before heading into an Eastern Canadian gauntlet that is as tough as it's been in years.

Tonight also marks the first appearance of the skate jersey this season, much to the delight of the fan base. The return of the skate was a big success, and honestly, this team would just be printing money if they ditched the cursed whale forever and went back to the best damn jersey they ever wore.

LINEUPS

This potential lineup was scrawled in blood on my bathroom mirror... oh, wait. Nevermind, it was on nhl dot com:

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg -- Ryan O’Reilly -- Gustav Nyquist

Kiefer Sherwood -- Tommy Novak -- Luke Evangelista

Yakov Trenin -- Colton Sissons -- Liam Foudy

Samuel Fagemo -- Juuso Parssinen -- Cole Smith

Roman Josi -- Dante Fabbro

Ryan McDonagh -- Alexandre Carrier

Jeremy Lauzon -- Tyson Barrie

Kevin Lankinen

Juuse Saros

Scratched: Michael McCarron, Marc Del Gaizo, Philip Tomasino

Injured: Luke Schenn (lower body), Cody Glass (lower body)

Canucks projected lineup

Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Ilya Mikheyev

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Anthony Beauvillier -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Dakota Joshua -- Sam Lafferty -- Nils Hoglander

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Ian Cole -- Mark Friedman

Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Noah Juulsen, Jack Studnicka

Injured: Teddy Blueger (foot), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion)

Interesting that Nashville is choosing not to go with Juuse Saros tonight, instead giving Kevin Lankonen his first start of the season. I get he needs to play, but this could end badly for them. No real changes for the Canucks tonight, but there's definitely a spotlight on the third and fourth lines. Hoglander's been fantastic, and the play of Lafferty and Suter has been a surprise, but we need to see more from Beauvillier, Garland, and Joshua.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

With this game falling on Halloween, you know I was feeling a bit of pressure to find a video worthy of the best holiday there is. Thankfully, I was saved. All hail the King, baby. King Diamond dropped a brand new video today, and it is everything we could have hoped for. No surprise, for the King never misses. Crank this one, make sure and give those kids full size bars, and after that, enjoy the game. Go Canucks Go!

Last night, the Canucks delivered a performance the likes of which we haven't seen in at least a decade. An absolutely dominant sixty minute game that showcased the approach that Rick Tocchet wants to see from a nightly basis from his charges, and if this is what we can expect from the Canucks this season, I'm all in, baby!

CANUCKS (5-2-0) vs RANGERS (5-2-0)

7:00 PM PST

SPORTSNET One, CBC, City Tv

It's been a frustrating dozen years since Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011. From the loss, to the franchise's steadfast refusal to rebuild despite all indications showing it was direly needed, we've had to suffer through over a decade of bad signings, bad trades, bad coaches and bad efforts. It's taking a while, and it's a little early to declare the dark days are over, but good lord, watching the way the Canucks played last night made me want to run through a brick wall.

To a man, they came out and absolutely dominated a St Louis Blues team that looked quite good against Calgary the night before, and didn't give them a sniff. When St Louis did get chances, they were mostly low risk, and rebounds were cleared efficiently. They played their asses off defensively for their goaltender last night, and that might have been the most inspirational part of all. And let's get this right out of the way, for all his flaws, Tyler Myers had a beast of a game last night, playing 17 minutes of smart, defensively sound hockey, and added a beautiful setup on the Phil DiGiuseppe goal to make it 3-0 in the 2nd period. It rings true to what many have felt about the much maligned Myers: with the right usage and controlled minutes, he could still be a valuable part of this team. He's bought in to that, and it's glorious to see.

And how about the pairing of Mark Friedman and Ian Cole?

This is where you can start to believe that maybe this team has turned the corner. The moves over the past twelve months that Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin have made are having immediate impacts on the ice, and this team is not the Canucks team of the past few years, let alone last year. With the way the Oilers, Flames and Kraken have started the year, if the Canucks can stay healthy and continue to take this approach to each game, we should expect to see them in the postseason come April.

Alas, there's no rest for the wicked, and they're right back at it tonight against a very good New York Rangers team that are also currently riding a 3 game win streak, fresh off a 3-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday evening. The Rangers and Canucks are pretty evenly matched, built the same and play a similar style, so it'll be an interesting contest, seeing if Vancouver can come up with another big effort in their first back to back of the season.

LINEUPS

This potential lineup for tonight's contest was scrawled on the back of a setlist from a house party that DJ Del Zotto played. May have also been nhl dot com, I suppose.

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Kaapo Kakko

Artemi Panarin -- Filip Chytil -- Alexis Lafreniere

Will Cuylle -- Vincent Trochek -- Blake Wheeler

Barclay Goodrow -- Nick Bonino -- Jimmy Vesey

Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox

K'Andre Miller -- Jacob Trouba

Erik Gustafsson -- Braden Schneider

Igor Shesterkin

Jonathan Quick

Scratched: Zac Jones, Tyler Pitlick

Injured: None

Canucks projected lineup

Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Ilya Mikheyev

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Anthony Beauvillier -- Sam Lafferty -- Nils Hoglander

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Ian Cole -- Mark Friedman

Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers

Casey DeSmith

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Noah Juulsen, Jack Studnicka

Injured: Teddy Blueger (foot), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion)

Doesn't appear to be any changes for the Canucks tonight apart from the scheduled start for DeSmith, while the Rangers, much like the Blues last night will play their number one keeper as Shesterkin gets the crease for New York.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Storming out of Wilkes-Barre, PA, CRUEL BOMB are a three piece thrash band paying tribute to NYC's finest ANTHRAX and their classic 'Caught In A Mosh'. It's the second single they've released this year after a 5 song EP in 2022 called 'Man Made', so hopefully we can expect a full length from them soon. Crank this one and mosh it up!

Enjoy the game, folks. Go Canucks Go!

As if this week can't get any worse, the Canucks, still at risk of catching leprosy in the hellhole state of Florida are now teed up for another potential embarrassment: the OEL Revenge Game.

CANUCKS (2-2-0) at PANTHERS (2-2-0)

4:00 PM PST

SPORTSNET Pacific

It all started so good, didn't it?

That 8-1 win, followed by the 4-3 win over the Oilers back to back to start the season, and it felt, even with a few hiccups in that second game, that things might be different this season. And yeah, we should know better, so shame on us. Since then, it's been deja-vu all over again, as we've been treated to two straight losses in oh-so familiar ways.

Despite Thatcher Demko starting the season with a vengeance, and the outstanding defensive work of Quinn Hughes, the jaw dropping emergence of JT Miller as the Canucks best two way player thus far, and Brock Boeser on a heater to start the year, they're still getting worked by shitty teams, and when they show up against better teams, unable to overcome errors that always end up in their net.

They had a sniff at a win in Tampa, but the same piss-poor defensive play that has plagued this team for years was once again the reason they lost. And the ringleader? Tyler Myers. How bad was he on Thursday night? He was 'I don't even wanna talk about him scoring a goal because it doesn't matter' bad. Glaring, head shaking mistakes that led to goals, and as the cherry on top, taking out Elias Pettersson with a slapshot late in the third to just compound the Canucks' problems.

So they head south for a game against the Florida Panthers, who have their own struggles so far after making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in June. One guy who hasn't struggled for them so far? Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Yeah, that OEL. And while the Canucks struggle with the reality of having to give Tyler Myers icetime, the Panthers appear to be just what Ekman-Larsson needed to rejuvenate the tail-end of his career.

And unlike the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Panthers have won two straight, but that doesn't mean they're gonna be any less of a challenge today. So what do the Canucks have to do in order to bump this slump and move back into the win column?

First, they need to come out and play pissed off. And they should be. Despite a better performance, this team has not been good to start this season, and quite literally wasted a couple fantastic performances from Demko, they'd love nothing more than to give him an easy night.

Secondly, and probably the most important factor in securing a win tonight, the Canucks absolutely cannot play another second period like the ones they've put forth so far this season. It's become their trademark over the past few seasons: just completely and utterly disappearing in the middle frame of games, regardless of being in the lead or not. So many losses because they simply couldn't be arsed to give a 60 minute effort. It's frustrating as hell to watch and has to change if they don't want to fall out of the race before Christmas. Yes, it's that dire.

And finally, they need to stay out of the penalty box. While the penalty kill does appear to be better after last season's historically bad performance, it's still not where it needs to be. So that means being smart about antagonizing their opponents, and especially tonight, not getting suckered into retaliation penalties against Matthew Tkachuk. The Canucks are definitely moving towards a team that's not fun to play against, but even teams with a power play as weak as Florida will take their chances against a 72% penalty kill.

LINEUPS

This potential list was found scrawled on the belly of a gator that wandered into a Miami Beach Hardee's, though it may have also been from nhl dot com.

Canucks projected lineup

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Ilya Mikheyev -- Elias Pettersson -- Andrei Kuzmenko

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Sam Lafferty

Anthony Beauvillier -- Jack Studnicka -- Conor Garland

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Ian Cole -- Tyler Myers

Carson Soucy -- Mark Friedman

Casey DeSmith

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Noah Juulsen, Nils Hoglander

Injured: Teddy Blueger (lower body), Guillaume Brisebois (undisclosed)

Panthers projected lineup

Evan Rodrigues -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe -- Eetu Loustarinen -- Matthew Tkachuk

Nick Cousins -- Anton Lundell -- Justin Sourdif

Ryan Lomberg -- Kevin Stenlund -- Steven Lorentz

Gustav Forsling -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Niko Mikkola -- Dmitry Kulikov

Josh Mahura -- Uvis Balinskis

Sergei Bobrovsky

Anthony Stolarz

Scratched: William Lockwood, Mike Reilly

Injured: Johan Gadjovich (upper body), Sam Bennett (lower body), Brandon Montour (shoulder), Aaron Ekblad (shoulder)

So, if this lineup holds, it'll be the return of Ilya Mikhayev to the Canucks lineup, and that is definitely something that will make them better. Mikhayev's speed and skill could also be the catalyst that gets Andrei Kuzmenko going. It's unfortunate that it means Nils Hoglander has to come out, but it should put the other bottom six wingers on notice that they'll replace him in the press box if they don't perform.

It's a scheduled start for Casey DeSmith, who was outstanding in his first start, withstanding an Oilers barrage in that 4-3 win over the Oilers to start this road trip. This is a winnable game for the Canucks, if... everything goes right. The Panthers are without Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour, as well as former Canuck Jonah Gadjovich. Another former Canuck, Will Lockwood, appears to be a healthy scratch tonight. The Panthers aren't a pushover, but are missing some of their best players, and if the Canucks can get a couple past Bobrovsky early and play a disciplined road game, they should be able to head to Nashville on a winning note ahead of Tuesday's contest.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Ex-SEPULTURA mainmen Max and Igor Cavalera have been on an absolute tear over the past couple years, and fresh off their reworking of SEPULTURA's first two albums, they've unleashed a new one from their other other project: Go Ahead And Die. The beauty of this? It doesn't sound like SEPULTURA, SOULFLY, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY or NAILBOMB, yet it's unmistakably got the Cavalera DNA all over it. Gonna have to dig deeper on this one, as this track is an absolute beast!

Enjoy the game, and we'll do this again on Tuesday evening as they wrap up the roadtrip in Music City against the Predators. Go Canucks Go!

After a gutsy road win in Edmonton, this season's first edition of the Magical Misery Tour heads to the City of Brotherly Love, where our old... er, pal... John Tortorella and the Philadelphia Flyers.

CANUCKS (2-0-0) at FLYERS (1-1-0)

3:00 PM PST

SPORTSNET Pacific

An interesting challenge awaits the Canucks tonight on the second game of their first road trip of the season. For the first time this year, they'll play a team that actually knows how to win a hockey game. And we're as surprised as anyone that it's the Philadelphia Flyers, but it's been a weird season already, so just roll with it.

To the Canucks credit, they have literally been what they said they hoped to be heading into this season: Stronger defensively, with solid goaltending and a more balanced scoring attack, and a team that wasn't going to cave under pressure the way they did last season. I know two games are hardly a sample size of note, but we've seen a lot to be positive about in those two games against the Oilers. They made the most of their opportunities in Game One, punishing an undisciplined Oilers team who pretty clearly didn't take their opponent seriously.

In the follow-up match in Edmonton, the Oilers came charging out of the gates, and last year, that game would have been one you'd have wanted to walk away from after that first minute, because the 2022-23 Canucks were not going to come back. But come back they did, and convincingly so.

The challenge for Rick Tocchet and his staff is to keep this team dialed in and bringing that kind of mindset every night. Philadelphia's been a tough spot for the Canucks to find wins over the years, even when the Flyers are not great, and it would be a mistake to think it's an easy two points up for grabs tonight.

That's not to say that the Flyers are a playoff-calibre squad by any stretch, but it's always a battle when these teams meet, and with the added incentive of the ex-Flyer Tocchet coaching the Canucks against his old team for the first time, it could make for a spirited affair. And let's not forget the coach on the other side, who surely would love a win against the team he used to helicopter coach for a while a few years back.

The Flyers started their season off with a win in Columbus over another ex-Torts team, emerging with a 4-2 victory over the Blue Jackets. They followed that up with a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators Saturday night in the nation's capital.

We should expect Thatcher Demko and his clean and thoroughly sanitized mask to return to the crease tonight for the Canucks, while the Flyers will likely go with Carter Hart, which is good news for Anthony Beauvilier. The former Islander has scored a sizable chunk of his career goals against that divisional rival, including 2 of the 5 he's potted against Hart in his first game as a Canuck against the Flyers.

We're awaiting to see if Carson Soucy is returning to the lineup for the Canucks this afternoon. If he does, that means we could see either Noah Juulsen or Jack Studnicka come out of the lineup. My guess is they pull Studnicka, who had a beauty of a goal on that 2 on 0 against the Oilers, because it's a little easier cap-wise for the Canucks to pull him out.

Meanwhile, the Canucks have made a move that's well... a move:

Rathbone was once thought to be a lock in Vancouver, but after a setback year in Abbotsford and disappointing performances when called up, this probably isn't a surprise to anyone. We'll have to get more info on them when we can, but here's a peek at what they're getting in Friedman:

GAME DAY CHATTER

LINEUPS

I found these on the back of a package of cold medication. Or maybe it was nhl dot com. It's all a little hazy at the moment...

Canucks projected lineup

Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Conor Garland

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- J. T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Anthony Beauvillier

Nils Hoglander -- Sam Lafferty -- Jack Studnicka

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Ian Cole -- Tyler Myers

Carson Soucy -- Noah Juulsen

Thatcher Demko

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Akito Hirose

Injured: Ilya Mikheyev (knee), Teddy Blueger (lower-body bruise), Guillaume Brisebois (undisclosed)

Flyers projected lineup

Joel Farabee -- Sean Couturier -- Bobby Brink

Owen Tippett -- Morgan Frost -- Cam Atkinson

Scott Laughton -- Noah Cates -- Travis Konecny

Nicolas Deslauriers -- Ryan Poehling -- Garnet Hathaway

Cam York -- Travis Sanheim

Marc Staal -- Sean Walker

Egor Zamula -- Nick Seeler

Carter Hart

Samuel Ersson

Scratched: Felix Sandstrom, Tyson Foerster, Emil Andrae

Injured: Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed)

It should be noted that Couturier is not in the lineup tonight.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Time to revive a long-standing tradition here at NM: getting no one at all fired up before the game through my questionable taste in music. Today, we're offering up something new from THE Metal Gods: JUDAS PRIEST. In preparation for their new album 'Invincible Shield', this is the first single: 'Panic Attack'. It has an old school Priest vibe we haven't heard from them in ages and I am SO here for it. It's good to be back with you guys for another season, one that's started off pretty damn fun. Let's see if they can keep this rolling. Go Canucks Go.