Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
Nucks Fan Rebuild & Retool Center - Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment

Another must win game against a Western Conference team where the Canucks actually outplayed their opponent? A three game winning streak? Is this a reason for hope? Oh, don't be silly. Well, maybe it is...?

Vancouver Canucks (23-17-10) vs. Dallas Stars  (32-17-1)

5:00 pm PST; 8:00 pm EST

TV: Sportsnet

Radio: Sportsnet 650

Again, while it wasn't without its blemishes, the Canucks put together another solid road performance on Wednesday night en route to a 3-1 win over the Predators in Nashville. Vancouver's now won three straight games for the first time in November, and can finish off this road swing with a perfect record if they can manage a win tonight against a very good Dallas Stars squad.

Much like the game on Saturday against Washington, this is a real test for the squad to see if they actually deserve to be in the playoff spot they currently are one point out of. I suppose if there's anything encouraging, it's that they've been getting some scoring that wasn't Quinn Hughes, and the goals were coming from guys who really needed to get going in Nils Hoglander and Pius Suter. Another bright light, was this was definitely the best performance this season from Thatcher Demko, and while it may be a little too early yet to claim that he's back, he's definitely trending in the right direction.

And whether it's Demko or Kevin Lankinen in goal tonight, the Canucks will need their D to be at their absolute best if they hope to come out of Big D with the two points they so desperately need. And that means, and I am fully aware of how this sounds, they need Tyler Myers to be at his best tonight.

Are we done laughing? Good.

Since returning from suspension, Myers has been rather impressive, putting in a ton of minutes, as well as the one goal, one assist performance on Monday in St Louis. Dallas is a fast, offensively skilled team, and making things as easy as possible for whoever is occupying the crease for Vancouver tonight is going to help them a long way towards getting that win.

And pardon me if you've heard this one, but it would be wonderful if the best players on the Canucks showed up in an offensive way tonight, and by that I mean producing goals and not the offensive performances we've been treated to this season. It's time for Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller to go on a freakin' tear if for no other reason than to spite each other. Let the hate flow through you, and it shall lead you to victory.

LINEUPS

This lineup was found carved into the floor of the basement at the Alamo... though I am pretty sure it's on nhl dot com, too...

CANUCKS (23-17-10) at STARS (32-17-1)

8 p.m. ET; Victory+, SN

Canucks projected lineup

Danton Heinen -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Nils Hoglander -- Elias Pettersson -- Linus Karlsson

Jake DeBrusk -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Teddy Blueger -- Dakota Joshua

Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers

Derek Forbort -- Filip Hronek

Carson Soucy -- Noah Juulsen

Thatcher Demko

Kevin Lankinen

Scratched: Elias Pettersson, Vincent Desharnais

Injured: Kiefer Sherwood (lower body)

Stars projected lineup

Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Wyatt Johnston

Jamie Benn -- Matt Duchene -- Mavrik Bourque

Evgenii Dadonov -- Sam Steel -- Logan Stankoven

Brendan Smith -- Oskar Back -- Colin Blackwell

Thomas Harley -- Ilya Lyubushkin

Lian Bichsel -- Esa Lindell

Kyle Capobianco -- Mathew Dumba

Jake Oettinger

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: None

Injured: Miro Heiskanen (knee), Nils Lundkvist (upper body), Mason Marchment (face), Tyler Seguin (hip)

While I was certain that the Canucks would go with Lankinen given he had two strong performances against Washington and St Louis, Demko gets the nod tonight, and in the tradition of Ted Cruz, the Stars are being absolute cowards and not letting Casey De Smith face his old team, opting for Jake Oettinger just because he's really good or something stupid like that.

The Stars are dealing with a bunch of injuries, including a couple key ones in Heiskanen and Seguin, while the Canucks are only down Sherwood, who's back in Vancouver recovering.

GAME DAY CHATTER

Captain Quinn is in a whole other level than any of us mere mortals. 🫡#Canucks  #GoCanucksGo #NHL

Canucks Watcher (@canuckswatcher.bsky.social) 2025-01-31T19:16:50.549Z

“The hard times have been, I wouldn’t say easier to handle, but I understand how to handle them.”Canucks prospect Riley Patterson on the NHL Draft, his second season with the Colts and looking ahead. For The Hockey News #Canucks | #Vancouverthehockeynews.com/nhl/vancouve...

Alex Wauthy (@alexwauthy.bsky.social) 2025-01-30T21:13:09.689Z

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Today in our look at the best metal releases from 1985, we look at the second album from US progressive metallers FATES WARNING. Following up on their debut 'Night On Brocken', 'The Spectre Within' saw the band continue to grow in proficiency. This album would get a good response, and they would release one more with vocalist John Artch (Awaken The Guardian) before replacing him with Ray Alder. This track was featured on the soundtrack of River's Edge, a great 80's movie starring Dennis Hopper, Crispin Glover and a young Keanu Reaves. That soundtrack also featured four songs from SLAYER, plus tracks from HALLOWS EVE, and punk band AGENT ORANGE.

Enjoy the game, everyone! Go Canucks Go!

KRAKEN (15-19-2) at CANUCKS (17-10-7)

4 p.m. ET; SNP, KONG, KING 5, KHN

The Christmas food and drink hangover is almost over, just in time for the New Years food and drink hangover. I hope the Canucks were able to get all the turkey out of their system and man, there were a lot of games over the past month that turkeys could have put up a better fight than the Canucks did. The Canucks play their 2nd to last game of the year against Seattle. The longer that Seattle is around, the more I think the Kraken is the stupidest name ever. It would be a name that a Disney team would choose. Of course, I am venting because Seattle won last year's season series with that stupid fucking name. And the way the Canucks have been playing at home, I fully expect another loss tonight.

Reason number two or really, number one, that tonight will probably be a loss, is that both Petey and Quinn are doubtful for today's game. WTF? That would be one blockbuster trade....I kid. I am not sure what injuries they have that after four days rest, they need another three days off. Maybe the Sharks actually bit both of them. I guess that leaves it up to J.T. and Demko to carry the team today. I would love to see Dakota move up a line and play with Teddy and Kiefer, but that might be too much hitting on a line.

The rumor mill continues to churn out material that the Canucks are looking to get a D-man, but I am still not sure what they could give up, besides a draft pick, to get anything of value.

LINEUPS

Kraken projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz -- Matty Beniers -- Kaapo Kakko

Jared McCann -- Chandler Stephenson -- Daniel Sprong

Eeli Tolvanen -- Shane Wright -- Oliver Bjorkstrand

Tye Kartye -- Yanni Gourde -- Brandon Tanev

Vince Dunn -- Adam Larsson

Jamie Oleksiak -- Brandon Montour

Ryker Evans -- Josh Mahura

Philipp Grubauer

Ales Stezka

Scratched: Gustav Olofsson, Ben Meyers

Injured: Jordan Eberle (pelvis), Joey Daccord (undisclosed), Andre Burakovsky (illness)

Canucks projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Nils Hoglander -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Danton Heinen -- Teddy Blueger -- Kiefer Sherwood

Dakota Joshua -- Max Sasson -- Phil Di Giuseppe

Erik Brannstrom -- Tyler Myers

Carson Soucy -- Noah Juulsen

Derek Forbort -- Vincent Desharnais

Thatcher Demko

Kevin Lankinen

Scratched: Linus Karlsson

Injured: Elias Pettersson (undisclosed), Quinn Hughes (undisclosed), Filip Hronek (upper body)

Status report

Daccord, a goalie, is day-to-day and did not make the trip to Vancouver after finishing a Dec. 22 game at the Colorado Avalanche despite getting “banged up a little bit” during that game, according to coach Dan Bylsma. Seattle called up Stezka from Coachella Valley of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis on Friday. … Burakovsky, a forward, is day-to-day with an illness and also did not make the trip to Vancouver. … Neither Hughes, a defenseman, nor Pettersson, a center, took part in practice on Friday and both were listed as doubtful by coach Rick Tocchet. … Brannstrom comes back into the lineup after three games as a scratch and is expected to alternate with Forbort in Hughes' spot on the top pair depending on the situation.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

New Year's in coming fast and to knock some of the pessimism out of my own writing, I leave you with this optimistic song and hope of a Cup being raised.

GO CANUCKS GO!

CANUCKS (16-9-5) at UTAH (14-11-5)

10:00 p.m. ET; SNP, SN1, TVAS, Utah16

Utah?

What?

The Canucks have never faced this team....and therefore they have never lost! If you were to look at the team they used to be....they split the season series last year. The Utah team with no name is very annoying to write about, as you have to keep referring them as Utah...or the Hockey Club from Utah. That team started off like gang-busters and then remembered that moving from Arizona only has a limited bump. They do have 5 players with 20+ points, so they do have the potential to put up some goals.

The great news is that Canucks finally escape Rogers and get back to their real home, the road. Unfortunately, it is only for two games and one of those will be in Vegas. So hopefully the Canucks can get more momentum before hitting Sin City tomorrow.

Bettman must drool when he see standings like this. I cringe.

Remember when my mom asked about Petey's performance when Miller came back?

Well, bad news. So far he has 0 points and is -3. Sweet lord....Buffalo is waiting.

At least we have a guy named Kiefer, who can win games on his own.

LINEUPS

Canucks projected lineup

Conor Garland -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Max Sasson

Danton Heinen -- Pius Suter -- Kiefer Sherwood

Dakota Joshua -- Teddy Blueger -- Nils Hoglander

Quinn Hughes -- Noah Juulsen

Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers

Erik Brannstrom -- Vincent Desharnais

Thatcher Demko

Kevin Lankinen

Scratched: Derek Forbort, Linus Karlsson, Phil Di Giuseppe

Injured: Filip Hronek (upper body)

Utah projected lineup

Clayton Keller -- Barrett Hayton -- Nick Schmaltz

Jack McBain -- Logan Cooley -- Dylan Guenther

Lawson Crouse -- Nick Bjugstad -- Matias Maccelli

Alexander Kerfoot -- Kevin Stenlund -- Michael Carcone

Mikhail Sergachev -- Olli Maatta

Ian Cole -- Michael Kesselring

Juuso Valimaki -- Vladislav Kolyachonok

Karel Vejmelka

Jaxson Stauber

Scratched: Liam O’Brien, Dakota Mermis

Injured: Robert Bortuzzo (lower body), Maveric Lamoureux (undisclosed), Sean Durzi (upper body), John Marino (upper body)

Status report

The Canucks assigned goaltender Arturs Silovs and defenseman Mark Friedman to Abbotsford on Tuesday. Forwards Karlsson and Di Giuseppe were recalled on Tuesday. ... Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said Forbort, a defenseman, will not play tonight against Utah but “could possibly tomorrow” at the Vegas Golden Knights.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

In honor of the Canucks hitting the road and Petey needing to get going, I give you some guy named Bob.

Go Canucks Go!

AVALANCHE (18-14-0) at CANUCKS (15-9-5)

10:30 p.m. ET; SNP, ALT

I wonder if Thatcher Demko is thinking about going back on the IR? The team that has played in front of him has been below average. (You can't hold completely responsible for his 4.47 GAA and .830 save %)

The Canucks were absolutely brutal last game and tonight's opponent won't be easy either. The Avs are 5-2 in December and continue to put up a lot of goals, as they have 3 out of the the top 15 scorers in the league. The good thing for the Canucks is that the Avs still let in a lot of goals. Hopefully, the Canucks have better luck than last year, where they lost all three games.

I would like to that Elliotte Friedman for stirring up the shit on the internet by getting the "Trade Petey" portion of the schedule going. His trade idea is bad on so many levels...Petey for Byram and Cousins. Byram has past concussions and Cousins won't replace Petey's 2-way play, Oh...and it adds more money to the cap. The Canucks do need to make a trade for a defenseman as there backend was ripped apart last game. Hogs won't bring much in return, so trading one of Petey, Miller or Brock seems to be the easy way to get views on the net.

Tonight is the 13th Hockey Talks for the Canucks..(no communication company attached to it) And we always need a reminder that it's ok to admit that we all struggle. The family has had a tough 3 months and writing for NM and chatting with you always brings a smile to my face. Thanks everyone.

LINEUPS

Avalanche projected lineup

Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen

Ross Colton -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Valeri Nichushkin

Joel Kiviranta -- Parker Kelly -- Logan O’Connor

Tye Felhaber -- Ivan Ivan -- Chris Wagner

Devon Toews -- Cale Makar

Samuel Girard -- Sam Malinski

Keaton Middleton -- Calvin de Haan

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: John Ludvig, Givani Smith

Injured: Josh Manson (upper body), Jonathan Drouin (upper body), Oliver Kylington (undisclosed), Gabriel Landeskog (knee), Tucker Poolman (head), Miles Wood (upper body)

Canucks projected lineup

Conor Garland -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Max Sasson

Danton Heinen -- Pius Suter -- Kiefer Sherwood

Dakota Joshua -- Teddy Blueger -- Nils Hoglander

Quinn Hughes -- Noah Juulsen

Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers

Erik Brannstrom -- Vincent Desharnais

Thatcher Demko

Arturs Silovs

Scratched: Mark Friedman

Injured: Kevin Lankinen (illness), Derek Forbort (illness), Filip Hronek (upper body)

Status report

Felhaber will make his NHL debut after signing a two-year contract with the Avalanche on Sunday. … Manson, a defenseman who has missed eight games, skated with teammates Monday for the first time since he was injured Nov. 29 and could return during Colorado’s three-game road trip. … Forbort, a defenseman, and Lankinen, a goalie, will miss a second straight game. … The Canucks changed all four forward lines after a 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. They also swapped Myers and Juulsen on defense, and Desharnais will replace Friedman, a defenseman, after being scratched for two games.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

My wife and I play a game in the car called, "Name that band." She is far better with some of the electronic/ synthesiser era, but this 90s "grunge" group always stumps her as they only had this song. Temple of the Dog had two of the main voices of the 90s in one song....and my wife never remembers their name.

Go Canucks Go!

BLUES (13-13-2) at CANUCKS (14-8-4)

10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNP, FDSNMW

Did you know that the Canucks are only 1 point of their pace from last year after 26 games? I didn't and it brings some calm to my mind. This team waited over 15 games for Petey to wake up....Demko hasn't played a minute....Brock was out for a stretch......and JT Miller has been out for a stretch, and yet this team is still near the top of the division, with games in hand.

Van's top line had trouble last game. (Jake,Petey & Brock) They couldn't get good looks on net and all of them were -2 last game. The Lightning were very aggressive pressing this line to move the puck and quality chances were few. The Canucks PP without Hughes was showcased in the first. Terrifying is a word that pops into my mind. Even with Hughes, this team struggles with an aggressive PK that has active sticks in the lanes.

Anyone worried about Dakota Joshua? He is still trying to find his legs and his a stable place in the lineup. The second part is probably more to do with the fact JT is not on the ice and the lines are a mess. But not having a preseason has shown in his play. Hopefully his instincts kick in and he can start pushing people around in front of the net again.

I am still wondering when the Canucks pull the trigger on the Hogs trade. The D needs help. Carson Soucy should not be getting so many 2nd pairing minutes. Is Carson the new Giraffe? Is Myers finally dependable? Sorry....went too far there.

The Canucks face a Blues team who already made a big splash by firing their coach....which really hasn't changed their direction so far. The Blues are in a tough division and their lack of special in special teams has them floundering. Of course, coming into Rogers could change their fortunes, as home ice is not friendly for the Canucks. I look forward to Petey getting a hat trick and yelling "Calder Winner!!" at Binnington.

Hey...did I mention that someone else is starting in net tonight for the Canucks. Some American kid.

There was another American guy who skated with the team for the first time in a couple weeks.

LINEUPS

Blues projected lineup

Jake Neighbours -- Robert Thomas -- Pavel Buchnevich

Dylan Holloway -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou

Brandon Saad -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Zack Bolduc

Alexey Toropchenko -- Radek Faksa -- Nathan Walker

Philip Broberg -- Colton Parayko

Ryan Suter -- Justin Faulk

Pierre-Olivier Joseph -- Matthew Kessel

Joel Hofer

Jordan Binnington

Scratched: Scott Perunovich, Mathieu Joseph, Alexandre Texier

Injured: Nick Leddy (lower body)

Canucks projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Nils Hoglander -- Teddy Blueger -- Kiefer Sherwood

Aatu Raty -- Max Sasson -- Danton Heinen

Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers

Carson Soucy -- Noah Juulsen

Mark Friedman -- Vincent Desharnais

Thatcher Demko

Kevin Lankinen

Scratched: Erik Brannstrom

Injured: Filip Hronek (upper body), Derek Forbort (lower body)

Status report

Broberg, who has played four games after missing 12 with a lower-body injury, did not take part in the morning skate, but coach Jim Montgomery said it was a “maintenance day” and he will be available. … Perunovich, a defenseman, comes out of the lineup for Pierre-Olivier Joseph, who was a healthy scratch in a 4-2 loss at the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. … Leddy, a defenseman who has not played since Oct. 15, was on the road trip and practicing before being sent back to St. Louis after the game in Edmonton for further evaluation. … Demko will make his season debut, his first game since injuring his left knee in the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season on April 21. … Canucks forward J.T. Miller skated with the team Tuesday for the first time since taking a personal leave of absence Nov. 19 but will not play. … Forbort, a defenseman who hasn’t played since Nov. 2, is practicing without a noncontact jersey and could return against the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

I have been going down the rabbit hole of Canadian rock on Spotify lately. There have been several bands that should have never been formed and others that leave me wondering what happened to them. The Tea Party was one such band that was severely overplayed in a CRTC landscape, but it's nice to hear them at one's choosing.

Go Canucks Go!

After a brutal first period, the Canucks did what you're supposed to do to teams playing their third game in four nights, taking advantage of a tired Columbus team, coming back from two down to win 5-2. This afternoon they have a much tougher opponent as they host the Lightning at Rogers Arena.

Vancouver Canucks (14-7-4) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning  (13-9-2)

1:00 pm PST; 4:00 pm EST

TV: Sportsnet

Radio: Sportsnet 650

It really looked like another edition of "Why the hell are the Canucks so bad at home this year?" on Friday night, as the Columbus Blue Jackets came storming out of the gate to a 2-0 lead. If it were not for Kevin Lankinen shutting the door, they could easily have been up by three or four goals after twenty minutes. And while they haven't really shown it much at home this season, the Canucks have shown that getting down does not rattle them, and they began slowly chipping away at the Columbus lead.

And when Kiefer Sherwood scored on an open net thanks to an ill-advised attempt to play the puck by Blue Jackets G Elvis Merzlikins with just a minute to go in the second, that pretty much sealed their fate. The Canucks were the better team over the last forty minutes, and got some solid efforts from their best players.

A lot of positives to take from this comeback win. Pius Suter continues to be such an important part of this team, proving that given the right linemates and usage, some guys can exceed everyone's expectations. Another plus was Jake DeBrusk finally scoring at home. He's been on an absolute tear of late, and while we know that streakiness is part of his genetic makeup, the timing of him getting hot with JT Miller being out of the lineup couldn't be better.

Kevin Lankinen may not see the crease for a while once Thatcher Demko is ready to roll, as he could start as early as today, so it was nice to see him notch another impact win filling in for the Canucks All Star netminder. With a healthy Demko, the Canucks have a 1-2 punch in goal that is as good as any in the league, and can help them as they look to rack up some home wins and take advantage of the games in hand they have over their Pacific Division rivals.

Today they'll have a little payback on their minds as they take on Tampa Bay. The last meeting between these teams in October saw the Lightning cruise to a 4-1 win that had some people sounding some premature alarm bells, as they Canucks had lost three straight after opening with a win over the Edmonton Oilers.

The key to this game is taking advantage of a subpar Tampa penalty kill, and trying to keep one of the NHL's best at 5 on 5 off the score sheet. Strong team defence and getting a good start is vital to coming out of this one with two points.

LINEUPS

Instead of your dates, the projected lineups for this game were found on the back of bootleg Taylor Swift shirts. You could also find it on nhl dot com...

Lightning projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov

Brandon Hagel -- Anthony Cirelli -- Nick Paul

Mitchell Chaffee -- Conor Geekie -- Gage Goncalves

Zemgus Girgensons -- Luke Glendening -- Michael Eyssimont

Victor Hedman -- J.J. Moser

Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak

Emil Lilleberg -- Nick Perbix

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Jonas Johansson

Scratched: Cam Atkinson, Darren Raddysh

Injured: None

Canucks projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Nils Hoglander -- Teddy Blueger -- Kiefer Sherwood

Aatu Raty -- Max Sasson -- Danton Heinen

Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers

Carson Soucy -- Noah Juulsen

Erik Brannstrom -- Vincent Desharnais

Thatcher Demko

Kevin Lankinen

Scratched: Arturs Silovs, Mark Friedman

Injured: Filip Hronek (upper body), Derek Forbort (lower body)

Both teams could get key players back, as the Lightning could have Nikita Kucherov back after missing a couple, while it looks like Thatcher Demko will get the nod as he returns to the lineup after getting injured in the first round series against Nashville back in April. Other than that, it's pretty much the same lineup as Friday night for the Canucks.

GAME DAY CHATTER

As expected, Arturs Silovs will be heading to Abbotsford with Demko ready to go... While it looks like we could see JT Miller return to the team this week, Derek Forbert is also getting closer to returning... The coach on how the improved PK is giving the Canucks a boost...

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

One of the things that I love about metal, is that it is truly a form of music that translates worldwide, unlike a number of styles. And this new banger from India's BLOODYWOOD with the help of Japanese Kawaai metal sensations BABYMETAL is a great example. Explore the world of metal, my friends. There's so much out there that isn't from south of our border.

Enjoy the game, folks. Go Canucks Go!

Morning hockey is really stupid. That being said, grab your coffee and we'll see if the Canucks can continue their road dominance this season as they take on the Red Wings.

Vancouver Canucks (12-7-3) vs. Detroit Red Wings  (10-11-2)

9:30 am PST; 12:30 pm EST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet One

Radio: Sportsnet 650

Again, it's not about how they get it done right now, it's simply about getting it done, and that's what the Canucks did in Buffalo Friday afternoon. Despite coughing up the two goal lead in the third period, a timely save from Kevin Lankinen, and a beauty between the legs from Conor Garland sealed the deal in OT against Vancouver's expansion cousins, moving their road record this season to 9-2-0.

The Canucks are in the 2nd wild card slot at the moment, so they must keep the points coming, as unfortunately for them, their Pacific Division rivals continue to pile them up as well. And while they have a tough one Tuesday against the Wild in Minnesota, they should be able to keep things going against a Detroit Red Wings team that continues to just sputter along despite being years into the Yzerplan.

It's a busy December for Vancouver, with today's game being the first of 12 games between now and the Christmas break. Normally, we'd say it's a good thing the majority of those are at home, but given the way the Canucks have played at Rogers Arena, it's almost like we'd prefer them to stay on the road for this stretch.

One factor that should help the Canucks win this one today will be special teams. Their penalty kill has been much improved, and it will be tested by one the league's best in Detroit today. The Wings are the worst in the NHL on the penalty kill, so look for the Canucks to try and make every power play count in this one. Other than a strong power play, Detroit struggles to score, being near the bottom of five on five goals this season.

LINEUPS

Scrawled in pizza sauce outside the arena, this is what to expect from these teams today (also, it's on nhl dot com...)

Canucks projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Danton Heinen -- Teddy Blueger -- Max Sasson

Nils Hoglander -- Aatu Raty -- Kiefer Sherwood

Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers

Erik Brannstrom -- Vincent Desharnais

Carson Soucy -- Noah Juulsen

Kevin Lankinen

Arturs Silovs

Scratched: Arshdeep Bains

Injured: Derek Forbort (knee), Filip Hronek (upper body)

Red Wings projected lineup

Vladimir Tarasenko -- Dylan Larkin -- Lucas Raymond

Tyler Motte -- J.T. Compher -- Alex DeBrincat

Michael Rasmussen -- Andrew Copp -- Christian Fischer

Joe Veleno -- Marco Kasper -- Jonatan Berggren

Simon Edvinsson -- Moritz Seider

Ben Chiarot -- Jeff Petry

Erik Gustafsson -- Justin Holl

Cam Talbot

Ville Husso

Scratched: Albert Johansson

Injured: Alex Lyon (lower body), Patrick Kane (upper body)

It should be interesting to see what the first line of Pettersson, DeBrusk and Boeser can do against the Wings today. And don't look at Kiefer Sherwood on the fourth line as any kind of punishment. He continues to be an impact player for the Canucks. After the way they played in Buffalo, I would expect the pairing of Carson Soucy and Noah Juulsen to get less ice time today. And watch Max Sasson today. He's playing in front of family and friends at home for the first time, so a first career goal for Sasson shouldn't come as a shock.

For the Wings, you know things aren't great when you're rolling Tyler Motte on your second line. No offence to Motte, but that speaks volumes about their depth. No Patrick Kane today, which is good, because fuck that guy, man.

GAME DAY CHATTER

Gotta admire the love fans have for JT Miller, as evidenced by this moment during the WWE's Survivor Series last night at Rogers... Here's some pregame thoughts from the coach... JPat shows a little love to Vancouver's Short King, who truly has been their most consistent forward this season...

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Stumbled across this killer recording of Overkill a few days ago at the Vogue Theatre, opening for King Diamond. Bobby Blitz and the boys can still bring it after all these years. Make sure and check out the Loud Flash youtube page, they've got a ton of heavy bands that have visited Vancouver on there, and you're sure to find something you like there.

Get some coffee. Make yourself a hearty breakfast. And enjoy this game. Go Canucks Go!

CANUCKS (11-6-3) at PENGUINS (7-12-4)

7:30 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, SNP

Should we talk in length about the joy I feel when the Canucks beat the Bruins? Should we hold a ritual after shutting out Boston? Should we talk about the lack of offensive effort by the Canucks? 2 out of 3 ain't bad....right, Meatloaf? Brock was back last night and it wasn't the best way to start again. I don't mean him playing on the 3rd line, I mean the multiple penalties. The Canucks continue with their home-away-from-home trip in Pittsburgh tonight to face a Penguins team that they already beat this year 4-3 in Vancouver.

I really wonder what happens when Demko gets back. Lankinen has played his ass off and deserves to keep going until the wheels fall off, but I have a feeling that was Thatch gets between the posts, he will get 70% of the games. Silovs will get the bus ride to Abby.

Canucks management get another look at Pens defensemen for a possible trade, as it seems they tried to get a Blue Jacket d-man, but the deal went kablooey. (Tech term)

Game Day Lineups

Canucks projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Kiefer Sherwood

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Danton Heinen -- Teddy Blueger -- Brock Boeser

Nils Hoglander -- Aatu Raty -- Arshdeep Bains

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Erik Brannstrom -- Tyler Myers

Carson Soucy -- Noah Juulsen

Arturs Silovs

Kevin Lankinen

Scratched: Max Sasson

Injured: Derek Forbort (knee), Vincent Desharnais (lower body)

Penguins projected lineup

Rickard Rakell -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust

Anthony Beauvillier -- Evgeni Malkin -- Philip Tomasino

Michael Bunting -- Blake Lizotte -- Drew O’Connor

Matt Nieto -- Noel Acciari -- Kevin Hayes

Owen Pickering -- Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson -- Erik Karlsson

Ryan Shea -- Jack St. Ivany

Tristan Jarry

Alex Nedeljkovic

Scratched: Ryan Graves, Matt Grzelcyk, Jesse Puljujarvi, Valtteri Puustinen

Injured: Cody Glass (concussion)

Status report

The Canucks did not hold a morning skate following a 2-0 win at the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. ... Silovs could start after Lankinen made 32 saves at Boston. ... Tomasino is expected to make his Penguins debut after being acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Monday for a fourth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. ... Lizotte will be a game-time decision; he has missed five games with a concussion.

Game Day Chatter

Not hockey related, but on a daily basis I yell at 5 people who don't signal. Fuckers.

Game Day Battle Hymn

Under pressure previews sometimes leaves me scrambling for a song to entertain the masses. So instead I will go with a song that is hard to get out of my head.

Go Canucks Go!

CANUCKS (9-6-3) at SENATORS (8-10-1)

7 p.m. ET; CBC, SNP, SN1, TVAS2

Not sure what to expect from today's game. To be honest, we all kinda forgot it was an early game and therefore scrambled to get this work of art put together.

No Demko, Brock or JT.....this is not the Canucks team I signed up for. Dakota Joshua gets a promotion to the 2nd line as Max Sasson gets to play in the NHL tonight.

LINEUPS

Canucks projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Kiefer Sherwood

Dakota Joshua -- Pius Suter -- Conor Garland

Danton Heinen -- Teddy Blueger -- Nils Hoglander

Max Sasson -- Arshdeep Bains -- Aatu Raty

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers

Erik Brannstrom -- Vincent Desharnais

Kevin Lankinen

Arturs Silovs

Scratched: J.T. Miller (personal leave), Noah Juulsen

Injured: Brock Boeser (upper body), Derek Forbort (lower body), Thatcher Demko (lower body)

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Shane Pinto -- Ridly Greig

Claude Giroux -- Tim Stutzle -- Drake Batherson

Michael Amadio -- Josh Norris -- David Perron

Nick Cousins -- Adam Gaudette -- Zack MacEwen

Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub

Thomas Chabot -- Nick Jensen

Tyler Kleven -- Travis Hamonic

Linus Ullmark

Anton Forsberg

Scratched: Jacob Bernard-Docker

Injured: Noah Gregor (undisclosed)

Status report

Sasson will make his NHL debut after being recalled from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League on Thursday. … Desharnais could make his return from an undisclosed injury; he missed three games. … Boeser, a forward who will miss his seventh consecutive game, is on the road trip but skated Saturday. … Demko, a goalie who hasn’t played this season, took reps in practice Saturday. … Bernard-Docker, a defenseman, will be a healthy scratch; Hamonic will take his spot on the third pairing. … Senators coach Travis Green moved Pinto to the first line and Norris to the third line at the morning skate.

GAME DAY CHATTER

Congrats to new Dad, Conor Garland and his wife. Quinn Garland....wait a minute.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

The Canucks get to go back home...on the road. So everything should be good today in the nation's capital. Now if the Canucks lose this game....well.....R.E.M. has us covered.

Sorry about the shitty preview.....we will let the Canucks go win the game to make it better.

PREDATORS (5-10-3) at CANUCKS (9-4-3)

10 p.m. ET; SNP, FDSNSO

The Canucks look to extend their 1 game home win streak to 2. Dare to dream!

While Westy was probably correct about not firing the coach this week, we're still on low alert to see if we need to fire any players.

Can they still do that? [Researches NHLPA] No, they can't. Despite the incredible power that our billionaire overlords exert in the world of hockey and beyond, we fans are powerless to crowdfund instant on-ice firings. Or we would have done that a week ago.


No morning skate for the #Canucks today on the second half of the back-to-back. Pre-game at 6, puck drop at 7 on @sportsnet650.bsky.social!

— Brendan Batchelor (@batchhockey.bsky.social) November 17, 2024 at 12:12 PM

Last night's game, especially, last night's home win was a big improvement over the Keystone Kops loss on Thursday. Tonight the Nucks play in uncharted territory. It's their 1st Back-To-Back game of the season.

Expect tonight's opponent to be a tougher out as the Preds probably feel they have some unfinished business. Not all the Preds... because Huggie won't have Sherwood hounding him. And for former-Pred, Lankinen, tonight's game could be one of those 'you shoulda' games. At least we hope it will be.

Tonight the Nucks can accomplish something amazing. Something they haven't been able to do all season... deliver a 2 game home win streak.

But, we're not there yet. Be good if the Nucks could start the game 15-20 minutes early, rather than in the 2nd period and drop the fresh turnover count into single digits. Technically, accomplishing both those things is a possibility. Not probable, but still.

LINEUPS

Predators projected lineup

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

Jonathan Marchesssault -- Tommy Novak -- Steven Stamkos

Luke Evangelista -- Colton Sissons -- Jusso Parssinen

Cole Smith -- Michael McCarron -- Zachary L’Heureux

Brady Skjei -- Roman Josi

Jeremy Lauzon -- Alexandre Carrier

Marc Del Gaizo -- Luke Schenn

Juuse Saros

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Mark Jankowski, Adam Wilsby, Philip Tomasino

Injured: None

Canucks projected lineup

Pius Suter -- J.T. Miller -- Jonathan Lekkerimaki

Jake DeBrusk -- Elias Pettersson -- Kiefer Sherwood

Dakota Joshua -- Teddy Blueger -- Conor Garland

Danton Heinen -- Aatu Raty -- Nils Hoglander

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers

Erik Brannstrom -- Noah Juulsen

Kevin Lankinen

Arturs Silovs

Scratched: None

Injured: Vincent Desharnais (undisclosed), Brock Boeser (upper body), Derek Forbort (lower body), Thatcher Demko (lower body)

Status report

Novak will return after missing six games with an upper-body injury. … Predators coach Andrew Brunette said he would make other changes to his forward lines but other than Nyquist moving up to the top line and Stamkos moving down, Brunette didn’t specify after the morning skate. ... The Canucks did not have a morning skate, but Lankinen is expected to start against his former team after Silovs made 28 saves in a 4-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.

GAME DAY CHATTER

We're lucky to get even some luke warm chatter. It's Grey Cup Day in Vancouver. I know, most every November day in Vancouver is grey and soggy. But, today it's grey across the country as the Grey Cup is being played for. Not by the BC Lions, because... reasons... football reasons that this hockey fan has no comprehension of.


Nashville Predators vs. Vancouver Canucks get refs Gord Dwyer (#19) and Brandon Schrader (#34) with Mitchell Hunt (#62) and Scott Cherrey (#50) on lines

Today’s NHL Referees and Linespersons – 11/17/24
@PredsNHL @Canucks #Smashville #Canucks #NSHvsVAN

[image or embed]

— Scouting the Refs (@scoutingtherefs.bsky.social) November 17, 2024 at 10:37 AM

Just listened to my dad rant about the nhl schedule with the Canucks playing a home game at the same time as the cfl grey cup is being played in Vancouver. As he said “can you imagine what downtown is going to be like”. All I could think of was the skytrain and bathroom lineups. Stay safe Vancouver

— Author: Paul Smith (@paulsmithbooks.bsky.social) November 17, 2024 at 8:37 AM

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

If we and the Nucks are serious about this game, then we need to go for Baroque. Nucks need to stick to their classical theme of hard-to-play against and tough along the bow.

Elinor and Shirley can inspire with a classic theme themselves.

Go Canucks Go!

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