GAME DAY PREVIEW- Game 25- Canucks @ San Jose

Vancouver Canucks (10-12-2) vs San Jose Sharks (11-7-4)

Where: SAP Center, San Jose, CA

When: 6:00 pm PST

Where to Watch: Sportsnet Pacific

SB Nation Opposition Blog: Fear The Fin

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Talk about blood in the water, right? The San Jose Sharks have to be licking their chops heading into this one, facing a battered Canucks team that’s on a serious losing streak right now. Sure, losing streaks can’t last forever, and the Canucks will snap it at some point. But given the way these two teams are playing of late, this one seems pretty predictable.

There has been some news since the loss in Anaheim Wednesday night, as the Canucks have sent Brendan Gaunce down to Utica (which is good, as he needs to get some ice time) and in his place called up the Comets’ leading scorer Reid Boucher. Boucher’s struggled to have his AHL success transfer over during call-ups, but with the Canucks playing a much more offensive-minded style this season, perhaps this time it clicks.

One thing that has to change: the number of goals the Canucks are allowing. It’s easy to just blame it all on Jacob Markstrom, but that’s oversimplifying things. The Canucks (as we knew they would be) are not a good defensive team, even more so with the injuries they’re enduring. And against a team with as many weapons as the Sharks have, this is gonna be laid out tonight. It won’t be pretty. One thing is for sure, it’s a godsend that Anders Nilsson is back, because the signs of burnout on Markstrom are glaringly obvious.

From The Province, here’s your potential lineups and injury report.

Canucks Game Day Lines

LW C RW

Tyler Motte — Bo Horvat — Sam Gagner

Nikolay Goldobin — Elias Pettersson — Loui Eriksson

Antoine Roussel — Markus Granlund — Jake Virtanen

Darren Archibald — Adam Gaudette — Tim Schaller

Defence pairings

Ben Hutton — Erik Gudbranson

Derrick Pouliot — Chris Tanev

Michael Del Zotto — Troy Stecher

Goalies: Jacob Markstrom, Anders Nilsson

Sharks Game Day Lines

LW C RW

Evander Kane — Joe Pavelski — Joonas Donskoi

Tomas Hertl — Logan Couture — Timo Meier

Marcus Sorensen — Joe Thornton — Kevin Labanc

Barclay Goodrow — Antti Suomela — Melker Karlsson

Defence pairings

Joakim Ryan — Brent Burns

Brenden Dillon — Erik Karlsson

Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Justin Braun

Goalies: Martin Jones, Aaron Dell

Sick bay

Canucks: Sven Baertschi (concussion); Jay Beagle (wrist); Brock Boeser (adductor); Alex Edler (knee); Brandon Sutter (shoulder).

Sharks: None.

Power play

Canucks: 20.0% (17th); Sharks: 18.6% (19th)

Penalty kill

Canucks: 77.8% (20th); Sharks: 89.2% (2nd)

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

This week featured the 30th Anniversary of the release of a pretty important album in the history of thrash metal. Oakland’s VIO-LENCE put out their debut album ‘Eternal Nightmare’, a seething, snarling beast of an album. Featuring Robb Flynn (who went on to form Machine Head) and the uh, unique vocal stylings of Sean Killian, Vio-lence put out 3 albums and an EP but their impact was massive. Just 7 songs, but each one a ripper. Here’s my favorite from the disc, ‘Kill On Command’.