GAME DAY PREVIEW- Game 11: Canucks vs Florida

VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs FLORIDA PANTHERS

7:00PM PST ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC

TV: SPORTSNET PACIFIC. RADIO: SN650.

OPPOSITION BLOG: LITTER BOX CATS

Friday night was pretty ugly, right? I think I would be a little more concerned about them blowing a game in that manner to a team like Los Angeles or Detroit than to the Washington Freaking Capitals, though. At the end of the day, Jacob Markstrom was due for an off night, and this Canucks team still has some issues to sort out. Don’t let a few wins in October distract you from the fact that we’ve not seen a lick of evidence this team can look forward to playoff hockey in April.

Tonight’s opponent is a Florida Panthers team that we’re not really used to seeing. First, there’s no Roberto Luongo anymore, and that fills us with sadness and also angst because cap recapture penalties. And secondly, they may actually be good. They’re currently sitting in 3rd in the Atlantic behind Buffalo and Boston and are fresh off a 6-2 shellacking of the Edmonton Oilers. They have just one regulation loss in their last 10 games, and are off to the kind of start that could keep them in the hunt for a playoff spot down the road.

LINEUPS:

Changes a-plenty tonight for the Canucks. First off, Loui Eriksson returns to the lineup for his first game since opening night thanks to Tyler Motte getting injured blocking a shot on Friday night’s loss. They also called up Adam Gaudette but he will not play tonight. The other change is that Thatcher Demko gets the start and before you go there, we’re just going to assume that this was a scheduled start, and there is no goaltending controversy. I mean, it’s not like Jacob Markstrom’s hold on the top position was so precarious that his first bad game this season would see him lose it. They’re probable saving him for the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night, because what could be better than a team like them losing to a team like this?

J.T. Miller -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser

Tanner Pearson -- Bo Horvat -- Jake Virtanen

Micheal Ferland -- Brandon Sutter -- Josh Leivo

Tim Schaller -- Jay Beagle -- Loui Eriksson

Alexander Edler -- Tyler Myers

Quinn Hughes -- Christopher Tanev

Jordie Benn -- Troy Stecher

Thatcher Demko

The Panthers will start rookie Sam Montembeault tonight. He’s 1-0-1 and currently sporting a 1.79 GAA and .933 SV%. He’s allowed just 5 GA in 2 ¹⁄₂ games this season. Yeah, I’m worried they’re gonna make him look like a superstar, too. From nhl.com here’s the lineup they’ll put their 8 game point streak on the line with:

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau - Aleksander Barkov - Evgenii Dadonov

Mike Hoffman - Brian Boyle - Brett Connolly

Frank Vatrano - Denis Malgin - Jayce Hawryluk

Dryden Hunt - Noel Acciari - Colton Sceviour

Defensemen

MacKenzie Weegar - Aaron Ekblad

Mark Pysyk - Anton Stralman

Keith Yandle - Josh Brown

Goalies

Sam Montembeault

Sergei Bobrovsky

Scratches: Vincent Trocheck (lower-body), Mike Matheson (lower-body), Riley Stillman

Ah, yes. Looks like we’ll wait another day for EP40 to embarrass Matheson again. Pity.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

When you think of Florida and Metal, it’s natural to think of bands like DEATH, MORBID ANGEL, OBITUARY and DEICIDE, but there’s more to the Sunshine State than just death metal. Let’s take you back to 1985, and the title track of SAVATAGE’s brilliant Hall Of The Mountain King album. Led by brothers Jon (vocals) and Criss Oliva (guitars), this was probably their finest moment. We’re also throwing in a couple others (just because I feel like it) from their debut EP The Dungeons Are Calling and a classic off their 1st album Sirens, called Holocaust. Just remember when watching the ‘Hall...’ video, this was 1985, so this look was a thing. You had to be there, I guess.