GAME DAY PREVIEW- Game 17: Canucks @ Winnipeg

VANCOUVER CANUCKS @ WINNIPEG JETS

5:00PM PST MTS CENTER, WINNIPEG, MB

TV: SPORTSNET PACIFIC. RADIO: SN650.

OPPOSITION BLOG: ARCTIC ICE HOCKEY

Well, that game was a load of hot garbage. Whenever you might think that the Canucks have arrived, they seem to pull out a game like this and remind everyone that there’s still a lot of work to be done. And of all the teams to pull this garbage, it would have to be the Hawks. Nothing like hearing their crap goal song 5 times to bring back the ol’ PTSD from a decade ago. An overall disappointing, too little too late effort that saw the team seemingly look at all the articles praising their vastly improved defensive play this season and thumb their collective noses at them. And now they’ve lost Christopher Tanev on top of it all, because Canucks. And then it’s off to Winnipeg where they play a team that’s been struggling a bit but getting dragged through it by some phenomenal goaltending. Gonna be another long night, kids.

The Canucks haven’t been able to figure out the Jets for a while now, including losing 5 straight meetings, and have just one win in their last 10. This is the first two of six points up for grabs this season with these two teams, and if the Canucks hope to be there when the smoke clears, it’s these games that matter.

LINEUPS:

Canucks projected lineup (via nhl.com, edited to reflect changes)

Tanner Pearson -- Bo Horvat -- Adam Gaudette

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

Josh Leivo -- Brandon Sutter -- Jake Virtanen

Tim Schaller -- Jay Beagle -- Sven Baertschi

Alexander Edler -- Tyler Myers

Quinn Hughes -- Oscar Fantenberg

Jordie Benn -- Troy Stecher

Thatcher Demko

Jacob Markstrom

Scratched: Loui Eriksson, Jalen Chatfield

Injured: Tyler Motte (foot), Antoine Roussel (knee), Micheal Ferland (concussion protocol), Christopher Tanev (upper body)

Jets projected lines and D pairs: (courtesy Illegalcurve.com

Connor-Scheifele-Laine

Ehlers-Wheeler-Roslovic

Copp-Lowry-Perreault

Luoto-Gustafsson-Shaw

Morrissey-Poolman

Kulikov-Pionk

Beaulieu-Sbisa

Hellebuyck

Brossoit

And yes, your eyes do not deceive you. That is Luca Sbisa who should be in the lineup tonight for the Jets. This could only possibly end in one of two ways: 1) He is the Luca Sbisa we remember and he assists on 3 Canucks goals or 2) he scores tonight.

A couple Canucks changes tonight, as Tanev is a no-go and likely will be replaced by Oscar Fantenberg. They’ve also recalled Jalen Chatfield from the Utica Comets. The other change is that Adam Gaudette looks to be coming out of the lineup if the pregame skate is any indication, and that means that a) Sven Baertschi will draw in, b) Loui Eriksson is still, inexplicably in the lineup, c) everyone is happy, and d) no one is actually happy. No word yet which line Baertschi will find himself on, but given the chemistry he and Bo Horvat have shown in the past, it won’t be a shock to see him on line 2 at some point.

Thatcher Demko will get the start tonight for the Canucks, and that would be the same Thatcher Demko who currently leads the NHL is both GAA and Save %. He’ll go up against Connor Hellebuyck, who looks better than normal every time he plays the Canucks for some reason. Maybe this will be the night the Canucks finally break whatever kinda spell the Jets seem to have on them, and we should expect the Canucks to come out with a bit of an attitude tonight as to a man they can’t be happy about the way last night played out.

Tonight is the return of Tyler Myers for the first time since he left the Jets to sign with the Canucks, so I am sure there will be some kind of tribute video on the big screen during the game. They will return home after tonight’s game and get a bit of rest as they are at it again Sunday afternoon, as the 2nd edition of the Battle of the Hughes Brothers will take place at Rogers Arena, and if you get the NHL Network, you will want to check out NHL NETWORK ICE TIME, who are running a feature on Quinn and brother Jack this Saturday. Here’s a clip from that episode, and check your local listings for times.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN:

One of the things I love about metal is the universality of this music. While some genres tend to not translate well around the world, metal can literally be found on every corner of this planet. Today we bring you KRYPTOS, a band just dripping with an 80’s thrash/Motorhead vibe that hail from Bangalore, India. Check out the title track from their new album on AFM Records titled ‘Afterburner’.