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VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs ST LOUIS BLUES
7:30PM PDT THE BUBBLE @ ROGERS PLACE, EDMONTON, AB
TV: SPORTSNET, NBCSN, CBC, FS-MW. RADIO: SN650.
OPPOSITION BLOG: ST LOUIS GAME TIME
Playoffs szn pic.twitter.com/qaMVMKtsS6
— Georgia (@georgiatwiss) August 12, 2020
I was pretty close to being able to say “I am over what happened in 2011, and ready to move on” with a straight face. And then these bastards go and do the thing against Minnesota. I was prepared for them to lose, because it could be they’re just not there yet and I am fine with that. But now they’re hours away from dropping the puck against the St Louis Blues and that rush is back. The pregame butterflies. Welcome back, meaningful hockey. We missed you.
In VAN's last 10 postseason game 1s, their record is 6-4, with all 6 wins in 2010 and 2011. As the lower seed, their record is 4-6
— Quinn Blughes (@infinitemile8) August 12, 2020
We have an all-time 10-16 (38.5%) win rate in the 1st round.
We've played STL 3 times in the playoffs: '95, '03, '09, and won all 3.
And that’s the beauty of this whole trip into the bubble. They did something that this team hasn’t been able to do since 2011: Win a playoff series. I don’t care what kind of asterisk you think you need to put beside that. To this team, these players and this fan base, this is MASSIVE, because the one thing we’ve been dying for is a sign of hope. And in these young guys, we finally have it.
This could end in a sweep for the Blues and I would still come away happy, because after years of spinning their wheels, there is positive forward progress that you can look to with this team.
And if they’re going to move forward, they have to do it by taking down the defending champions: the St Louis Blues. The Blues struggled a bit in the Round Robin portion of the play-in, and as we saw this year the Canucks are more than able to hang with these guys. Yes, the playoffs are a different beast, and the kind of experience they have from winning the Cup is far greater than what most of the Canucks have, Yet this is a series that is winnable by the Canucks if hey just do those little things that worked for them this year.
Two guys that will need to come up big for Vancouver? J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes. Miller scored 3 goals in the season series, and Hughes had a goal and 5 assists as the Canucks took two of three meetings over the Blues. They’ll need to keep the power play rolling, and continue killing penalties off at an above average clip. Do this and there’s hope of hockey in September.
LINEUPS
Courtesy nhl.com here’s what we should see tonight:
Canucks projected lineup
J.T. Miller — Elias Pettersson — Brock Boeser
Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Loui Eriksson
Antoine Roussel — Brandon Sutter — Jake Virtanen
Tyler Motte — Jay Beagle — Zack MacEwen
Alexander Edler — Troy Stecher
Quinn Hughes — Christopher Tanev
Olli Juolevi — Tyler Myers
Jacob Markstrom
Thatcher Demko
Scratched: Justin Bailey, Jordie Benn, Jalen Chatfield, Louis Domingue, Adam Gaudette, Tyler Graovac, Brogan Rafferty
Unfit to play: Oscar Fantenberg, Micheal Ferland, Josh Leivo, Tyler Toffoli
Blues projected lineup
Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko
Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron
Jordan Kyrou — Robert Thomas — Tyler Bozak
Alexander Steen — Oskar Sundqvist — Troy Brouwer
Carl Gunnarsson — Alex Pietrangelo
Marco Scandella — Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn — Justin Faulk
Jordan Binnington
Jake Allen
Scratched: Ivan Barbashev, Ville Husso, Jacob de la Rose, Robert Bortuzzo, Klim Kostin, Mackenzie MacEachern , Austin Poganski, Niko Mikkola, Derrick Pouliot, Jake Walman, Ville Husso
Unfit to play: Sammy Blais
It looks like Olli Juolevi will be in the lineup again tonight. He was pretty good in Game 4 against the Wild, and it’s great to see him getting a shot after all of the setbacks with injuries. Tyler Toffoli is out for Game One, but could be getting ready to return soon. Also, play Derrick Pouliot, you cowards!
PREGAME CHATTER
NHL playoffs veteran J.T. Miller and first-timer Troy Stecher answer questions from the media about beating the Wild and moving on to face the Blues. pic.twitter.com/JZUEGK43AD
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) August 11, 2020
A cheerful Coach Green discusses the #Canucks lineup, staying put at the Sutton Hotel and penalties against the Wild. pic.twitter.com/YarH0bl77d
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) August 11, 2020
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Gonna stick with homegrown bands for the rest of this run, so today here’s a track from a Vancouver band that’s making big waves overseas: UNLEASH THE ARCHERS. Originally from Victoria, this traditional/power metal act led by the awesome vocals of Brittney Slayes, and an awesome double axe attack, this is the perfect track to start the march to the Cup. Tonight We Ride! Go Canucks Go!
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