GAME DAY IN THE BUBBLE PREVIEW- CANUCKS VS BLUES: GAME FOUR

VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs ST LOUIS BLUES

7:30PM PDT THE BUBBLE @ ROGERS PLACE, EDMONTON, AB

TV: SPORTSNET, CBC,NBCSN, FS-MW. RADIO: SN650.

OPPOSITION BLOG: ST LOUIS GAME TIME

Frustrating loss? Of course. We knew it was coming, and at least they had to earn it. This one won’t be easy to close out but they can do it. To do that, they’re going to have to make some changes, and try and throw some different looks at the Blues and get them off their game. One change that’s likely to happen is Jake Virtanen coming out of the lineup, and Adam Gaudette slotting back in. What we’ve seen from Virtanen in the post-season is downright disappointing, and I can’t imagine he gets back in barring catastrophic injuries for the Canucks.

One thing they’re also going to need to do is figure out Ryan O’Reilly. He’s having a phenomenal series, and if it wasn’t for his line, this would probably be an elimination game for the Blues tonight. If the Canucks want to go up 3 games to 1, they need to be better 5 on 5, take advantage of last change to try and get some favourable matchups for the Lotto line, and keep the foot on the gas til the last buzzer. They played like they were hoping for Jacob Markstrom to steal the win for them, and he almost did. That’s not a recipe for success, though. Maybe shuffling things up a bit, and even giving Thatcher Demko a start in the back to back could be what they need to get back in the drivers seat.

Remember: this whole playoff thing is basically a year ahead of schedule. So when you see something like this, it’s what should get you excited about what could be coming down the road.

LINEUPS

Blues projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

Jordan Kyrou — Brayden Schenn — Tyler Bozak

Zach Sanford — Robert Thomas — Sammy Blais

Oskar Sundqvist — Jacob de la Rose — Mackenzie MacEachern

Carl Gunnarsson — Alex Pietrangelo

Marco Scandella — Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn — Justin Faulk

Jake Allen

Jordan Binnington

Scratched: Troy Brouwer, Ivan Barbashev, Ville Husso, Robert Bortuzzo, Klim Kostin, Austin Poganski , Niko Mikkola, Derrick Pouliot, Jake Walman

Unfit to play: Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen

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

Oscar Fantenberg — Jordie Benn

Jacob Markstrom

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Olli Juolevi, Justin Bailey, Jalen Chatfield, Louis Domingue, Adam Gaudette, Tyler Graovac, Brogan Rafferty

Unfit to play: Micheal Ferland, Josh Leivo, Tyler Toffoli, Tyler Myers

PREGAME CHATTER:

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Going old school today, back to 1987 and the title track from ASSAULT’s ‘Survival In The Streets’. Go Canucks Go!