GAME DAY IN THE BUBBLE PREVIEW- CANUCKS VS GOLDEN KNIGHTS: GAME SIX

VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

6:45 PM PDT THE BUBBLE @ ROGERS PLACE, EDMONTON, AB

TV: SPORTSNET, CBC,NBCSN. RADIO: SN650.

OPPOSITION BLOG: KNIGHTS ON ICE

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty here: This could still end badly tonight and that will be the end of it. But there’s something about this team that’s just so damn compelling, it just feels like it couldn’t possibly end yet. And the hockey gods being who they are, have decided that the mountain they must climb just isn’t steep enough.

Jacob Markstrom’s injured groin meant they had to go with Demko, who was stellar in his 2nd playoff appearance, pulling out a 42 save performance in Tuesday’s win. We likely won’t know til closer to the game if Markstrom’s better, and before we figure out who could be in the crease for Game 7, let’s get through Game 6.

There’s a list of guys who need to start scoring in this series, and one of them took his name off that list Tuesday as Brock Boeser scored the tying goal and helped set up the winner from Elias Pettersson. J.T, Miller has yet to score, though he did have a 3 assist night in the Game 2 win. But tonight they’re gonna need someone like Jake Virtanen, Adam Gaudette or Round 1 hero Tyler Motte to bust out and push this thing to a damn Game 7 like Trevor Linden did against the Flames in 1994. Coming back from being down 3-1 is hard, but it can be done.

LINEUPS:

Golden Knights projected lineup

Max Pacioretty — William Karlsson — Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault — Paul Stastny — Reilly Smith

Nick Cousins — Nicolas Roy — Alex Tuch

William Carrier — Chandler Stephenson — Ryan Reaves

Alec Martinez — Shea Theodore

Brayden McNabb — Nate Schmidt

Nick Holden — Zach Whitecloud

Robin Lehner

Marc-Andre Fleury

Scratched: Dylan Coghlan, Oscar Dansk, Reid Duke, Deryk Engelland, Nicolas Hague, Keegan Kolesar, Peyton Krebs, Jon Merrill, Gage Quinney, Patrick Brown

Unfit to play: Tomas Nosek

Canucks projected lineup

J.T. Miller — Elias Pettersson — Brock Boeser

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Tyler Toffoli

Antoine Roussel — Adam Gaudette — Brandon Sutter

Tyler Motte — Jay Beagle — Jake Virtanen

Alexander Edler — Troy Stecher

Quinn Hughes — Christopher Tanev

Oscar Fantenberg — Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Louis Domingue

Scratched: Olli Juolevi, Justin Bailey, Jalen Chatfield, Tyler Graovac, Brogan Rafferty, Loui Eriksson, Jordie Benn

Unfit to play: Micheal Ferland, Josh Leivo, Jacob Markstrom

We don’t know if Markstrom’s better or not, nor do we know if Vegas is going to try and return with Fleury after seeing Lehner in goal for both Canucks wins.

PREGAME CHATTER:

Just gonna throw this out here...

Also, apologies for the giant picture of John Shannon.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

30 years ago today JUDAS PRIEST made a massive return to form with the release of ‘Painkiller’. After the disappointing ‘Turbo’ album, some felt the band was done, only to see them release this jaw-dropper of heaviness, combining all of the things we love about this band, only heavier than ever and with the addition of drummer Scott Travis, who breathed new life into the band. Tonight, the Canucks need to come out with All Guns Blazing. Enjoy the game, and if it’s the last one, we’re still happy you went on this run with us. Go Canucks Go.