GAME DAY PREVIEW/THREAD: Canucks vs Edmonton- Oct 9, 2021

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (2-4-0) vs EDMONTON OILERS (5-1-0)

ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC

6:00PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET 360. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: THE COPPER AND BLUE

One last chance for guys like Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes to shake off that rust as the Canucks take on the Oilers at home tonight, though both players looked pretty good for having missed nearly all of the Canucks training camp.

That preseason game felt more like a regular season contest, with a hard fought battle from both squads and more emotion than we’re used to seeing in the exhibition games. It could lead to an interesting night both tonight, and on Wednesday when these teams meet again in Edmonton to open the 2021-22 season.

The Canucks made a couple more cuts today, sending Carson Focht and Will Lockwood to Abbotsford. Lockwood played well throughout the preseason, and you shouldn’t at all be surprised to see him get a call up at some point during this season.

LINEUPS

Other than Justin Dowling in on the fourth line (we should expect Jason Dickinson there on Wednesday night) this is pretty close, if not bang on to what the Canucks will start the season with. Thatcher Demko will get the nod tonight after a strong game in a losing cause from Jaroslav Halak on Thursday in Edmonton.

Meanwhile, courtesy Global News Edmonton, here’s what Edmonton will roll with tonight:

Hyman – Nugent-Hopkins – Yamamoto

Foegele – Ryan – Puljujarvi

Benson – McLeod – Sceviour

Perlini – Shore – Turris

Keith – Ceci

Koekkoek – Bouchard

Lagesson – Russell

Koskinen

Skinner

So that’s no Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse or Tyson Barrie for the Oilers tonight, and they’re also missing Zack Kassian, who was injured in that late game scrap with Zack MacEwan. Mikko Koskinen and Stuart Skinner will split the night in goal for Edmonton after Mike Smith picked up the win Thursday.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Found myself in the mood for some Testament today, and I stumbled across this one. Pretty sure it’s not an official video, but it’s a really well recorded live track. It still kicks a metric ton of ass though (and it’s definitely a heavier version than the original), so enjoy ‘Disciples Of The Watch’ and the game later tonight. Go Canucks Go!