GAME DAY PREVIEW- GAME ELEVEN: Canucks vs Nashville- Nov 5, 2021

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (4-5-1) vs NASHVILLE PREDATORS (5-5-0)

ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC

7:00PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET PACIFIC. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: ON THE FORECHECK

Man, did the Canucks ever need that win on Tuesday. Having come back from the six game road trip that started the season, winners of two straight, it seemed like they were set for a bit of a run, only they went in the wrong direction, losing the next three at Rogers Arena, and it wasn’t looking good against the Rangers, either.

Down 2-0, J. T. Miller and Vasily Podkolzin tied things up before Miller ended it in overtime, aided by a number of crucial saves from Thatcher Demko en route to the 3-2 win. The Canucks hope that they can build off the momentum of one of their best come from behind wins in the Travis Green era, but to do that they’re going to need the special teams to really step up as they host the Nashville Predators.

The power play units are getting shuffled yet again, as they hope to start capitalizing on chances the team is able to draw thanks to their speed.

I like OEL on the top unit. He’s been their best defenceman through ten games (and let’s face it, if you say you’re not surprised, you’re a liar) and has earned this. Getting Hughes on the second unit, as he starts to show signs of getting his season together, should give them a little more oompf, especially with Horvat and Hoglander.

The Canucks take on a team that seems to be in a bit of a state of flux. There’s still Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg, but they have made some changes over the summer, one of them was bringing in former Flames G David Rittich to backup Juuse Saros. They started off this road trip with an OT win in Calgary over the Flames, then dropped a 5-2 decision to Edmonton. They’re sitting in one of the two Western Conference Wild Card spots at the moment, so motivation for either team shouldn’t be an issue.

LINEUPS

And this is what Nashville ran with in Edmonton on Wednesday night.

Filip Forsberg and Mark Borowiecki are out for Nashville. Expect Thatcher Demko and Juuse Saros to get the starts for their respective teams tonight.

GAME DAY CHATTER

Gotta hand it to this team, when they get it right, they absolutely nail it.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Welsh bangers VENOM PRISON dropped the first track from their upcoming album ‘Erebos’, and it’s frickin’ fantastic! Led by vocalist Larisa Stupar, it’s the followup to 2020’s ‘Primeval’, as they switch from Prosthetic Records to Century Media for this release. Check out ‘Judges of the Underworld’, as well as their utterly ferocious cover of STAMPIN’ GROUND’s ‘Officer Down’ here.

Enjoy the game, GO CANUCKS GO!