GAME DAY PREVIEW- GAME TWENTY-SEVEN: Canucks vs Boston- Dec 8, 2021

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (9-15-2) vs BOSTON BRUINS (12-8-1)

ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC

6:00PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: STANLEY CUP OF CHOWDER

Maybe it’s just because we were due, but the good feelings after Monday night’s 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings have lingered into Wednesday and rare chance for a do-over.

Last Sunday the Canucks were in Boston, and it was another frustrating loss. Dropping a 2-1 lead in the third period, with both the tying and go-ahead goals scored on the PP by the Bruins. And Brad Marchand, being an asshole all night long to Oliver Ekman-Larsson, then scoring that tying goal and setting up the winner? Not a good feeling.

And while there was the moral victory of Marchand getting suspended for his slew foot on OEL in the first minute of the game (and really, what an absolutely disgraceful officiating job in that game, to miss that right off the draw was unacceptable), there’s got to be a response tonight, and if this feels familiar, it should.

Two seasons ago, the Canucks went into Boston and lost 4-0. The return match was one of the highlights of the season before it was shut down, as the Canucks rang up nine on the Bruins to the delight of the crowd at Rogers Arena, and Bruce Boudreau’s troops would love nothing more than to do a repeat of that night this evening.

One thing they’ll need to do is keep up the energy level they showed on Monday night. The new line combinations that Boudreau went with seemed to work, and they were aggressive on the puck all night long. Avoiding penalties against a very good Bruins PP is also going to help, though the PK was decent in the win over the Kings.

Funny that Marchand would get a three game suspension for his slew foot last Sunday, because the Bruins have only played three games since then. So join me in gasping with surprise that his first game back is against the Canucks, won’t you? It’s like DoPS just actively wants to create situations where people get injured. They’ll want to have their heads on a swivel around that rat bastidge tonight. And we better make sure John Garrett isn’t saying anything mean about him, either.

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com, this just might be the lineups tonight. Or not...

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

Taylor Hall — Charlie Coyle — Craig Smith

Erik Haula — Trent Frederic — Nick Foligno

Jake DeBrusk — Curtis Lazar — Oskar Steen

Derek Forbort — Charlie McAvoy

Matt Grzelcyk — Brandon Carlo

Mike Reilly — Connor Clifton

Jeremy Swayman

Linus Ullmark

Scratched: Karson Kuhlman, Jack Ahcan

Injured: Tomas Nosek (illness), Jakub Zboril (lower body), Anton Blidh (upper body),

Canucks projected lineup

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Nils Hoglander

Jason Dickinson — J.T. Miller — Brock Boeser

Vasily Podkolzin — Elias Pettersson — Conor Garland

Tyler Motte — Juho Lammikko — Alex Chiasson

Quinn Hughes — Travis Hamonic

Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Tyler Myers

Luke Schenn — Tucker Poolman

Thatcher Demko

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: Brad Hunt, Kyle Burroughs, Justin Dowling

Injured: Matthew Highmore (upper body), Brandon Sutter (illness), Brady Keeper (leg)

No changes for the Canucks, and Thatcher Demko should get the start, which would be his first career start against Boston. Jeremy Swayman will be the starter for Boston. We’ll give you time to go google him.

GAME DAY CHATTER

Also, let’s hope this guy gets a big win on his big day, eh?

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Vancouver’s own UNLEASH THE ARCHERS with a song that’s just so gosh-darn Canadian that it’ll make you cry maple syrup tears of pride. Crank up ‘Northwest Passage’ and enjoy the damn game tonight. Go Canucks Go!