GAME DAY PREVIEW: Game Twenty Two- Canucks vs Winnipeg

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (8-12-1) vs WINNIPEG JETS (10-6-1)

ROGERS ARENA- VANCOUVER, BC

7:00PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET PACIFIC, TSN3. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: ARCTIC ICE HOCKEY

It was about as exciting as actually being in Winnipeg in February. The Canucks failed yet again to get some kind of win streak going as they dropped another one in regulation, a frustrating 2-0 loss as the Jets put the game in lockdown after taking the lead, bringing back horrible memories of some of those games against the Minnesota Wild back in the early 2000’s. Absolutely smothering defensive play, boring as shit to watch, but they’ll be getting to the playoffs with this garbage so good for them, I guess?

The Canucks are going to have to find ways to break the Jets systems down, and I would think we’re going to see a bit more friendly officiating after the nonsense that went on at the end of that one. How the Jets were able to start a near line brawl after taking the original penalty (a series of chickenshit crosschecks from Derek Forbert on Nils Hoglander) is a complete mystery.

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com this is what we’re likely to see at puck drop tonight:

Jets projected lineup

Pierre-Luc Dubois — Mark Scheifele — Blake Wheeler

Kyle Connor — Paul Stastny — Nikolaj Ehlers

Andrew Copp — Adam Lowry — Mason Appleton

Mathieu Perreault — Nate Thompson — Trevor Lewis

Josh Morrissey — Tucker Poolman

Derek Forbort — Neal Pionk

Nathan Beaulieu — Dylan DeMelo

Connor Hellebuyck

Laurent Brossoit

Scratched: Sami Niku, Anton Forsberg, Jansen Harkins

Injured: None

Canucks projected lineup

J.T. Miller — Elias Pettersson — Brock Boeser

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Nils Hoglander

Zack MacEwen — Brandon Sutter — Adam Gaudette

Antoine Roussel — Jay Beagle — Jake Virtanen

Alexander Edler — Nate Schmidt

Quinn Hughes — Jordie Benn

Olli Juolevi — Tyler Myers

Braden Holtby

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Jalen Chatfield, Jayce Hawryluk, Loui Eriksson

Injured: Justin Bailey (upper body), Tyler Motte (undisclosed), Travis Hamonic (upper body), Micheal Ferland (head)

Pierre-Luc Dubois returns to the Jets lineup tonight in place of Anton Forsberg. Other than that, the only change for the Jets should see Connor Hellebuyck in goal after Laurent Brossoit got the shutout on Friday. For the Canucks, Zack MacEwan is in and Loui Eriksson is out, likely to discourage the aforementioned Mr Forbert from taking another liberty with the Canucks rookie winger. We will also probably see Braden Holtby in the crease tonight for Vancouver.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Got a track from the dearly missed UK doom band CATHEDRAL. ‘Utopian Blaster’ is off 1995’s ‘The Carnival Bizarre’ album, and I played this song for a very specific reason, I wanna see if anyone can figure it out. Post it in the comments if you do. Enjoy the game, everyone!