GAME DAY PREVIEW: Game Thirty-Three- Canucks @ Ottawa

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (14-16-2) vs OTTAWA SENATORS (10-20-2)

CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE- OTTAWA, ON

4:00PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: SILVER SEVEN SENS

It was a game they had absolutely no business winning, based on the way they play. And it definitely makes you feel for the Sens and their fans, because they deserved a better fate and were full value for the point in that one. The Canucks got another one of those lights out performances from Thatcher Demko and damn near pissed it away against a team that had played the night before. This is why it’s hard to get excited about them starting to win a few games. They’re getting lucky and riding a hot goalie. Sounds kinda like the playoffs, no?

And as if things haven’t been strange enough, Day By Day Jim decided this would be the day he did something.

Well, that certainly is something. Drafted in the 3rd round of the 2012 Entry Draft by Nashville, Vesey is now on his 4th team, having previously played for the Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers and most recently the Toronto Maple Leafs. I suppose this is a better option than Loui Eriksson at this point, who has looked absolutely done in his recall from the taxi squad during this latest round of Canucks injuries. This could also be a last chance type of moment for Vesey, who will need to impress if he hopes to remain with the team and not get shuttled down to the taxi squad with Loui.

So, is this a good move by DBDGMJB? We’ll have to wait to see if Vesey can finally live up to the expectations when he won the Hobey Baker trophy as top player in the NCAA in 2016. One of the other finalists that year? Thatcher Demko. So while that could be a good omen, remember that Tyler Myers won the Calder Trophy in 2010, so...

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com here is what we can expect tonight:

Canucks projected lineup

Nils Hoglander — J.T. Miller — Brock Boeser

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Jake Virtanen

Marc Michaelis — Brandon Sutter — Jayce Hawryluk

Loui Eriksson — Adam Gaudette — Zack MacEwen

Alexander Edler — Nate Schmidt

Quinn Hughes — Travis Hamonic

Jordie Benn — Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Braden Holtby

Scratched: Jalen Chatfield, Jay Beagle, Jimmy Vesey

Injured: Elias Pettersson (upper body), Justin Bailey (upper body), Tyler Motte (undisclosed), Micheal Ferland (head), Antoine Roussel (undisclosed)

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk — Josh Norris — Connor Brown

Nick Paul — Colin White — Evgenii Dadonov

Tim Stutzle — Chris Tierney — Drake Batherson

Ryan Dzingel — Clark Bishop — Austin Watson

Thomas Chabot — Nikita Zaitsev

Mike Reilly — Artem Zub

Christian Wolanin — Erik Gudbranson

Joey Daccord

Filip Gustavsson

Scratched: Josh Brown

Injured: Marcus Hogberg (lower body), Artem Anisimov (upper body), Matt Murray (upper body)

There’s a good chance that we’re gonna see Tyler Motte return to the lineup, and that’s a good thing because as far as bottom 6 forwards go, he’s probably the one who really makes things happen when he’s on the ice. The penalty kill will get better with his return as well, so hopefully he’s good to go tonight. There’s a chance that Vesey is in the lineup, as he doesn’t have to quarantine before joining up with the Canucks. This is because he is making trip to Ottawa from Toronto by car. 5 hours. If he does make it in time and gets in the lineup, keep your expectations low. It doesn’t look like there will be any changes for Ottawa. Matt Murray is still day to day, and that means it will probably Joey Daccord in net again. Thatcher Demko will start again for the Canucks, so I would imagine he goes Friday in Montreal with Braden Holtby Saturday. Or maybe the other way around. Who knows? We’re just living day to day here, folks.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

It’s St Patrick’s Day, so of course I am gonna offer up big frickin’ mug of Ireland’s finest. Off ‘Sea Savage’, this is ‘Lords Of The Hellfire Club’, their latest video release. It’s available on AFM Records, so go check em out!