GAME DAY PREVIEW: Game Thirty-Seven- Canucks vs Winnipeg

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (16-17-3) vs WINNIPEG JETS (19-11-2)

ROGERS ARENA- VANCOUVER, BC

7:30PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET PACIFIC, TSN3. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: ARCTIC ICE HOCKEY

Talk about crashing back to reality, the Vancouver Canucks got a serious jolt on Monday night as they got schooled by the Winnipeg Jets, and lost Bo Horvat and Brandon Sutter in the process. There was a chance they would be heading into tonight’s game with none of their top 4 center ice men in the lineup.

Thankfully, the hockey gods appear to have taken their feet off our collective throats.

Now, this could all go full nightmare scenario if neither are good enough to go, but it really hammers home how bad the situation is to see them in the lineup if they’re not healthy. It’s just another episode of the Canucks Get Injured Way Too Much, but that’s something we don’t have time to get into here, because it’s been going on for years and it’s exhausting.

Remember that biggest game of the year on Saturday? Well, this one is pretty huge. A loss, combined with a Calgary win over Ottawa will see the Canucks drop into 6th place. And there’s literally no bright side without a regulation win. Even an Ottawa win sees them move to within 8 points of the Canucks, and let me assure you if the Canucks get lapped by the Senators, heads will roll. It defies logic, even Canucks logic that anyone should keep their job if this happens.

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com, this is a guess as to what’s gonna happen tonight:

Jets projected lineup

Paul Stastny — Mark Scheifele — Blake Wheeler

Kyle Connor — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Nikolaj Ehlers

Andrew Copp — Adam Lowry — Mason Appleton

Mathieu Perreault — Nate Thompson — Trevor Lewis

Josh Morrissey — Tucker Poolman

Derek Forbort — Neal Pionk

Logan Stanley — Dylan DeMelo

Connor Hellebuyck

Laurent Brossoit

Scratched: Sami Niku, Jansen Harkins

Injured: Nathan Beaulieu (upper body)

Canucks projected lineup

Nils Hoglander — Bo Horvat — Brock Boeser

Jimmy Vesey — J.T. Miller — Jake Virtanen

Tyler Motte — Adam Gaudette — Jayce Hawryluk

Antoine Roussel — Brandon Sutter — Zack MacEwen

Alexander Edler — Nate Schmidt

Quinn Hughes — Travis Hamonic

Jordie Benn — Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Braden Holtby

Scratched: Jalen Chatfield, Tyler Graovac

Injured: Elias Pettersson (upper body), Jay Beagle (undisclosed), Tanner Pearson (lower body), Justin Bailey (upper body), Micheal Ferland (head)

COVID-19 protocol: Travis Boyd

So, let’s say Horvat and Sutter can’t go. That’s going to mean Graovac and Marc Michealis (who is not a center) will have to fill in. It’s less than ideal, and if things weren’t such a goddamn mess, they wouldn’t have to consider rushing guys back to play ahead of a 6 day break.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

As I was driving home from the grocery store today, this song came on, and it hits as hard as it did when it came out 35 years ago. Off their debut album ‘Life Of Dreams’, this is ‘Trapped’ by CRUMBSUCKERS. Enjoy the game, Go Canucks Go!