GAME DAY PREVIEW- Game Forty One: Canucks vs Ottawa

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (18-18-3) vs OTTAWA SENATORS (16-26-4)

ROGERS ARENA- VANCOUVER, BC

7:00PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET, CBC. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: SILVER SEVEN SENS

The Vancouver Canucks having a faint sniff at a playoff spot after missing almost a month due to a COVID-19 outbreak on the team was far more because the Montreal Canadiens have been the beneficiaries of an insane amount of Bettman points than any real chance for the Canucks to somehow battle their way into the postseason. Even if the Canucks were to limp across the line, it would be because the Habs are frauds, and not worthy of a playoff spot either.

So while the fan base was understandably pumped up after two emotional wins over the first place Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this week, Thursday night’s loss to the Senators was the ultimate slap back to reality. This is a team that is still nowhere near 100% healthy after the virus tore its way through the lineup, and the sheer volume of games they have to play over the next few weeks is simply going to grind them down.

And speaking of not 100%, Tyler Motte and Zack MacEwan both make their returns to the lineup tonight. And they’ll be joined by Alex Edler, who has served his two game suspension after the kneeing incident with Zach Hyman.

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com, this would appear to be tonight’s rosters, give or take a player:

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk — Josh Norris — Drake Batherson

Tim Stutzle — Colin White — Evgenii Dadonov

Alex Formenton — Shane Pinto — Connor Brown

Ryan Dzingel — Chris Tierney — Vitaly Abramov

Thomas Chabot — Nikita Zaitsev

Erik Brannstrom — Artem Zub

Victor Mete — Josh Brown

Matt Murray

Anton Forsberg

Scratched: Artem Anisimov, Michael Amadio, Jacob Bernard-Docker

Injured: Nick Paul (undisclosed), Austin Watson (hand)

Canucks projected lineup

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Brock Boeser

Nils Hoglander — J.T. Miller — Zack MacEwen

Tyler Motte — Brandon Sutter — Jayce Hawryluk

Matthew Highmore — Travis Boyd — Jake Virtanen

Quinn Hughes — Travis Hamonic

Alexander Edler — Nate Schmidt

Olli Juolevi — Tyler Myers

Braden Holtby

Thatcher Demko

Scratched: Jalen Chatfield, Madison Bowey, Jimmy Vesey

Injured: Antoine Roussel (lower body), Elias Pettersson (upper body), Jay Beagle (undisclosed), Justin Bailey (shoulder), Micheal Ferland (head)

Interesting to see MacEwan slotting in on the 2nd line. Would love to see him get a decent look here, and try and find some chemistry with Miller and Hoglander.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

From their recent live stream, here’s an awesome tribute to the late Riley Gale as Obituary and the surviving members of Power Trip do a rip-roarin’ version of ‘Swing Of The Axe’.

Enjoy the game, Go Canucks Go!