GAME DAY PREVIEW: Game 6- Canucks vs Buffalo Sabres

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (0-3-2) vs BUFFALO SABRES (3-1-0)

ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC

7:00PM PST

TV: CBC, SN PACIFIC, SN ONTARIO. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: DIE BY THE BLADE

To say things are not going well for the Vancouver Canucks right now is a pretty massive understatement. They’ve got a fanbase losing its patience with a guy who just got a massive contract extension, they seem to be utterly baffled by the concept of defence, the power play is completely impotent, and the penalty kill is as bad as it was last season. Add in their All Star goaltender being unable to steal a much-needed win, and now a high;y touted prospect being jettisoned to Abbotsford, and honestly, it’s as though Jim Benning never left.

Let’s be fair, it’s not like any of us should have been under the impression that the mess left by the previous regime was going to be an easy fix. But even the most optimistic of you has to be discouraged by this historic start to the season, one that has seen the Canucks blow leads in all 5 games so far.

This team is a mess. They can’t provide any sustained pressure. They can’t defend leads, and they can’t push back, both offensively and physically. They’re not even a prototypical Bruce Boudreau team right now. I don’t know what the hell they are, but this is a team that needs a major shake up now, or else they need to just shut it down and tank this season to get North Vancouver native Connor Bedard in the 2023 Entry Draft. That, of course, assumes that even if the Canucks finished last, that they could actually win the draft lottery, and we all know this team’s history with lotteries.

Apart from the play of Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat, there’s not a lot to be hopeful about right now. Yes, the fourth line had a hell of a game against Minnesota, and if they can sustain that kind of effort, it might be a key to getting the team out of this mess, but there’s not a single line that is showing any consistent cohesion apart from that checking line. And with Nils Hoglander now getting the tough love treatment, being sent to the AHL today by GM Patrik Allvin, it makes one wonder if these guys even know how to fix the mess they inherited.

And normally, you’d look at this game and breathe a sigh of relief, as a visit from the Sabres would be viewed as just what the doctor ordered to get out of this funk. But in true Canucks fashion, the Sabres team that is here tonight is 3-1-0 to start the year and are coming off an impressive manhandling of the highly touted Calgary Flames on Thursday night. How sad is it we have to hope for an emotional letdown by the Buffalo Sabres in the hopes it might lead to the first win of the season?

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com, this was scrawled on the bathroom wall of a truckstop near Hope:

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner — Tage Thompson — Alex Tuch

Vinnie Hinostroza — Dylan Cozens — JJ Peterka

Rasmus Asplund — Casey Mittelstadt — Victor Olofsson

Jack Quinn — Zemgus Girgensons — Kyle Okposo

Mattias Samuelsson — Rasmus Dahlin

Owen Power — Ilya Lyubushkin

Jacob Bryson — Casey Fitzgerald

Craig Anderson

Eric Comrie

Scratched: Peyton Krebs, Riley Sheahan, Lawrence Pilut

Injured: Henri Jokiharju (upper body)

Canucks projected lineup

Conor Garland — J.T. Miller — Ilya Mikheyev

Vasily Podkolzin — Elias Pettersson — Andrei Kuzmenko

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua — Nils Aman — Curtis Lazar

Quinn Hughes — Luke Schenn

Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Tyler Myers

Jack Rathbone — Kyle Burroughs

Thatcher Demko

Spencer Martin

Injured: Riley Stillman (undisclosed). Travis Dermott (concussion), Tucker Poolman (undisclosed)

Scratched: Noah Juulsen

If Hughes can’t go, that means Juulsen goes in and good lord, that is not an NHL defence core by any stretch. It’s gonna be a long night.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Welcome home indeed. All hail the King, baby!

Enjoy the game, if that’s possible. Go Canucks Go, I guess...