Game Preview and Gamethread #11: Canucks vs Predators

Which Canuck team will show up tonight? The one that scores a bunch of goals, the one that plays a tough 200 foot game or the one that craps the bed in the third.

One thing is for sure, the penalty kill will suck. It amazes me that they continue to stick with a passive system that lets the point shoot.

You can thank me for Kuzmenko’s sudden scoring burst, as I dropped him from my NucksReloaded fantasy hockey team. I have Demko on my team and I am openly looking to trade him...let me know, so he can play better.

Nashville comes to the west coast on a roller coaster ride of their own. After beating up on San Jose overseas to start the year, they went through a long losing streak and now have traded wins and losses over the past few games. They beat Calgary in their last game (thank you). Nashville has an above average lineup that is playing average in almost all areas, except for goaltender Juuse Saros. He has stats are much like Demko’s...way below average.

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg — Mikael Granlund — Matt Duchene

Nino Niederreiter — Ryan Johansen — Zach Sanford

Yakov Trenin — Colton Sissons — Tanner Jeannot

Cole Smith — Mark Jankowski — Michael McCarron

Roman Josi — Jordan Gross

Mattias Ekholm — Dante Fabbro

Ryan McDonagh — Jeremy Lauzon

Juuse Saros

Kevin Lankinen

Scratched: Cody Glass, Eeli Tolvanen, Alexandre Carrier

Injured: Mark Borowiecki (upper body)

Canucks projected lineup

J.T. Miller — Bo Horvat — Nils Hoglander

Andrei Kuzmenko — Elias Pettersson — Ilya Mikheyev

Tanner Pearson — Sheldon Dries — Conor Garland

Dakota Joshua — Nils Aman — Jack Studnicka

Quinn Hughes — Luke Schenn

Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Ethan Bear

Riley Stillman — Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko

Spencer Martin

Scratched: Vasily Podkolzin, Jack Rathbone, Kyle Burroughs

Injured: Curtis Lazar (undisclosed), Brock Boeser (hand), Travis Dermott (concussion), Tucker Poolman (migraines)

Both are interesting pieces of news. Podz has struggled to create offence and play a 200 foot game. I think he needs to get back to basics of using his body to create space and get to the shooting spots. Having Dermott return soon may mark the end of Rathbone with the big club for the moment, but don’t worry....the injury fairies are always active.

A win tonight would be a nice boost before a tough eastern road trip. Vancouver can easily win if they just don’t take any penalties.

Don’t forget...this is the gamethread as well. Jimmi uses all the best comments for his recap so he doesn’t have to write.

Go Canucks!