GAME DAY PREVIEW- GAME SIXTY-ONE: Canucks vs New Jersey- Mar 15, 2022

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (29-24-7) vs NEW JERSEY DEVILS (22-32-5)

ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC

7:00PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET PACIFIC. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: ALL ABOUT THE JERSEY

After another frustrating loss caused directly by a slow start, the Canucks have an opportunity to correct this, as well as address one of those strange runs as they host the New Jersey Devils tonight. While we’ve seen the Canucks handle some of the NHL’s best this season, the Devils are a team that the Canucks have been struggling against for a while now, as we saw a couple weeks ago. Fresh off beating the Rangers at MSG, the Canucks went into Jersey and got absolutely rolled by the Devils in an embarrassing 7-2 loss.

Sunday night the Canucks fell behind early to the Lightning, who survived a furious third period comeback (and got an assist from the officials on a horrible blown call, cancelling a Conor Garland goal that would have tied it) for a 2-1 win. The margin for error from the Canucks is extremely slim, so they cannot afford to lose any games in regulation in these remaining 22 games.

They also head into another game without Elias Pettersson. Last time, they had Sheldon Rempal up from Abbotsford and onto the fourth line, and with the news that Jason Dickinson is officially on the IR...

That’s great news for the Delta, BC native Petan, who grew up as a massive Canucks fan and after putting in the work down in Abby, where has put up 12-32-44 in 37 games, gets a chance to play for his hometown team for the first time tonight.

This, like every single game until such time as they either clinch or are eliminated, now becomes the MOST IMPORTANT GAME OF THE SEASON. Add in the fact that Quinn Hughes must win to restore his honour and rightful place as the best Hughes brother, and the stakes tonight are massive.

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com, this is what tonight’s disasterpiece should look like:

Devils projected lineup

Yegor Sharangovich — Jack Hughes — Jesper Bratt

Jimmy Vesey — Nico Hischier — Pavel Zacha

Andreas Johnsson — Jesper Boqvist — Dawson Mercer

Tomas Tatar — Michael McLeod — Nathan Bastian

Jonas Siegenthaler — Damon Severson

Ryan Graves — Dougie Hamilton

Ty Smith — P.K. Subban

Nico Daws

Jon Gillies

Scratched: Christian Jaros, Colton White, Mason Geertsen

Injured: Miles Wood (right hip), Tyce Thompson (shoulder), Mackenzie Blackwood (heel), Janne Kuokkanen (wrist)

Canucks projected lineup

Tanner Pearson — J.T. Miller — Conor Garland

Nils Hoglander — Bo Horvat — Brock Boeser

Tyler Motte — Juho Lammikko — Matthew Highmore

Vasily Podkolzin — Nic Petan — Alex Chiasson

Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Tyler Myers

Quinn Hughes — Luke Schenn

Brad Hunt — Travis Hamonic

Thatcher Demko

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: Noah Juulsen, Sheldon Rempal

Injured: Elias Pettersson (upper body), Jason Dickinson (lower body), Kyle Burroughs (upper body), Tucker Poolman (headaches)

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Going back to one of my favourite Canadian bands today. Pretty sure I’ve used this track before, but it’s a great track. Here’s ‘Get On With It’ by MONSTER VOODOO MACHINE.

Enjoy the game. Go Canucks Go! Slava Ukraini!