Game Day Preview #60: Feb 27, 2023- Canucks @ Dallas

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (23-31-5) vs DALLAS STARS (31-16-12)

5:30 PM PST

AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER, DALLAS, TX

TV: SN PACIFIC, SN ONE. RADIO: SN650

It has such a Canucks kind of month, hasn’t it? Drama, trades, a bucket load of injuries, humbling losses, idiotic managerial moves, February truly encapsulated everything that the Vancouver Canucks are. And naturally, a win will move them to a 4-4-4 record for the month, which is just so on the nose. It was hardly a difficult schedule compared to other months, but their only wins came against sub par teams (Philadelphia, Nashville and the New York Islanders).

They sit just seven points up on the last place Columbus Blue Jackets, in a year we were told was going to be different. The only way this could actually be true, would be if the Canucks were to lose enough games to get into the bottom 3 and have a genuine shot at getting that coveted first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Anything less is just more of the same pap the Aquilini family has been trying to pass off as caviar for more than a decade now.

And while it is in no way any type of excuse for their performance this season, the injuries that have plagued this team are just unreal. The latest additions to the Canucks injured reserve list are Ethan Bear, who took a puck square in the face during his first shift against Boston Saturday afternoon, and... JT Miller. Naturally.

Bear & Miller join Curtis Lazar, Tucker Poolman, Ilya Mikheyev, Travis Dermott, Tanner Pearson, Micheal Ferland, and Thatcher Demko on IR as well as Oliver Ekman-Larsson who is still out with an ankle sprain. Demko is likely to be activated today though. They’ll also again be without Luke Schenn, sitting out to keep him from joining this list before they can trade him ahead of Friday afternoon’s trade deadline.

Anyway, tonight, we’ll also get the debut of the newest Canuck, as Vitali Kravtsov will be in the lineup as they take on the Stars. He’ll wear number 91, last worn by Juho Lammikko, and I am sure that the reaction you have to that is the same as mine: “Oh yeah, I forgot about him...”

They’re taking on a Dallas team that is locked in a battle with Vegas for first overall in the West, and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs pending who they meet in the finals should they get that far. They’re a bit of a surprise, fueled by a couple youngsters in Jason Robertson and G Jake Oettenger, as well as some strong play from Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com, this is what the Canucks think can compete against Dallas tonight, apparently...

Canucks projected lineup

Andrei Kuzmenko — Elias Pettersson — Anthony Beauvillier

Conor Garland — Sheldon Dries — Brock Boeser

Vasily Podkolzin — Aatu Raty — Vitali Kravtsov

Dakota Joshua — Nils Aman — Jack Studnicka

Quinn Hughes — Tyler Myers

Christian Wolanin — Kyle Burroughs

Riley Stillman — Noah Juulsen

Collin Delia

Arturs Silovs

Scratched: Luke Schenn, Guillaume Brisebois

Injured: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ankle), Curtis Lazar (lower body), Thatcher Demko (groin), Travis Dermott (undisclosed), Ilya Mikheyev (torn ACL), Tanner Pearson (hand), Tucker Poolman (undisclosed), Ethan Bear (upper body), J.T. Miller (lower body)

Stars projected lineup

Jason Robertson — Roope Hintz — Joe Pavelski

Jamie Benn — Wyatt Johnston — Ty Dellandrea

Mason Marchment — Tyler Seguin — Evgenii Dadonov

Fredrik Olofsson — Radek Faksa — Fredrik Karlstrom

Miro Heiskanen — Colin Miller

Esa Lindell — Jani Hakanpaa

Ryan Suter — Nils Lundkvist

Jake Oettinger

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Joel Hanley

Injured: Joel Kiviranta (lower body), Luke Glendening (upper body)

So... let’s go over this. Demko is slated to be a game time decision, and even if he is cleared, it’s hard to say if he starts, but you would think that if he gets the all clear, they want to get him back into game action as soon as possible. Kravtsov will play on the 3rd line with Raty and Podkolzin. He and Podz were teammates on the Russian world juniors squad a couple years ago. Juulsen will play, though I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Brisebois over Stillman, given their familiarity with each other from Abbotsford.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

The perfect album cover doesn’t exis...

Enjoy the game, folks. Go Canucks Go.