Canucks game day: A visit from the stumbling Bruins and the return ...
The Bruins are in town. Can the Canucks shut them down like they did the Panthers on Thursday?
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Published Dec 14, 2024 • Last updated 10 hours ago • 2 minute read
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When: Saturday, 7 p.m., Rogers Arena
TV: Sportsnet. Radio: Sportsnet 650
The buzz: Remember Big Z? Heeeee’s BAAAAACK. Vancouver’s love affair with Nikita Zadarov was short but sweet. He’s big and brash, so you can understand why the Bruins wanted him. He’s been as advertised, but the season as a whole has not gone to plan for the Bruins. They’ve already changed coaches.
• The Canucks seem to be dealing with the flu. Kevin Lankinen and Derek Forbort both stayed home, Rick Tocchet said. The team said on Thursday that Vinny Desharnais had been under the weather as well, though he did take part in that day’s morning skate. Arturs Silovs has been recalled on an goaltender emergency basis and will back up Thatcher Demko tonight. Erik Brännström draws back in for Forbort and will play with Mark Friedman on the third defence pair.
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• Elias Lindholm missed Thursday’s game in Seattle for the Bruins but was back skating with his team Saturday morning so it looks like he may be back in for the game on Saturday night.
The history: The Canucks shut out the Bruins 2-0 in Boston last month, a remarkably strong defensive effort from Vancouver, on par with Thursday’s shut-down of the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
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The hope: The Canucks gave nothing away on Thursday to the Panthers and were killers off the rush. A repeat performance would look great.
The fear: The home-ice jitters return for Vancouver. Boston has given up 13 goals in the last two games, so surely they want to tighten things up. Maybe they will even come with a vengeance, with something to prove?
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The top guns: Jake DeBrusk has seven goals in six games. Quinn Hughes, despite wearing a full face shield, is still piling up the points — he has six in five games. The Bruins are struggling because they can’t score. They have just two players with double-digits in goals — David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand.
The wounded: Canucks: Filip Hronek (shoulder, six weeks). Bruins: Elias Lindholm (undisclosed, day-to-day), Hampus Lindholm (lower body, week-to-week).
The quote: “I’m certainly not taking anything away from him, but I’m not standing here going, ‘If it wasn’t for their goalie.’” — Panthers coach Paul Maurice, commending the Canucks’ defence for boxing out Florida’s attackers, making for a relatively care-free night for Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen.
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The latest: The Canucks didn’t practise on Friday, but they look to be setting up a goal rotation, so even though Lankinen got a shutout Thursday, it seems likely we will see Thatcher Demko on Saturday.
The lineup:
DeBrusk-Pettersson-Sherwood
Höglander-Miller-Boeser
Joshua-Suter-Garland
Heinen-Blueger-Sasson
Hughes-Myers
Soucy-Juulsen
Brännström-Friedman
Demko
The prediction: The Bruins are a mess. The Canucks were outstanding on Thursday. And you figure J.T. Miller will be even better now that he’s got a game under his belt. He was pretty good on Friday despite missing a month.
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