Canucks Gameday Preview: First meeting against the Maple Leafs

After suffering two demoralizing losses against Montreal, the Vancouver Canucks are right back at it tonight against the Maple Leafs. This will be the team’s third game in four nights, so fatigue could play a factor, which makes it all the more difficult for the Canucks considering Toronto is currently second in the division.

Moreover, the Leafs haven’t played since Saturday, so they’re very well-rested. On the flip side, they might be a bit rusty as well, so Vancouver will need to take advantage if they hope to come away with two points tonight.

Let’s take a look at the lineups each team could roll out.

Vancouver’s lineup

Following their first loss in Montreal on Monday, Travis Green elected to shuffle his lines, resulting in combos we’ve rarely seen before.

Up front, the only change that could happen would be to swap Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson to reunite the Lotto Line. Although they’ve struggled for most of the season, it’s only a matter of time before they click, as they’re too good to stay down for long.

I doubt that Jake Virtanen gets re-inserted into the lineup given his lacklustre play. In the event that he does, however, Adam Gaudette will likely be the odd man out.

The defence is where things get interesting. Quinn Hughes and Jordie Benn will stay intact but it’s possible that Alex Edler gets reunited with Tyler Myers, which means that Nate Schmidt will be paired alongside Jalen Chatfield.

In net, it’ll be fascinating to see whether or not the team elects to stick with Thatcher Demko. The Canucks have alternated between their two goalies for most of the year, but Demko has clearly outplayed Braden Holtby over the last two weeks, so it’s possible he gets his second consecutive start in net.

Toronto’s lineup

After their game against the Oiler’s, Toronto has done some shuffling of their forward lines. This is how they looked in their last match against Edmonton:

However, it seems like the top line will be the only one staying intact, according to Terry Koshan.

The defensive pairings will likely stay the same and expect Frederick Andersen to get the nod in goal after having almost a week in between games.

Players to watch

Nate Schmidt: After being acquired by the Canucks in the offseason, Schmidt was supposed to be the clear number two blueliner that the team has lacked for years. So far, Schmidt has performed adequately, but not as well as most fans have hoped. Let’s see if he could start to find his groove tonight.

John Tavares: Following what many considered to be a “down” season, Tavares has had a good start to this year with 10 points in as many games. Most teams focus on trying to shut down Auston Matthews, but Tavares is arguably the best second-line centre in the league, so the Canucks will need to figure out how to allocate their attention on both players.

Puck drops at 4 PM Pacific Time this afternoon. Let’s hope Vancouver can regain its footing after two miserable nights in Montreal. Leave us your predictions in the comments below!