Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Blues vs Canucks GDT 10/18

October 18, 2016, 5:20 PM ET [37 Comments]
Jason Millen
St Louis Blues Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


The Blues schedule to start the season hasn’t exactly been friendly with three games in four nights, including one of their toughest Eastern Conference opponents and two divisional rivals. They follow that section of games with a western Canadian road trip that begins tonight at 9pm CST in Vancouver.

Like the Blues, the Canucks have started the season undefeated though their resume is less impressive. The Canucks victories were against the winless Calgary Flames and the winless Carolina Hurricanes. Both victories were both one goal victories with one coming in a shootout. Compare that to the Blues who have beaten three teams that are a combined 4-1 in games not against the Blues.

Last season the Blues were 3-0 against the Canucks, shutting them out twice though Brian Elliott earned both those shutouts. The Blues almost doubled up the Canucks’ shots, 119 to 68. As far as individual success, Brandon Sutter was the only Canuck who fared well against the Blues, getting a goal and two assists in one game. Paul Stastny led the way for the Blues with five assists in only three games. Injured Kyle Brodziak led the way in goals with two in three games. It is interesting to note that in each of the prior three years, one of these two teams was winless against the other. The Blues failed to win a game against the Canucks in 2013-14 and 2014-15 while the Canucks were winless last year.

Markus Granlund and Brandon Sutter are tied for the team lead in points, each with one goal and one assist. Jacob Markstrom and Ryan Miller both have one victory though Markstrom’s save percentage is only 86%. The Canucks will be without Miller for tonight’s game as he is out with an injury. Markstrom will get the start. The rest of the lineup might look like this:
Sedin – Sedin – Eriksson
Hansen – Sutter – Granlund
Baertschi – Horvat – Skille
Burrows – Gaunce – Dorsett
Edler – Larsen
Sbisa – Tanev
Hutton – Gudbranson

For the Blues, Jori Lehtera, Carl Gunnarsson and Kyle Brodziak are out. Jaden Schwartz is still out but look for him to come of injured reserved later in the week. Given all of the injuries, expect the line blender but they should start out something like this:
Fabbri – Stastny – Rattie
Perron – Steen- Tarasenko
Paajarvi-Berglund-Yakupov
Upshall-Jaskin-Reaves
Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo
Shattenkirk – B ortuzzo
Edmundson-Parayko
Allen

Other notes for the game:
- The Canucks have yet to register a power play goal
- The Canucks PK success has only been 75%, in the bottom 3rd of the NHL.
- The Blues PP and PK are both 9th in the NHL
- Both the Blues and Canucks are in the top 5 in shots against per game (4th and 2nd, respectively)
- The Blues and Canucks are tied for 3rd in the NHL in goals against per game.

It’s a great day for hockey.

ETA - Fellow Hockeybuzz bloggers Nashville Predator's Paul McCann, Winnipeg Jet's Peter Tessier and Minnesota Wild's Dan Wallace have generously agreed to a friendly charity wager. We were hoping to do the whole division but don't have it fully represented yet. The blogger whose team finishes the highest the standings at the end of the year gets to pick a charity to whom the others donate in their name.
Join the Discussion: » 37 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Jason Millen
» There is no quit in these Blues
» Helter Skelter Game 3
» Blues play a stronger game two and keys to game three
» Blues play weak in Game One
» Often less is more at the trade deadline