Vancouver Canucks at Edmonton Oilers - Friday October 17 - 6:30 p.m. - Sportsnet Vancouver, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks 2-0-0 fifth in Pacific Division
Edmonton Oilers 0-3-1 seventh in Pacific Division
At last, we're back in action tonight!
The Vancouver Canucks have travelled to Edmonton to take on the Oilers in what will be the first regional broadcast of the season.
We'll be able to catch Shorty, John Garrett and Murph over on Sportsnet Vancouver—channel 302 on Shaw in Vancouver.
Bo Horvat did not travel with the team, so we won't be seeing in him action tonight. The Canucks lines should be basically the same as last week's game against the Oilers:
Sedin - Sedin - Vrbata
Higgins - Bonino - Burrows
Richardson - Vey - Kassian
Dorsett - Matthias - Hansen
I guessed wrong on the goalie front. Looks like it'll be Ryan Miller again tonight:
Willie Desjardins did hint that he'd play both his goalies this weekend, so that could mean that Eddie Lack will play tomorrow night against Tampa Bay.
As for the Oilers, here's their lineup from their website:
Hall - Arcobello - Eberle
Purcell - RNH - Yakupov
Pouliot - Draisaitl -Perron
Hendricks -Gordon -Joensuu
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is back in the lineup, ready to take on his archrival Dan Hamhuis!
On defense, Darnell Nurse has now been returned to his junior team the Soo Greyhounds, and Martin Marincin has been recalled from Oklahoma City. That means the pairings look like this:
Ference - Petry
Nikitin - Schultz
Marincin - Fayne
Edmonton's defense has been on a steady decline through the early part of the season. The Oilers allowed five goals in their first two games, followed by six against Los Angeles and seven against Phoenix. Part of me will be disappointed if the Canucks can't score eight tonight!
Ben Scrivens will get the call in net, since Viktor Fasth is on the shelf with a groin injury.
I've had a soft spot for the Oilers for years. I hated them during the Gretzky era, when they would beat the Canucks so easily and embarrassingly, but I think a few friends who are transplants from Edmonton started to change my mind.
From them, I came to respect the passion of the fanbase in the "City of Champions," best exemplified when one friend went back to Edmonton to take her dad to the Father's Day weekend game during the 2006 Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
In her words, Rexall Place was so loud when the Oilers skated onto the ice that "our beer was vibrating."
The Oilers won that game 4-0 before going back to Raleigh and losing Game 7 by a score of 3-1. They haven't made a playoff appearance since.
So—I do hope Edmonton can turn things around and make a run back to respectability this season. I just hope that doesn't start tonight against the Canucks.
Sellout Streak Over
The Canucks announced today that the team's sellout streak of 474 games will end with Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
I'm glad to see them make this move. Empty seats have become more and more prevalent in the years since the 2011 Stanley Cup run, and I think it's a nice move towards transparency.
It'll be interesting to hear what kind of attendance numbers are announced going forward.
Click here to read Victor DeBonis' letter on the subject to the season ticket holders, courtesy of the
Vancouver Sun.
Enjoy the game and cross your fingers for another two points! I'll be back tomorrow to tee up the matchup against the Lightning.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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