Thursday October 19 - Vancouver Canucks at Boston Bruins - 4 p.m. - Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 5 GP, 2-2-1, 5 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
Boston Bruins: 5 GP, 2-3-0, 4 pts, sixth in Atlantic Division
I asked in yesterday's pool who you expected to see in net for the Vancouver Canucks today in Boston after Anders Nilsson shut out the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Nilsson got 82 percent of the votes—and that's exactly what's coming to pass.
In his TV interview after Tuesday's shutout, Nilsson admitted that he'd been a bit nervous going into the game, but said that was normal for him. He's doing his best to keep a level head today.
According to
Jason Botchford in
The Province today, we can probably get used to the idea of Travis Green sticking with his lineups when he's happy with his team.
“I lean toward coming back with the same lineup, if we play well, win or lose,” Green said. “If your team plays well, and I like how the game went, then we’ll keep the lineup the same.”
We've heard a lot already this season about Green's tough-love approach. He has often been quite frank with his player assessments, so this looks like the other side of the coin—positive reinforcement for positive actions. Show support when things are going well, which they certainly did on Tuesday against an Ottawa team that was handed its first regulation loss of the season by the Canucks.
Botchford also collected some thoughts from Green on Alexander Burmistrov, who was a healthy scratch against Winnipeg last week.
“I don’t know if it’s sitting out but he’s looked good in both games he’s played since, for sure,” Green said. “Sometimes it takes guys time. I’ve talked to Burmi a couple times about finding a way to stay in the league. Be effective. In the past, he’s been player whose done a lot and been worried about points. I’ve told him, the points will be a byproduct of playing good hockey, Being able to play any role. Kill penalties. I’ve had him out, at home, playing against top lines. When you worry about just playing well, good things come.”
And here's some clarification on the team's decision to call up Michael Chaput from Utica earlier this week.
If you missed it, Loui Eriksson has now been confirmed to be shelved for 4-6 weeks with a knee sprain. It'll be interesting to see if Chaput stays with the team for awhile. Perhaps he'll be sent down when Brendan Gaunce is activated. He's projected to be ready to return to action in November after his offseason shoulder surgery but he is on this road trip and has been skating with the team in practice for the last week or so.
Gaunce was skating with Chaput as an extra forward at Thursday's fully-attended morning skate.
As for the Bruins, injuries have been a big theme this year. Top forwards Patrice Bergeron and David Backes both started the season on injured reserve, Ryan Spooner and Adam McQuaid were injured in the team's last game in Vegas on Sunday and Tuukka Rask had to be helped off the ice at practice on Wednesday after Anders Bjork accidentally collided with him.
Spooner's out for 4-6 weeks with a groin tear and the update on Rask is that he won't play tonight. Backes will play his first game of the season and McQuaid is in.
The Bruins have been off since playing back-to-back games out west last weekend, dispatching Arizona 6-2 on Saturday before falling 3-1 to Vegas on Sunday.
With so many moving parts in play, here's the best guess for tonight's Boston lines from
Adam Denhard at Bruins blog Stanley Cup of Chowder:
Forwards
Brad Marchand - Riley Nash - Anders Bjork
Jake DeBrusk - David Krejci - David Pastrnak
Kenny Agostino - David Backes - Frank Vatrano
Tim Schaller - Sean Kuraly - Matt Beleskey
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara - Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug - Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller - Charlie McAvoy
Goalies
Anton Khudobin
Zane McIntyre
Not a lot of holdover hate from 2011, is there? Just Marchand, Krejci and Chara.
The only Canucks from that Stanley Cup run who will play tonight are the Sedins and Chris Tanev. Alex Elder was also part of that group, but he's on the injured list for Vancouver.
This will be our first chance to get a look at defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who's being touted as a potential Calder Trophy candidate. So far, he's leading the Bruins' defense with four points in five games. Three other rookies will also likely be in the lineup—forwards Jake DeBrusk, Sean Kuraly and the aforementioned Anders Bjork.
Puck drop's at 4 p.m. and today's game can be found on Sportsnet 360. Enjoy!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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