JT Miller and Spencer Martin are back and just in time as Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers are in town.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (18-19-4) vs EDMONTON OILERS (19-16-2)

ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC

7:00PM PST

TV: SPORTSNET. RADIO: SPORTSNET 650

OPPOSING BLOG: THE COPPER AND BLUE

So overall, that’s some good news (though it should be noted Pearson mentioned he was the only player who hadn’t contracted the virus through all the outbreaks of the past two years) getting JT Miller and Spencer Martin back in. And it looks like they’ll have Jaroslav Halak and Conor Garland for the next game against Winnipeg, and then get Bo Horvat back for Saturday’s tilt against the Calgary Flames.

The Canucks played well the last couple games, and probably deserved a better fate, especially in the St Louis game. They outplayed the Blues, who stole two points on some luck and a hot goaltender. Hopefully the Canucks can see that they’re doing a lot of things right, and the bounces will come their way.

Edmonton snapped their seven game losing streak with a big win over Calgary on the weekend, but this is still a very fragile team, mentally. A quick lead in this game could go a long way for Vancouver, who can move past the Oilers in the standings with a win tonight, as well the Winnipeg Jets, where the Canucks will start their four game road trip that also visits Chicago and Nashville.

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com , this is tonight’s probable disasterpiece lineup:

Oilers projected lineup

Ryan McLeod — Connor McDavid — Kailer Yamamoto

Warren Foegele — Leon Draisaitl — Jesse Puljujarvi

Brendan Perlini — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Zack Kassian

Devin Shore — Derek Ryan — Colton Sceviour

Darnell Nurse — Evan Bouchard

Duncan Keith — Cody Ceci

Kris Russell — Slater Koekkoek

Mikko Koskinen

Stuart Skinner

Scratched: Tyler Benson, Kyle Turris

Injured: Mike Smith (thumb), Tyson Barrie (upper body)

COVID-19 protocol: Zach Hyman

Canucks projected lineup

Elias Pettersson — J.T. Miller — Brock Boeser

Nils Hoglander — Jason Dickinson — Alex Chiasson

Tyler Motte — Juho Lammikko — Matthew Highmore

Vasily Podkolzin — Justin Dowling — Justin Bailey

Quinn Hughes — Tucker Poolman

Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Tyler Myers

Kyle Burroughs — Luke Schenn

Spencer Martin

Michael DiPietro

Scratched: Brad Hunt

Injured: Guillaume Brisebois (undisclosed), Travis Hamonic (lower body), Brady Keeper (leg), Brandon Sutter (illness)

COVID-19 protocol: Tanner Pearson, Thatcher Demko, Jaroslav Halak, Conor Garland, Bo Horvat

GAME DAY CHATTER

And if you’re wondering what’s up with the colour scheme, tonight the Canucks celebrate the Lunar New Year and will be donning these fantastic jerseys in the warmup tonight.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Some local stuff today, remembering the legendary 3 INCHES OF BLOOD. Check out this absolutely vicious cover of the EXODUS classic ‘Piranha’. Enjoy the game, folks! Go Canucks Go!