Well, this is just weird.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (20-27-4) vs NEW YORK ISLANDERS (27-22-5)

4:30 PM PST

UBS ARENA, ELMONT, NY

TV: SPORTSNET PACIFIC RADIO: SN650

Fresh off another ‘close, but not close enough’ loss, the Canucks head into what is hands-down the most emotionally difficult game they’ll play all season as they take on the New York Islanders this afternoon. I would have preferred to kicked this particular can down the road, at least from a fandom perspective. The trade, and the pain associated with it are still very fresh, and it’s going to be difficult to watch.

Last night, the Canucks gave the Rangers a game, but came out on the short end of a 4-3 decision. For those hoping that they can somehow win this summer’s draft lottery, this was the ideal game, really. Competitive, entertaining, no one got hurt (though that was a scare when Quinn Hughes left after taking a puck to the face), and it didn’t go to overtime. You can’t ask for much more, and with the Rangers getting a couple of their goals on lucky bounces, the chance was there to steal a win.

I was happy to see Vasily Podkolzin get his first of the season. It’s been a difficult year for the Russian kid, but he’s definitely looked like the time down in Abbotsford has done him some good, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he stays up the rest of the way. The response by the Canucks on the Rangers fourth goal was also very encouraging, and we got the added bonus of Furious Gerard Gallant, who is a delight to watch when he’s pissed off, especially when anger over what the Rangers felt was a blown icing call was misguided. Elias Pettersson was clearly ahead at the hashmarks, and that goal is on Igor Shesterkin for letting up on the play. Even if he thought it was icing, that’s something you can’t do, and he’s fortunate the Canucks weren’t able to get another past him.

Anyway, tonight they take on Bo and the Islanders, and when you look at just how they’d been struggling to score, the trade for Horvat makes a ton of sense.

They’re locked in a battle with Pittsburgh right now for that final wild card slot in the Eastern Conference, and would very much like to help their new center defeat his former team in the process.

LINEUPS

Courtesy of nhl.com, this is what to expect tonight:

Canucks projected lineup

Andrei Kuzmenko — Elias Pettersson — Anthony Beauvillier

Vasily Podkolzin — J.T. Miller — Conor Garland

Dakota Joshua — Sheldon Dries — Brock Boeser

Phillip Di Giuseppe — Nils Aman — Curtis Lazar

Quinn Hughes — Ethan Bear

Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Luke Schenn

Riley Stillman — Tyler Myers

Collin Delia

Spencer Martin

Scratched: Kyle Burroughs, Travis Dermott, Jack Studnicka

Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body injury), Ilya Mikheyev (torn ACL), Tanner Pearson (hand surgery), Tucker Poolman (undisclosed)

Islanders projected lineup

Josh Bailey — Bo Horvat — Mathew Barzal

Anders Lee — Brock Nelson — Kyle Palmieri

Zach Parise — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Simon Holmstrom

Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Hudson Fasching

Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock

Alexander Romanov — Scott Mayfield

Samuel Bolduc — Noah Dobson

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov

Scratched: Sebastian Aho, Ross Johnston, Parker Wotherspoon

Injured: Cal Clutterbuck (upper body), Oliver Wahlstrom (lower body)

Well, at least they finally got the message about Pederson. Yeesh. Anyway, apart from Collin Delia getting the start, it doesn’t look like there’s any changes coming. I would suggest keeping an eye on Luke Schenn, though. He got a little banged up in the third period last night, and went to the room for a bit.

GAME DAY CHATTER

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

NY Thrash legends OVERKILL are back with a new album that hits stores April 14th. From ‘Scorched’, check out ‘The Surgeon’. Bobby Blitz and the boys sound as vicious as ever on this one, definitely looking forward to hearing more!

Enjoy the game, everyone. Thanks, Bo. Go Canucks Go.