I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but I think it's relevant to add to the context surrounding last night the fact that Vancouver has 3 incidents in the last week where a player received 17 minutes in penalties for dropping the gloves and throwing punches at an unwilling combatant:
Sestito against LA (2:33 into a game and on his first shift), and
Sestito and Hansen against Anaheim. This is a team admittedly on a mission to prove their toughness.
With that in mind, is it so unreasonable that Hartley would start a line with toughness?
The Canucks have lost all right all right to claim the moral high ground as a team that just wants to play nice, skilled hockey.