By Andrew Chernoff

December 3, 2016

Game Time: 4:00 PM PST
Location: Rogers Arena
TV: CBC
Radio: TSN 1040

Vancouver (10-12-2=22 pts) play the final game of a three game homestand tonight at Rogers Arena against Eastern conference rivals, Toronto Maple Leafs (10-9-4=24 pts).

Vancouver is 1-1-0 in the previous two home games; 6-4-1 in their last 11 games and 3-2-0 in their last 5.

The Canucks play the Maple Leafs in the second and last of two meetings this season; the Canucks visited Toronto on Nov 5, and the Maple Leafs defeated the Canucks 6-3, handing the Canucks their fourth straight regulation road loss (0-4-1); extending their losing streak, at the time, to 8 games (0-7-1).

Nazim Kadri Hit On Daniel Sedin

The game was especially eventful for a hit on Daniel Sedin, who was blindsided by Nazim Kadri.

After taking the shot, Daniel Sedin was rocked by a hit from Nazim Kadri, who was assessed a five minute charging penalty, a game misconduct and five for fighting. Jannik Hansen came to Sedin’s defense, fighting Kadri, and was given a game misconduct, five minutes for fighting and an instigator penalty.

Jannik Hansen has been out of the lineup since that game, with a broken rib, which he fought Kadri with at the time.

Sedin has continued to stay in the lineup since the controversial hit.

The NHL weighed in on the Nazim Kadri hit on Daniel Sedin, and decided it did not warrant further penalty and no further action would be taken against Kadri, because, “If the head is not the main point of contact, it doesn’t matter if it’s North, South, East or West.”, according to Damian Echevarrieta, Group Vice President of NHL Player Safety and Hockey Operations.

The game tonight could have some repercussions and possible payback tonight, if emotions are still raw, on the part of the Canucks.

After tonight, the Canucks embark on a 5-game road trip, playing Eastern conference squads: New Jersey, Dec 6; Tampa Bay, Dec 8; Florida, Dec 10; Washington, Dec 11; and, Carolina, Dec 13; before returning to Vancouver for 6 of 8 remaining games in December at Rogers Arena.

Vancouver is 5-3-1 in their last 9 games and (3-1-1 in their last 5).

In the Canucks last game, the Anaheim Ducks defeated Vancouver 3-1, their second win against the Canucks this season. Henrik Sedin, had the lone score for Vancouver, with his 6th goal; Loui Eriksson, got the lone assist, his 5th of the season. Ryan Miller stopped 21 of 24 shots.

Canucks In Brief:

Canucks, continue to be in 6th place in the Pacific division; 6 points behind the 2nd and 3rd place Ducks and Oilers; 3 points in front of Arizona.

Record By Five Game Segment

GAME SEGMENT                        1-5       6-10     11-15     16-20   21-24
W-L-OTL                                      4-0-1     0-5-0     1-4-0      3-1-1      2-2-0
GOALS FOR/GAME                     2.6        0.8         2.2          3.4          2.5
GOALS AGAINST/GAME           2.0        3.4         3.4          3.6          2.8
PP%                                                 13.0       0.0         7.7         23.1        27.3
PK%                                                86.7       77.8      95.0        75.0        100

Vancouver’s goaltender tandem of Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom are 25th in the NHL, with a 2.95 GAA and a .898 SV%:

• Jacob Markstrom is 6-3-2, with a 2.73 GAA (22nd), and a .902 Sv% (t-29th)*  * At least 12 GP
• Ryan Miller is 4-9-0, with a 2.80 GAA (23rd), and a .907 Sv% (23rd)*

Leading scorers:

• Bo Horvat (8-7=15 pts)
• Henrik Sedin (6-9=15 pts)
• Daniel Sedin (6-8=14 pts)
• Brandon Sutter (6-7=13 pts)
• Loui Eriksson (6-5=11 pts)
• Sven Baertschi (3-7=10 pts)

Scratches: #55-Alex Biega; #62-LaBate

Canucks injured:

• Anton Rodin; 24 games missed
• Chris Tanev; 14 games
• Jannik Hansen; 12 games
• Derek Dorsett; 6 games
• Alex Edler; 2 games

Total Man Games Lost: 100

Points streaks:

• LOUI ERIKSSON (2-1-3 / 3 Games)
• HENRIK SEDIN (1-2-3 / 2 Games)

Vancouver special teams are:

• 10 for 70: 14.3 percent on the power play overall (t-24th in the NHL), with 92 shots for, 21 shots against, 1 shorthanded goal against
• 9 for 64: 85.9 percent on the penalty kill overall (4th best in NHL), with 70 shots against, 16 shots for, 2 shorthanded goals for

Canucks have allowed 72 goals against (25th in NHL), and have scored 53 goals (27th in NHL).

Canucks Notables: 

• Through 24 games, Bo Horvat currently leads the team in goals (8) and points (16), and had a five-game point streak: 3-4-7 from Nov. 19-29. Through the first 23 games of 2015.16, Horvat had eight points (2-6-8). He has registered 46 points in 68 games during the calendar year.
• Nikita Tryamkin ranks t-13th (min 14 GP) in the NHL in hits per game (3.2).
• Troy Stecher:
  • ranks 4th in rookie TOI/game with 20:58
  • ranks 3rd among all defensemen in Shots/60 (All Situations) at 8.77
  • ranks 6th among all defensemen in Shots/60 (5-on-5) at 7.12
  • ranks 136th overall in Shots/60 (5-on-5) at 7.12
  • ranks 72nd overall in Shots/60 (All Situations) at 8.77
  • ranks 1st among rookie defensemen, 2nd among all rookies, in Shots/G average at 3.1; tied for 25th overall in NHL
• Brandon Sutter is 19th in the NHL with 219 faceoff wins; Bo Horvat is t-26th with 203 faceoff wins.
• After going goalless through his first 13 games, Loui Eriksson has 6 goals in the last 11 games (4 goals in the last 6 games).
• Michael Chaput leads the team with a 53.6 faceoff win percentage (min. 50 faceoffs). Among players aged 24 years or younger in the NHL, Chaput also ranks fourth in faceoff win percentage (min. 50 faceoffs).
• The Canucks penalty kill ranks 4th at 85.9%. The Canucks have killed off 13 consecutive opposing power plays over the past 6 games.
• The Canucks rank 8th with 755 total faceoff wins and rank 6th with 617 even-strength faceoff wins. Vancouver ranks t-9th in faceoff win percentage at 50.8%; in 2015.16, the Canucks’ 45.4% faceoff win percentage ranked 30th.
• The Canucks are t-10th for the fewest shots allowed per game at 29.5.
• The Canucks have tallied at least 1 power-play goal in 5 of the last 9 games. During this stretch, the Canucks power-play has gone 6/24 (25.0%).

Maple Leafs In Brief:

Toronto have 24 points and are in 7th place in the Atlantic division, 6 points behind 2nd place Ottawa; 3 points behind 3rd place Boston; 1 point ahead Buffalo.

In their last game, the Calgary Flames defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday, Nov 30.

Jhonas Enroth made 26 saves for the Maple Leafs, who lost for the first time in three games and have split the first two games of a three-game Western Canada road trip after winning 4-2 against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

Maple Leafs have the 28th best goaltending in the NHL, with Frederik Andersen, and Jhonas Enroth, with a 3.10 GAA, and .905 SV%.

Andersen is 10-6-3, with a 2.92 GAA, and a .912 SV%. Enroth is 0-3-1, with a 3.94 GAA, and a .872 SV%.

Toronto leading scorers:  *Rookie

• James van Riemsdyk (10-9=19 pts)
• * Mitchell Marner (7-12=19 pts)
• * Auston Matthews (10-8=18 pts)
• Nazem Kadri (10-7=17 pts)

Maple Leafs injured: 

• Josh Leivo 14 games

Total Man Games Lost: 23

Points streaks: none

Toronto special teams are:

• 13 for 68: 19.1 percent on the power play overall (12th in the NHL)
• 11 for 73: 84.9 percent on the penalty kill overall (8th in the NHL)

Maple Leafs have surrendered 72 goals (t-25th in NHL), and have scored 70 goals (t-6th in NHL).

Maple Leafs Notables:

• Toronto has a record of 4-3-2 against the Western Conference and a record of 3-2-0 against the Pacific Division this season.
• All-time
  • Tonight’s game marks the 142nd matchup between the Maple Leafs and Canucks.
  • The first game between the clubs took place on October 11, 1970 with the Canucks edging the Maple Leafs by a 5-3 score in Vancouver.
  • The Maple Leafs have an all-time record of 57-61-22-1 in 141 games against the Canucks and a record of 25-36-11-0 in games
    played in Vancouver.
  • The last Toronto win over Vancouver on the road took place on Feb. 13, 2016 (Toronto 5, Vancouver 2).
  • In the last 5 games between the two clubs, the Maple Leafs have a record of 4-1-0.
  • In the last 10 games between the two clubs, the Maple Leafs have a record of 5-5-0.
• The Maple Leafs had six rookies suit up for their season opener against Ottawa: Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Nikita Zaitsev. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Leafs had six rookies in its opening-night lineup was 1981-82: Jim Benning, Fred Boimistruck, Stewart Gavin, Bob McGill, Vince Tremblay and Gary Yaremchuk
• Toronto rookies have combined for 81 points (30 goals, 51 assists) in 23 games this season.

VS TORONTO NOTES:

• The Canucks are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games versus the Leafs dating back to the 2010.11 season
• Daniel Sedin leads the Canucks with 25 points (12-13-25) in 26 career games against Toronto
• Henrik Sedin has 23 points (5-18-23) in 26 career games against Toronto
• Henrik Sedin’s first career goal came against the Leafs on Oct. 16/00; he now has 228 career goals which is 7th most in franchise history
• Alex Burrows’ first career assist and goal came against Toronto on Jan. 10/06; his career-high for most points in a game also occurred in a game versus the Leafs on Jan. 30/10 (2-2-4)
• Ryan Miller has faced the Leafs on 54 occasions, his most against a single opponent; in those games, he has a record of 32-19-3 with a 2.64 GAA and .917 save percentage

Pregame Stats

Regular Season Game 25, Home Game 14

Records:
Tor: 10-9-4 (Road: 2-6-4)
Van: 10-12-2 (Home: 7-5-1)

Team    SF    SA     PP        PK     PIM    HITS   GF   GA
Tor          742  758  13-68    11-73     262       584       70     72
Van         710  707  10-70      9-64    252       468       53      72

Team        CF               CA           SCF          SCA       CF60%   CA60%   CF%
Tor     1385(1103)  1417(1110)    518(411)   481(368)     60.3          60.7        49.8
Van    1260(998)   1236(1005)  494(375)   513(417)      53.1           53.5        49.8

Note: 5v5 stats in parenthesis for CF & CA, SCF & SCA ,                                                                CF60%, CA60% & CF% are 5v5
SCF=scoring chances for; SCA=scoring chances against.

Potential Canucks Lineup:

#22D. Sedin-#33H.Sedin-#20Sutter
#60Granlund-#45Chaput-#21Ericksson
#47Baertschi-#53Horvat-#14Burrows
#9Skille-#50Gaunce-#46Megna

#5Sbisa-#51Stecher
#27Hutton-#44Gudbranson
#88Tryamkin-#63Larsen

#30Miller
#25Markstrom

They Said It….

.@aburr14 says it will be important to feed off the emotion at @RogersArena Saturday when #Canucks host @MapleLeafs pic.twitter.com/XUNk35LjWS

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 2, 2016

.@Guddy44 knows the most important thing to focus on Saturday is the two points up for grabs against @MapleLeafs. pic.twitter.com/pZ5LWT2tzb

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 2, 2016