by Canucks Communications @Canucks / Vancouver Canucks

CANUCKS VS KINGS PREVIEW

TV: Sportsnet Pacific

Radio: SN650

MATCH-UP INFO

• Tonight marks the first of three meetings between the Canucks and Kings this season: Dec. 6 (home), Dec. 30 (road), Apr. 28 (home).
• Vancouver is 7-2-1 in their last 10 games vs Los Angeles (5-0-0 in their last 5).
• The Canucks have a 114-101-32-10 all-time record in 257 games against the Kings. Vancouver holds a 67-38-16-6 record at home against LosAngeles.
• Among active Canucks skaters, Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads the team in scoring vs Los Angeles with 24 points (9-15-24) in 53 games.
• Elias Pettersson (5-7-12 in 7 GP), Brock Boeser (7-4-11 in 10 GP), J.T. Miller (4-9-13 in 13 GP), and Quinn Hughes (1-5-6 in 4 GP) have eachrecorded at least one point per game in their career vs the Kings.
• Thatcher Demko has faced the Kings once in his career (1-0-0) and has a .949 SV% and 1.85 GAA.
• Jaroslav Halak has faced the Kings 18 times in his career (6-10-2), owning a .912 SV% and a 2.47 GAA.

QUICK NUMBERS

• Nils Höglander has six points (4-2-6) in his last 12 games.
• J.T. Miller has 11 points (5-6-11) in his last 14 games.
• Quinn Hughes has 13 points (0-13-13) in his last 14 games.
• Conor Garland has six points (4-2-6) in his last nine games.
• Thatcher Demko has posted a .927 SV% and 2.33 GAA in his last seven games (3-4-0).

LAST MEETING – DEC. 28/19: VAN 3 vs LAK 2

Jake Virtanen (unassisted) and Tyler Motte each scored first period goals…Elias Pettersson and Alex Edler collected the assists on Tyler Motte’s goal…Elias Pettersson scored his team-leading 18th goal and 5th GWG of the season at 7:05 in the third period, assisted by J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser…Troy Stecher led all Canucks in hits (4)…Alex Edler registered a team-high in blocked shots (7)…Jacob Markstrom made a career-high 49 saves.

LAST GAME PLAYED – DEC. 4/21: VAN 1 at PIT 4

Vasily Podkolzin tied the game with his fifth goal of the season at 6:18 in the second period…Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brock Boeser recorded the assists…Quinn Hughes led the Canucks in shots (4)…Tyler Myers logged a team-high in TOI (26:04) and blocked shots (5)…Elias Pettersson won 10 of 14 face-offs…Thatcher Demko faced 44 shots.

LAST 5 vs LOS ANGELES

• Dec. 28, 2019: VAN 3 vs LAK 2
• Oct. 30, 2019: VAN 5 at LAK 3
• Oct. 9, 2019: VAN 8 vs LAK 2
• Mar. 28, 2019: VAN 3 vs LAK 2 (SO)
• Feb. 14, 2019: VAN 4 at LAK 3 (SO)

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

• Travis Hamonic loaned to Abbotsford, Dec. 3
• Travis Hamonic recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 3
• Luke Schenn activated from injured reserve, Nov. 24

BEHIND THE BENCH

Bruce Boudreau was named the 20th Head Coach in Vancouver Canucks history on December 5 and will make his Canucks coaching debut this evening when the Canucks host the Kings. Boudreau has a career coaching record of 567-302-115 (.635) in 984 regular season games with Washington, Anaheim, and Minnesota.
Scott Walker, a former Canuck, has also joined the team as Assistant coach from the OHL’s Guelph Storm where he was President of Hockey Operations. Walker was previously Head Coach of the storm for five seasons (2010.11 to 2014.15), where he guided the team to an OHL Championship in 2013.14.

ON A ROLL

The Canucks have won five consecutive games against the Kings, marking their longest active win streak against a single opponent in the NHL. They have also earned at least a point in seven straight contests vs Los Angeles (5-0-2), which is their longest active point streak against a single opponent.

RETURN OF THE KING

Alex Edler makes his return to Rogers Arena on Monday as a member of the LA Kings, after spending his first 15 NHL seasons with the Canucks. Edler remains Vancouver’s franchise leader among defencemen in games (925), goals (99), assists (310), points (409), even strength points (230), and power play points (177).

MULTI-POINT MILLER

Recording three points (1-2-3) during a 6-2 win on Dec. 1 at OTT, J.T. Miller registered his team-leading 10th three-point effort since 2019.20, in which the Canucks are 8-1-1. It was also Miller’s fifth multi-point game this season, in which Vancouver has a perfect 5-0-0 record.

QUINN’S CAREER NIGHT

Quinn Hughes collected a career-high in points (4) and assists (4) on Dec. 1 at OTT, becoming just the fifth defenceman in franchise history to record four assists in a game, and the first since Jeff Brown (0-5-5) on Feb. 20/95. Hughes now ranks t-6th all time among NHL defencemen for most games (8) with three or more assists before the age of 23.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

The Canucks play their second of 10 home games in December on Monday when they host the Kings, matching a franchise record for most home games played in the month of December (2017, 2019).

ONE HUNDRED HELPERS

Assisting on Elias Pettersson’s power play goal on Nov. 29 at MTL, Quinn Hughes recorded his 100th career assist in his 151st career game, tying Brian Leetch for sixth-fewest games required by a defenceman to reach the milestone in NHL history. He also became the second-fastest Canuck of any position to reach 100 assists, behind only Barry Pederson (147 GP).

AT FACE VALUE

Bo Horvat leads all NHL skaters in face-offs taken (611), face-off wins (348) and even strength face-off wins (263) so far this season. Among centremen with at least 300 face-offs taken, Horvat’s face-off percentage (57.0%) ranks seventh League-wide.

TOP TWENTY

Collecting an assist on Conor Garland’s game-winning goal on Nov. 29 at MTL, Bo Horvat passed Mattias Ohlund for 20th place on the franchise all-time points list with 325 points (145-180-325). Horvat also ranks inside the top 20 in Canucks history for goals (145; 15th), power play goals (44; 16th), shorthanded goals (7; t-9th) and game-winning goals (17; t-19th).