by Canucks Communications @Canucks / Vancouver Canucks
CANUCKS AT SHARKS PREVIEW
TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: SN650
MATCH-UP INFO
• Tonight marks the first of three meetings between the Canucks and Sharks this season: Dec. 16 (road), Dec. 21 (road), Apr. 9 (home).
• Vancouver is 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs San Jose (4-1-0 in their last 5).
• The Canucks have a 58-55-9-7 all-time record in 126 games against the Sharks. Vancouver holds a 31-29-5-2 record on the road against San Jose. • Among active Canucks skaters, Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads the team in scoring vs San Jose with 24 points (8-16-24) in 50 games.
• Thatcher Demko has faced the Sharks three times in his career (3-0-0) and has a .937 SV% and 1.67 GAA.
• Jaroslav Halak has faced the Sharks 15 times in his career (7-6-0), owning a .907 SV% and a 2.68 GAA.
QUICK NUMBERS
• Brock Boeser has six points (3-3-6) in his last six games.
• Bo Horvat has seven points (3-4-7) in his last eight games.
• J.T. Miller has 10 points (2-8-10) in his last eight games.
• Quinn Hughes has 11 points (0-11-11) in his last 10 games.
• Conor Garland has eight points (4-4-8) in his last nine games.
• Thatcher Demko has posted a .962 SV% and 1.20 GAA in his last four games (4-0-0).
LAST MEETING – JAN. 29/20: VAN 5 at SJS 2
Quinn Hughes got Vancouver on the board at 11:08 in the first period to tie the game…The Canucks tallied four goals in the third period (Myers, Virtanen, Sutter, Pearson)…J.T. Miller (0-2-2), Quinn Hughes (1-1-2), and Tanner Pearson all recorded two points…Bo Horvat won 18 face-offs (78.3%)…Tyler Myers blocked 4 shots…Jacob Markstrom made 38 saves.
LAST GAME PLAYED – DEC. 14/21: VAN 4 vs CBJ 3
Vancouver rallied from a first period three-goal deficit to win in regulation…Bo Horvat got Vancouver on the board at 7:41 in the first period, assisted by Quinn Hughes and Brock Boeser…Elias Pettersson scored his second goal in as many games at 4:07 in the third period to cut Vancouver’s deficit to one…Conor Garland and Tyler Myers recorded assists…Vasily Podkolzin tied the game at 9:35 in the third period…Quinn Hughes and Tyler Myers each recorded their second assist of the game…Bo Horvat scored the game-winning goal on the power play at 19:01 in the third period, assisted by J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes…Bo Horvat and Tyler Myers each recorded six shots, while Horvat also led the team in hits (4) and face-off wins (16)…Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves for his first Canucks win.
LAST 5 vs SAN JOSE
•Jan. 29, 2020: VAN 5 at SJS 2
•Jan. 18, 2020: VAN 4 vs SJS 1
•Dec. 14, 2019: VAN 2 at SJS 4
•Nov. 2, 2019: VAN 5 at SJS 2
•Apr. 2, 2019: VAN 4 vs SJS 2
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
• Phillip Di Giuseppe recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 14
• Travis Hamonic placed on LTIR, Dec. 14
• Luke Schenn, Juho Lammikko, Brad Hunt, & Tucker Poolman placed in COVID-19 Protocol, Dec. 14
DOWN BUT NOT OUT
Rallying from a 3-0 down after the first period on Dec. 14 vs CBJ, the Canucks earned their first regulation win after trailing by three goals for the first time since Mar. 9/10 at COL. The last time the Canucks achieved a similar regulation comeback at home was Feb. 13/96 vs the original Winnipeg Jets.
TRIPLE THREAT
Contributing assists on three of Vancouver’s four goals on Dec. 14 vs CBJ, Quinn Hughes registered his 10th career game with three or more points, tying Rick Lanz for fourth-most by a Canucks defenceman in franchise history. He now only trails Jyrki Lumme (16), Alex Edler (12), and Dennis Kearns (11).
DEMMER, YOU’RE A STAR
After sweeping the week (Dec. 6-12), Thatcher Demko was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week on Dec. 13. Demko went 4-0-0 with a 1.20 GAA, .962 save percentage, and one shutout (4-0 vs LAK, Dec. 6. He also led the NHL in wins (4), shots faced (133), and saves (128) for the week.
SHOOUTOUT SPECIALIST
Netting the game-deciding goal in the shootout on Dec. 10 vs WPG, Elias Pettersson now has nine career shootout goals on 22 attempts, which is third- most in club history behind Alex Burrows (16) and Ryan Kesler (11). His shootout shooting percentage (40.9%) also ranks second in team history (min. 15 shots), behind only Kyle Wellwood (43.8%).
BRUCE ALMIGHTY
Joining the Canucks as the 20th Head Coach in franchise history on Dec. 5, Bruce Boudreau became the first head coach in Canucks history to start his tenure with a 4-0-0 record and has since extended it to 5-0-0 with a 4-3 win on Dec. 14 vs CBJ. The only other head coach to earn at least a point in each of is first 4+ games with Vancouver was Roger Neilson (5-0-2) in 1981-82.
BROCK STAR
Brock Boeser collected his 13th career game-winning goal on Dec. 6, tying him behind 5 other notable names for most franchise GWG: Tony Tanti (26), Pavel Bure (26), Trevor Linden (22), Patrik Sundstrom (14), and Bo Horvat (14).
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.
BRUCE BOOST
Defeating the Blue Jackets by a score of 4-3 on Dec. 14, Bruce Boudreau became the first head coach since Geoff Ward (CGY) and Dave Tippett (EDM) in 2019.20 to begin their tenure with a new team 5-0-0.
Last 5 games stats:
Record: 5-0-0
Goals For: 17
Goals Against: 8
Power Play: 4-12
Penalty Kill: 9-11