CANUCKS GAME PREVIEW | Canucks at Predators

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by Canucks Communication @Canucks / Vancouver Canucks

CANUCKS AT PREDATORS PREVIEW

TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: SN650

MATCH-UP INFO

  • Tonight marks the second of three meetings between the Canucks and Predators this season: Nov. 5 (3-2 L), Jan. 18 (road), Feb. 1 (road).
  • Vancouver is 5-3-2 in their last 10 games vs Nashville (3-2-0 in their last 5).
  • The Canucks have a 44-27-2-5 all-time record in 78 games against the Predators. Vancouver holds a 21-14-1-3 record on the road against Nashville.
  • Among active Canucks skaters, Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads the team in career scoring vs Nashville with 16 points (5-11-16) in 31 games.
  • Brock Boeser (6-4-10 in 9 GP), Quinn Hughes (0-8-8 in 5 GP), Elias Pettersson (4-6-10 in 7 GP) have each registered more than a point per game in
  • their careers vs Nashville.
  • Thatcher Demko has played 2 career games vs Nashville (1-1-0), owning a .908 SV% and a 3.06 GAA.
  • Jaroslav Halak has played 26 career games vs Nashville (15-4-6), owning a .927 SV% and a 1.99 GAA.

QUICK NUMBERS

  • Brock Boeser has eight points (5-3-8) in his last 10 games.
  • Bo Horvat has 10 points (6-4-10) in his last 13 games.
  • J.T. Miller has 18 points (5-13-18) in his last 15 games.
  • Quinn Hughes has 14 points (0-14-14) in his last 15 games.
  • Tanner Pearson has eight points (2-6-8) in his last 13 games.
  • Thatcher Demko has posted a .929 SV% and 2.16 GAA in his last 11 games (8-3-0).

LAST MEETING – Nov. 5/21: VAN 2 vs NSH 3

Brock Boeser notched his third goal of the season to tie the game with just nine seconds to spare in the first period…Travis Hamonic recorded his first point of the season with an assist, while J.T. Miller collected the second assist…Nils Höglander scored his first goal of the season at 10:08 in the second period to give Vancouver the lead…Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson registered assists on the play…Quinn Hughes paced all skaters in TOI (26:03)…Nils Höglander led all skaters in shots (5)…Tanner Pearson registered three hits…Thatcher Demko faced 28 shots.

LAST GAME PLAYED – JAN. 16/22: VAN 4 at WSH 2

Elias Pettersson opened up scoring for the Canucks with a power play goal at the 0:33 mark in the second period…Bo Horvat and Quinn Hughes recorded assists on the play…Pettersson (2-0-2) followed up with his second goal of the game at 4:48 in the second to give the Canucks the lead…Pettersson has now scored in each of his four career meetings against the Capitals…Bo Horvat scored the GWG on the power play at 18:50 in the second period…8 players made the Canucks score sheet and JT Miller (1-1-2), Elias Pettersson (2-0-2), Quinn Hughes (0-2-2) and Bo Horvat (1-1-2) had multi-point games…Kyle Burroughs led the team in hits (4)…Tyler Myers led the game in TOI (25:28)…Thatcher Demko blocked 31 shots.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

• Justin Dowling removed from COVID non-roster status, Jan. 16
• Conor Garland placed into COVID-19 protocol, Jan. 16
• Michael DiPietro recalled from Abbotsford to Taxi Squad, Jan. 16
• Jaroslav Halak placed into COVID-19 protocol, Jan. 15
• Phillip Di Giuseppe activated from protocol and reassigned to Abbotsford, Jan. 13 • Ashton Sautner placed into COVID-19 protocol, Jan. 12

CLOSING IN ON 1,000

Entering Tuesday’s contest vs Nashville, Bruce Boudreau is just three games shy of 1,000 games coached (576-305-116), having coached 996 career regular season games with Vancouver (13), Minnesota (303), Anaheim (352), and Washington (329). He is poised to become the 29th coach in NHL history and sixth active Head Coach (Trotz, Ruff, D. Sutter, Laviolette, Tippett) to reach the milestone.
On Jan. 1 at SEA, Bruce Boudreau (8-0-1) became the third coach in NHL history to begin his tenure with a new team on a nine-game point streak. In December, Boudreau also tied the NHL coaching record for most consecutive wins (7) to start a tenure with a new team.

GOOD COMPANY

Thatcher Demko (103 GP) required the fourth-fewest games to reach 50 career wins with the Canucks, behind only Roberto Luongo (81 GP), Corey Schneider (88 GP) and Dan Cloutier (102 GP).

DEMKO’S DECEMBER

Making 22 saves in the 2-1 OT win at ANA on Dec. 29, Demko extended his career-best winning streak to six games (later seven games). During the month of December, Demko posted a record of 7-1-0 to go along with a .946 SV% and 1.72 GAA, ranking first in the NHL in saves (243), shots faced (257), and t-1st in wins (7). On Dec. 13, he was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week and on Jan. 1, he was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Month.

HERO HUGHES

  • On Jan. 16/22 at WSH, Quinn Hughes collected two assists to record his 30th point of the season (2-28-30 37GP). Only two defencemen in Canucks history required fewer games in a season then Quinn Hughes (37) to reach the 30-point mark: Paul Reinhart (28 GP in 1989-90 &30 in 1988-89) and Jeff Brown (31 GP in 1994-95).
  • On Jan. 16/22 at WSH, Quinn Hughes also collected his 22nd multi-assist game – the most among all Vancouver players since he entered the NHL in 2018-19.

MAGNIFICENT MILLER

Collecting an assist on Jan. 1 at SEA, J.T. Miller set a career-high nine-game point streak (3-10-13), besting his previous eight-game mark (twice). Miller also ranks fourth for highest points-per-game (0.97) by a player with the Canucks franchise (min. 20 GP), trailing only Pavel Bure (1.12) and Alexander Mogilny (0.99), and Mike Walton (0.98).

RECENT CANUCKS MILESTONES

  • Conor Garland – 200 GP, Jan. 13 at TBL
  • Thatcher Demko – 100 GP, Jan. 11 at FLA
  • Elias Pettersson – 200 GP, Jan. 11 at FLA
  • Brad Hunt – 200 GP, Jan. 11 at FLA
  • Oliver Ekman-Larsson – 800 GP, Jan. 1 at SEA
  • Matthew Highmore – 100 GP, Dec. 30 at ANA

CURRENT INJURIES

NHL COVID-19 PROTOCOL

  • Jaroslav Halak – 2 game
  • Ashton Sautner (taxi squad)
  • Conor Garland – 1 game

Total man games lost (due to injuries or illness): 180 games

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