by Canucks Communication @Canucks / Vancouver Canucks

CANUCKS VS SHARKS PREVIEW

TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: SN650

MATCH-UP INFO

• Tonight marks the second of three meetings between the Canucks and Sharks this season: Dec. 16 (5-2 W), Feb. 17 (away), Apr. 9 (home).
• Vancouver is 5-5-0 in their last 10 games vs the Sharks (4-1-0 in their last 5).
• The Canucks have a 59-55-9-7 all-time record in 130 games against the Sharks. Vancouver holds a 32-29-5-2 record on the road versus San Jose. • Among active Canucks skaters, Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads the team in career scoring vs San Jose with 24 points (8-16-24) in 51 games.
• Thatcher Demko is undefeated in 4 career games vs San Jose (4-0-0), owning a .939 SV% and a 1.75 GAA.
• Jaroslav Halak has played 15 career games vs the Sharks (7-6-0), owning a .907 SV% and a 2.68 GAA.

QUICK NUMBERS

• Brock Boeser has eight points (4-4-8) in his last seven games.
• J.T. Miller has 19 points (8-11-19) in his last 17 games.
• Quinn Hughes has six points (0-6-6) in his last nine games.
• Elias Pettersson has 10 points (7-3-10) in his last 12 games.
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson has 7 points (2-5-7) in his last seven games and is currently on a three game point streak.
• Bo Horvat has 6 points (3-3-6) in his last eight games.

LAST MEETING – Dec. 16/21: VAN 5 at SJS 2

Brock Boeser opened the scoring for the fourth time in six games at 12:41 in the first period, assisted by Tanner Pearson…Bo Horvat capitalized on the power play under four minutes later for his third goal in two games, assisted by J.T. Miller…Brock Boeser notched his second of the game for the eventual GWG at 17:17 in the second period…J.T. Miller and Tanner Pearson each registered their second assists of the game…J.T. Miller (unassisted) and Jason Dickinson (assisted by Elias Pettersson and Kyle Burroughs) each added third period tallies…Noah Juulsen led all Canucks in hits (6) and blocks (4)…Elias Pettersson won 11 face-offs…Thatcher Demko made 34 saves.

LAST GAME PLAYED – FEB. 12/22: VAN 3 vs TOR 2

J.T. Miller opened up scoring with a goal at 1:29 in the first period…Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser recorded assists on the play…Boeser followed up with a power play goal at the 6:00 minute mark in the first…Oliver Ekman-Larsson and J.T. Miller collected assists…Juho Lammikko scored the GWG in the second period, assisted by Alex Chiasson and Tyler Motte…Luke Schenn led the game in hits (7)…Bo Horvat led the team in shots (4)…J.T. Miller (1-1- 2) led the team in TOI (25:59)…Thatcher Demko made a career high 51 saves tying a franchise record for most saves in a win (51), matching Richard Brodeur on Feb. 10, 1985 vs the Jets.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

• Travis Hamonic activated from IR, Feb. 12
• Justin Dowling assigned to Abbotsford, Feb. 11
• Justin Dowling placed on waivers and Ashton Sautner assigned to Abbotsford, Feb. 10

BRICK WALL

Thatcher Demko made a career high of 51 saves in the 3-2 win over Toronto on Feb. 12. This tied a franchise record for most saves in a win (51), matching Richard Brodeur on Feb. 10, 1985 vs the Jets.

MULTI-MILLER

With a goal and a helper, J.T. Miller recorded his team-leading 12th multi-point outing of the season on Feb. 12 vs Toronto.

CLUB 400

With his first point of the night on Feb. 8 vs ARI J.T. Miller (1-1-2) recorded his 400th career point. Oliver Ekman-Larsson collected 3 assists (0-3-3) to join Miller in the 400 point club.

BOY OH, BO!

Bo Horvat (1-1-2) recorded his 71st career multi-point game on Feb. 8 vs ARI. Since his NHL debut in 2014-15, Horvat leads the Canucks in multi-point outings, with the next closest player being Daniel Sedin (52 GP).

BANG, BANG, BANG

On Feb. 8 vs ARI, Conor Garland, Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson each scored in a span of 142 seconds. The last time the Canucks tallied a trio of goals in a lesser span was on Jan. 13, 2019 (126 seconds from Brock Boeser, Jay Beagle & Markus Granlund).

STINGY DEFENCE

Since Bruce Boudreau officially took over as Head Coach on Dec. 6 vs LAK, the Canucks have led the NHL in fewest goals against per game (2.05), jumping the ranks from 23rd in the NHL in GA/GP (3.16) before Boudreau to seventh place on the season overall (2.64).

HIT MACHINE

Luke Schenn tied a Canucks franchise record in hits (12) on Jan. 31 at CHI, previously set by himself on Mar. 24/19 vs CBJ. His 12 hits were the highest single-game total by any skater in the NHL so far this season.

MINUTE MUNCHER

Logging 31:07 in time on ice on Jan. 29 at CGY, Quinn Hughes set both a Canucks season-high and a personal career-high in the category. Hughes has led the Canucks in TOI in 28 of 46 games so far this season, with the next closest player (Myers) leading in 10 games.

HATS OFF TO MILLER

J.T. Miller recorded his second career hat trick on Jan. 27 vs WPG, matching career-highs in goals (3) and points (4). He became just the third American player in team history to register a hat trick, joining Ryan Kesler (3x) and teammate Brock Boeser (3x).

QUICK STRIKES

Going 2-for-2 in just 0:17 of cumulative power play time on Jan. 27 at WPG, Vancouver set an NHL record for least power play time (tracked since 2009.10) required in a game to register two power play goals and became the only team to score twice in under 20 total seconds on the man-advantage.

RECENT CANUCKS MILESTONES

• J.T. Miller – 400 points, Feb. 8 vs ARI
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson – 400 points, Feb. 8 vs ARI
• J.T. Miller – 600 GP, Jan. 31 at CHI
• Alex Chiasson – 600 GP, Jan. 31 at CHI
• Nils Höglander – 100 GP, Jan. 29 at CGY
• Tyler Myers – 800 GP, Jan. 25 vs EDM
• Bruce Boudreau – 1000 GC, Jan. 23 vs STL
• Elias Pettersson – 100 assists, Jan. 23 vs STL
• 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

CURRENT INJURIES

• Tucker Poolman – 6 games
• Brady Keeper – 49 games
• Brandon Sutter – 49 games

NHL COVID-19 PROTOCOL

• Matthew Highmore – 3 games
• Quinn Hughes – 3 games

Total man games lost (due to injuries or illness): 258 games