By Andrew Phillip Chernoff CanucksBanter

March 23, 2023

San Jose Sharks (19-37-15), 8th in the Pacific Division) vs. Vancouver Canucks (31-34-5), 6th in the Pacific Division.

Vancouver, British Columbia; Thursday, 7 p.m. PDT

Vancouver plays the final game of a 3-game homestand tonight against against San Jose. Next up is a 3-game road trip against Dallas on March 25, Chicago on March 26, and finally St.Louis, March 28.

Looking For A Win

Sharks are is 13-17-5 on the road, with a OT loss last game; Canucks are 16-18-1 at home, with a loss in regulation last game.

Team Highlights

Vancouver has gone 31-33-5 overall with a 13-6-0 record in Pacific Division play. The Canucks have allowed 260 goals while scoring 231 for a -29 scoring differential.

San Jose is 3-9-8 against the Pacific Division and 19-37-15 overall. The Sharks have a -65 scoring differential, with 203 total goals scored and 268 conceded.

The matchup Thursday is the fourth time these teams square off this season. The Canucks won 4-3 in overtime in the last matchup. J.T. Miller led the Canucks with two goals.

Players To Watch

Miller has scored 26 goals with 40 assists for the Canucks…Andrei Kuzmenko has six goals and one assist over the past 10 games…Elias Pettersson has 33 goals with 56 assists, tied for 8th spot in NHL scoring… Thatcher Demko in 9 games back from injury is 6-3-0 with a 2.45 GAA (Goals Against Average) and .920 SV% (Save Percentage).

Erik Karlsson has scored 22 goals with 65 assists for the Sharks…Alexander Barabanov has four goals and six assists over the last 10 games.

Key Stats Last 10 Games

Canucks: 7-3-0, averaging three goals, 5.4 assists, 3.7 penalties and 8.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.2 goals per game.

Sharks: 1-6-3, averaging 2.4 goals, 4.3 assists, 4.5 penalties and 10.4 penalty minutes while giving up 4.6 goals per game.

Sharks – Canucks  NHL Rankings

Streaking Canucks

• Elias Pettersson is on a career-high 9-game point-streak and has 13 points (5-8-13) in those games.
• J.T. Miller has 15 points (8-7-15) in his last nine games.
• Quinn Hughes has 13 points (0-13-13) in his last 11 games.

LAST 5 vs SAN JOSE

• Dec. 27/22: VAN 6 vs SJS 2
• Dec. 7/22: VAN 6 at SJS 5 (OT)
• Nov. 27/22: VAN 4 at SJS 3 (OT)
• Apr. 9/22: VAN 4 vs SJS 2
• Feb. 17/22: VAN 5 at SJS 4 (OT)

Injuries

Canucks: Filip Hronek: out (upper-body), Oliver Ekman-Larsson: out (lower body), Ilya Mikheyev: out for season (knee), Tanner Pearson: out for season (hand), Travis Dermott: out (undisclosed), Tucker Poolman: out (undisclosed).

Sharks: Markus Nutivaara: out (lower body), Evgeny Svechnikov: out (undisclosed), Jacob MacDonald: day to day (upper body), Luke Kunin: out for season (knee), Andreas Johnsson: day to day (undisclosed), Radim Simek: out (concussion), Jonah Gadjovich: out (upper-body).

Sources: nhl.com, Associated Press