Vancouver Canucks

GAME NOTES | CANUCKS AT DUCKS - MAR. 19/23

March 19, 2023



CANUCKS @ DUCKS

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Bally Sports West

Radio: Sportsnet 650

MATCH-UP INFO

  • Tonight marks the third of four meetings between the Canucks and Ducks this season: Nov. 3 (8-5 W @ VAN), Mar. 8 (3-2 OTW @ VAN), Mar. 19 (away), Apr. 11 (away).
  • Vancouver is 53-49-9-7 all-time against Anaheim, including a 24-22-7-4 record on the road.
  • The Canucks are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games against the Ducks (3-2-0 in their last five).
  • J.T. Miller leads all active Canucks skaters in career points against Anaheim with 15 (6-9-15 in 17 GP).
  • Elias Pettersson has 14 points (4-10-14) in 12 career games against the Ducks.
  • Quinn Hughes has 10 points (1-9-10) in eight career games against the Ducks.
  • Andrei Kuzmenko has five points (4-1-5) in two career games against the Ducks.
  • Among active Canucks, Tyler Myers has played the most career games against Anaheim at 23.
  • Thatcher Demko is 2-2-0 in four career games against the Ducks with a 3.80 GAA and an .851 SV%.
  • Collin Delia has yet to face Anaheim in his career.

QUICK NUMBERS

  • Elias Pettersson has 10 points (4-6-10) in his last seven games.
  • Quinn Hughes has 18 points (0-18-18) in his last 18 games.
  • Andrei Kuzmenko has 17 points (12-5-17) in his last 15 games.
  • J.T. Miller has 10 points (5-5-10) in his last seven games.
  • Brock Boeser has eight points (2-6-8) in his last eight games.

LAST MEETING: MAR. 8/23: VAN 3 vs ANA 2 (OT)

J.T. Miller tied the game at the 14:44 mark with his third shorthanded goal of the season...Elias Pettersson recorded the only assist...Andrei Kuzmenko gave Vancouver their first lead with just over five and a half minutes to go in the second period...Anthony Beauvillier and Pettersson were awarded assists...Miller scored the overtime winner just 20 seconds into the extra frame...Quinn Hughes picked up the sole assist...Conor Garland led the team with five shots on goal...Dakota Joshua led the team with five hits...Noah Juulsen and Christian Wolanin each had three blocked shots...Thatcher Demko made 20 saves.

LAST GAME PLAYED: MAR. 18/23: VAN 3 at LAK 2 (SO)

Brock Boeser opened the scoring at 10:53 in the first period...J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes recorded assists...Thatcher Demko stopped Adrian Kempe's penalty shot attempt to keep the contest tied at one...Elias Pettersson scored six-seconds into the power play at 11:33 in the third period to tie the game at two...Hughes and Miller were credited with the assists...Andrei Kuzmenko scored the game deciding goal in the first round of the shootout...Demko faced 40 shots...Ethan Bear led the team in blocked shots (4) in his first game since returning from injury...Kyle Burroughs led the team in hits (8).

LAST 5 vs ANAHEIM

  • Mar. 8/23: VAN 3 vs ANA 2 (OT)
  • Nov. 3/22: VAN 8 vs ANA 5
  • Feb. 19/22: VAN 4 vs ANA 7
  • Dec. 29/21: VAN 2 at ANA 1 (OT)
  • Nov. 14/21: VAN 1 at ANA 5

CAN'T STOP KUZY

Thanks to his opening tally on Mar. 16 at ARI, Andrei Kuzmenko now own's an NHL-best 27.9% shooting percentage (min. 50 shots) so far this season, and currently possesses the highest shooting percentage in NHL history (min. 100 shots) since the stat started being tracked in 1959.60. He is also just the second player in the League since 1994.95 with a minimum of 100 shots to hold a shooting percentage above 25.0%, joining Mike Ribeiro (25.2% in 2007.08).

Opening the scoring on Mar. 16 at ARI, Andrei Kuzmenko notched his 34th goal of the season to match Pavel Bure for the most goals by a Canucks skater in their first NHL season. Previously on Mar. 14 vs DAL, he registered his 33rd goal in his 65th game to tie Ivan Boldirev for the third-most goals in a player's first 65 games as a Canuck, trailing only Pavel Bure (34) and Alexander Mogilny (52).

RAINING THREE'S FOR BOESER

Recording three assists on Mar. 14 vs DAL, Brock Boeser reached 300 career NHL points, becoming the 10th player from the 2015 NHL Draft class to reach this milestone. Boeser's three assists set a new career high for most assists in a season with 33 (previously 30 in 2018.19) and was his fifth career three-assist game (second this season).

KEEP IT SHORT

Thanks to J.T. Miller's fourth shorthanded marker of the 2022.23 campaign (tied Elias Pettersson and four others atop the League), on Mar. 11 vs OTT, the Canucks have now scored 11 shorthanded goals on the season, which are the most by a Canucks team since 2002.03 and now ranks tied for second-most in the NHL this season.

Vancouver's shorthanded goal on Mar. 11 vs OTT also marked the first time since Apr. 1-9, 1998 that the Canucks have scored four or more shorthanded goals in a four-game span.

In addition to co-leading the League in shorthanded goals, Elias Pettersson currently has solo possession of the most shorthanded points in the NHL with eight (4-4-8) so far this season. He now trails only Pavel Bure (1992.93, 1997.98) and Russ Courtnall (1995.96) for most shorthanded points in a season (9) by a Canucks skater.

EIGHTY FOR ELIAS

Registering two assists on Mar. 8 vs ANA, Elias Pettersson registered his 80th and 81st points on the season (30-51-81), becoming the fifth-fastest player (sixth-fastest occasion) in franchise history to collect 80 points (62 games), behind only Alexander Mogilny (54 GP), Pavel Bure (55 GP, 59 GP), Henrik Sedin (60 GP) and Daniel Sedin (61 GP).

HISTORY WAITS FOR NO ONE

Scoring the opening goal on Mar. 6 vs NSH, Elias Pettersson registered his 300th career NHL point becoming the first skater from the 2017 NHL Draft Class to reach this milestone. Pettersson achieved this feat in 306 games played also making him the second fastest Canuck in franchise history to reach 300 points, trailing only Pavel Bure who was able to do it in 264 games played.

DOWN A MAN, UP TWO GOALS

Burying back-to-back shorthanded goals in a span of just 44 seconds on Mar. 4 vs TOR, Elias Pettersson (6:49, 3rd period) and J.T. Miller (7:33, 3rd period) recorded the fourth-fastest pair of shorthanded goals in Canucks history to turn a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 lead. It also marked the sixth time in franchise history (second time this season: also Feb. 18 vs PHI) that the Canucks have scored multiple times on the same two-minute penalty against, and the first occasion not involving an empty net since Apr. 9/98 vs CGY.

HUGHES WRITES HISTORY

Thanks to one assist each on the power play and shorthanded on Mar. 4 vs TOR, Quinn Hughes registered his 200th career NHL assist in just his 263rd regular season game, becoming the fastest defenceman in NHL history to do so (previously Brian Leetch, 264 games). He is also the fastest player of any position in Canucks history to record 200 assists with the club (23 players total, six defencemen), smashing the previous record set by centre Cliff Ronning (333 games).

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

Collecting two assists on Mar. 4 vs TOR, Quinn Hughes registered his 17th multi-point game of the season, surpassing Doug Lidster (1986.87) and Paul Reinhart (1988.89) for the most such occurrences by a defenceman in a single season in franchise history. It also marked Hughes' 14th multi-assist game this season, tying Dennis Kearns (1976.77) for the most in one season by a defenceman in Canucks history.

•Hughes is now also tied with Alexander Edler for most total multi-assist games in franchise history with 42, trailing only Dennis Kearns (53) for most all-time.