Vancouver Canucks

GAME NOTES | CANUCKS AT BLUES - FEB. 23/23

February 23, 2023



CANUCKS @ BLUES

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Bally Sports Midwest

Radio: Sportsnet 650

MATCH-UP INFO

  • Tonight marks the second of three meetings between the Canucks and the Blues this season: Dec. 19 (5-1 L @ VAN), Feb. 23 (away) and Mar. 28 (away).

  • Vancouver is 77-99-18-5 all-time against St. Louis, including a 32-54-9-2 record on the road.

  • The Canucks are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games against the Blues, including 1-4-0 in their last five.

  • Tyler Myers leads all active Canucks skaters in games played (29) against the Blues (1-7-8 in those games).

  • Elias Pettersson has 12 points (4-8-12) in nine career games against St. Louis to lead all active Canucks.

  • Conor Garland has 11 points (5-6-11) in 15 career games against St. Louis.

  • J.T. Miller has nine points (4-5-9) in 14 career games against St. Louis.

  • Collin Delia has yet to face the Blues in his career.

  • Arturs Silovs has yet to face the Blues in his career.

QUICK NUMBERS

  • Elias Pettersson has 20 points (9-11-20) in his last 13 games.

  • J.T. Miller has 10 points (1-9-10) in his last nine games.

  • Quinn Hughes has nine points (1-8-9) in his last seven games.

  • Brock Boeser has nine points (1-8-9) in his last nine games.

  • Conor Garland has seven points (3-4-7) in his last eight games.

  • Anthony Beauvillier has seven points (4-3-7) in his last six games.

  • Andrei Kuzmenko has six points (4-2-6) in his last four games.

LAST MEETING - DEC. 19/22: VAN 1 vs STL 5

Ilya Mikheyev evened the score at 1-1 with his 10th goal of the season at 12:24 in the second period, just 1:59 after St. Louis opened the scoring...It marked Mikheyev's second career double-digit goal season (21 last season)...Quinn Hughes recorded the lone assist on the play for his 27th assist in as many games to start the season...Luke Schenn led all skaters in hits (6) and co-led in blocks (2)...Brock Boeser registered a team-high five shots on goal...Spencer Martin faced 27 shots.

LAST GAME PLAYED - FEB. 21/23: VAN 4 at NSH 5 (SO)

Andrei Kuzmenko scored his first goal of the night at 12:47 in the second period...Ethan Bear and Quinn Hughes were credited with the assists...Sheldon Dries registered his eighth goal of the season on the power play to tie the game at two...Brock Boeser and Conor Garland recorded assists on the play...Garland registered his second point of the night with a goal at 18:53 in the third period...Hughes and Elias Pettersson were both credited with the helpers...Kuzmenko scored the game-tying goal with 16 seconds remaining in regulation, assisted by J.T. Miller and Anthony Beauvillier ...Garland led the team in shots (6)...Kyle Burroughs led the team in hits (5)...Collin Delia made 22 saves and stopped two shootout attempts.

LAST 5 vs ST. LOUIS

  • Dec. 19/22: VAN 1 vs STL 5

  • Mar. 30/22: VAN 3 vs STL 4

  • Mar. 28/22: VAN 1 @ STL 4

  • Jan. 23/22: VAN 1 vs STL 3

  • Jan. 27/20: VAN 3 vs STL 1

PETEY KEEPS PUTTING UP THE POINTS

Elias Pettersson played in his 300th career NHL game on Feb. 21 at NSH, concluding the contest with 293 career points (124-169- 293). As a result, Pettersson ranks second in franchise history for the most points in a player's first 300 NHL games (trailing Pavel Bure with 348) and is ranked sixth among Swedish-born NHL players all-time (behind Mats Sundin [306], Nicklas Backstrom [308], Mats Naslund [313], Peter Forsberg [382], and Kent Nilsson [401]).

  • Registering three assists on Feb. 18 vs PHI, Elias Pettersson surpassed Petri Skriko for sole possession of sixth-most assists (169) by a Canuck in their first five career NHL seasons, trailing Trevor Linden (179), Quinn Hughes (195), Stan Smyl (203), Patrik Sundstrom (209), and Thomas Gradin (227).

  • Notching two goals and three assists on Feb. 18 vs PHI, Pettersson recorded his 23rd career three-plus point game, ranking him tied-fourth in franchise history for most three-plus point games among Canucks centreman (Cliff Ronning [23], Patrik Sundstrom [30], Thomas Gradin [38], and Henrik Sedin [62]).

  • His two goals on Feb. 18 marked his 21st career multi-goal performance to tie Tony Tanti for fourth most multi-goal games in a player's first five NHL seasons in Canucks history. Other Canucks to have registered at least 21 multi-goal games in their first five NHL seasons include Thomas Gradin (23), Petri Skriko (27), and Pavel Bure (40).

ONE IS NOT ENOUGH

Collecting two assists on Feb. 21 at NSH, Quinn Hughes registered his 12th multi-assist game this season, becoming only the third defenceman in franchise history to record as many games (including Paul Reinhart with 12 GP in 1988.89 and Dennis Kearns with 14 GP in 1976.77).

  • Quinn Hughes' two assists was his 40th career multi-assist game to rank him third in franchise history for such occurrences among defencemen, trailing only Alexander Edler (42) and Dennis Kearns (53).

  • Feb. 21 at NSH was also Hughes' 15th multi-point game in 2022.23, matching his career high for the most multi-point games in a single season set in 2021.22. He is only one multi-point game away from tying Doug Lidster (1986.87) and Paul Reinhart (1988-89) for the most multi-point games by a defenceman in Canucks history.

JOINING THE RANKS

Scoring two goals on Feb. 21 at NSH, Andrei Kuzmenko registered his 25th career NHL goal and became the fourth fastest player in Canucks history to hit this milestone (56 GP), only trailing Pavel Bure (55 GP), Elias Pettersson (44 GP), and Brock Boeser (44 GP).

  • Recording one goal and one assist on Feb. 15 vs NYR, Andrei Kuzmenko collected 47 points (23-24-47) in his first 54 career NHL games, ranking him tied for third for most points through as many games to start a career in franchise history. Kuzmenko is tied with Ivan Hlinka (47) and trails fellow teammates Brock Boeser (48) and Elias Pettersson (56).

FAST FIFTY

Registering two assists on Feb. 21 at NSH, Quinn Hughes became the fifth U.S.-born defenceman to record at least 50 multi-point games before the age of 24 and only the third active defenceman to hit this milestone, tying Rasmus Dahlin (50) and trailing Erik Karlsson (58). Hughes is also only one of six Canucks blueliners to reach at least 50 multi-point games in their career joining Doug Lidster (52), Mattias Ohlund (54), Dennis Kearns (59), Jyrki Lumme (67), and Alexander Edler (68).

  • Collecting a power play assist on Feb. 11 at DET, Quinn Hughes reached the 50-point plateau (5-45-50) in just his 49th game of the 2022.23 season, becoming the fastest defenceman in franchise history to reach 50 points. The previous record belonged to Paul Reinhart, who put up 50 points in his first 52 games played in 1988.89.

  • Hughes now also has the most 50+ point seasons by a defenceman in franchise history with three such campaigns, surpassing Dennis Kearns, Jyrki Lumme, and Paul Reinhart (two each).

FANTASTIC FIVE

Thanks to his fifth career five-point game (2-3-5) on Feb. 18 vs PHI, Elias Pettersson became the fifth-fastest player in franchise history to reach 70 points (27-44-71 in 54 GP) in a season, behind Pavel Bure (46 GP), Henrik Sedin (49), Alexander Mogilny (49), and Bure again (52).

  • Collecting two shorthanded empty-net goals enroute to five points, Elias Pettersson joined Mario Lemieux as the only players in NHL history to have a 5-point game with multiple empty-net goals. Pettersson also broke a tie with Alexander Mogilny for the most five-point games in a single season (3) in franchise history.

  • Pettersson's five-point outing also tied Nicklas Backstrom (WSH) for the third-most five-point games in NHL history by a Swedish-born player, trailing Peter Forsberg and Kent Nilsson (9 each).

  • Among primary centremen in NHL history, Pettersson now ranks tied for seventh-most five-point games before the age of 25, trailing Wayne Gretzky (62), Mario Lemieux (29), Dale Hawerchuk (9), Bryan Trottier (8), Steve Yzerman (7), and Connor McDavid (7).

KNACK FOR THE NET

Extending his goal streak to three games with a third period tally on Feb. 11 at DET, Elias Pettersson reached the 25-goal mark for the fourth time in his young career, becoming just the third player in Canucks history to record as many 25-goal campaigns in his first five career NHL seasons, joining Stan Smyl (4) and Petri Skriko (4).

• Beauvillier has now registered at least one goal against 31 of 32 NHL teams, only missing a goal against the Los Angeles Kings. The Canucks will face the Kings three more times this season (Mar. 18 at LAK, Apr. 2 at VAN, Apr. 10 at LAK).

PUT A BEAU ON IT

Scoring the game-winning goal in a 6-5 victory on Feb. 9 at NYI, former Islander Anthony Beauvillier became the 26th player in franchise history to register a goal in his first game against the team he was acquired from (via trade) and is one of only three players to net the game-winner in that scenario, joining Alexander Mogilny (Mar. 3/96 at BUF) and Jerry Butler (Oct. 26/80 vs TOR).

NO QUIT CANUCKS

Trailing 4-2 in the second period on Feb. 9 at NYI, the Canucks earned their sixth multi-goal comeback win this season which tied them with the New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks for most multi-goal come-from-behind victories this season through Feb. 9. Vancouver's 15 overall comeback wins ranked tied for second in the League through Feb. 9 while their eight third-period comeback wins were tied for first with Vegas.

MILLSY'S MILESTONE

Recording the lone assist on Vasily Podkolzin's first goal of the year on Feb. 8 at NYR, J.T. Miller registered his 500th career NHL point (187-313-500), becoming the eighth player and second American-born skater from the 2011 NHL Draft class to achieve the milestone. Miller, who was drafted by the Rangers, recorded 172 points (72-100-72) with New York, before collecting 65 (23-42-65) with Tampa Bay and 263 (92-171-263) with Vancouver to reach the 500-point mark.