Vancouver Canucks

GAME NOTES | CANUCKS AT BLUES - MAR. 28/23

March 28, 2023



CANUCKS @ BLUES

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Bally Sports Midwest

Radio: Sportsnet 650

MATCH-UP INFO

  • Tonight marks the third and final meeting between the Canucks and Blues this season: Dec. 19 (5-1 L @ VAN), Feb. 23 (3-2 OTW @ STL), and Mar. 28 (away).
  • Vancouver is 78-99-18-5 all time against St. Louis, including a 33-54-9-2 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.
  • Elias Pettersson leads all active Canucks skaters in career points against St. Louis with 15 (5-10-15 in 10 GP).
  • J.T. Miller has 11 points (5-6-11) in 15 career games against the Blues.
  • Conor Garland has 11 points (5-6-11) in 16 career games against the Blues.
  • Filip Hronek has three points (1-2-3) in four career games against the Blues.
  • Tyler Myers leads all active Canucks in career games played against St. Louis at 30.
  • Thatcher Demko is 2-1-1 in four career games against the Blues with a 2.42 GAA and a .925 SV%.
  • Collin Delia has yet to face St. Louis in his career.

QUICK NUMBERS

  • Elias Pettersson is on a career-high 12 game point-streak and has 17 points (7-10-17) in those games.
  • J.T. Miller has 17 points (8-9-17) in his last 10 games.
  • Quinn Hughes has eight points (0-8-8) in his last six games.
  • Andrei Kuzmenko has 12 points (7-5-12) in his last 12 games.
  • Rick Tocchet is 16-9-2 since taking over as Head Coach on January 22.

LAST MEETING - FEB. 23/23: VAN 3 at STL 2 (OT)

J.T. Miller brought the Canucks within one with his first shorthanded goal of the season just past the nine-minute mark of the third period...Elias Pettersson recorded the only assist...Andrei Kuzmenko tied the game with 28.6 seconds left in regulation...Pettersson and Miller had the assists...Pettersson scored his third overtime winner of the season with 15 seconds left in the extra frame... Anthony Beauvillier and Ethan Bear recorded the assists...Pettersson set a career-high with 10 shots on goal...Jack Studnicka and Kyle Burroughs both led the team with two hits...Burroughs and Tyler Myers co-led the team with three blocked shots...Arturs Silovs made 20 saves.

LAST GAME PLAYED - MAR. 26/23: VAN 4 at CHI 2

Phillip Di Giuseppe scored the Canucks' first goal at 19:43 in the second period to tie the game at one...J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes registered assists...Elias Pettersson scored his first of two goals at 12:06 in the third...Ethan Bear and Andrei Kuzmenko were both credited with the assists...Pettersson extended the Canucks' lead sixty-three seconds later on the power play...Kuzmenko tied the franchise record for most points in by a first year NHL-er (66) with the first helper...Brock Boeser recorded the second helper...Boeser regained the two goal lead with an empty netter at 18:57...Bear registered the sole assist on the play...Delia recorded his second career win against his former team stopping 29 shots...Pettersson led the team in shots (7)...Dakota Joshua led the team in hits (4) and blocked shots (3).

LAST 5 vs ST. LOUIS

  • Feb. 23/23: VAN 3 at STL 2 (OT)
  • Dec. 19/22: VAN 1 vs STL 5
  • Mar. 30/22: VAN 3 vs STL 4
  • Mar. 28/22: VAN 1 at STL 4
  • Jan. 23/22: VAN 1 vs STL 3

QUINN HUGHES IS ON FIRE

Registering one assist on Mar. 26 vs CHI, Quinn Hughes notched his 69th point of the season to break another one of his own franchise records, this time for the most points by a defenceman in a single season (previously 68 in 2021.22). Hughes' helper was also his 234th career point, ranking him tied-eighth with Ed Jovanovski for the most career points by a defenceman in franchise history.

  • Formerly collecting two assists on Mar. 21 vs VGK, Hughes broke his own franchise record for most assists in a single season by a defenceman with 62 (last set in 2021.22 at 60) and previously, on Mar. 4 vs TOR, became the fastest defenceman in NHL history to reach 200 career NHL assists in just 263 games. Tuesday's contest against the Golden Knights was also Hughes' 17th multi-assist game of the season to become only the second Canuck (fifth instance) in franchise history to register at least as many multi-assist performances in a single season (joining Henrik Sedin in 2006.07 [19], 2009.10 [23], 2010.11 [20], and 2011.12 [19]).
  • Previously registering two assists on Mar. 19 at ANA, Quinn Hughes joined Paul Coffey, Bobby Orr, and Brian Leetch as the only defencemen in NHL history with multiple seasons of 60+ assists before their 24th birthday. He is also the first defenceman since Coffey and Ray Bourque in 1993.94 to post consecutive 60-assist seasons.
  • Recording his 45th career multi-assist game on Mar. 21, Hughes tied Denis Potvin for the third-most multi-assist performances in a defenceman's first 271 games, trailing only Bobby Orr (47) and Paul Reinhart (46).

ELIAS IS ELITE

Scoring two goals on Mar. 26 vs CHI, Elias Pettersson extended his career-high point streak to 12 games (7-10-17 in those games), tying Clayton Keller for the longest active point streak in the league. Pettersson's point streak also ranks him tied-eighth in Canucks history for longest point streak in a season and is only the sixth Canuck (seventh instance) since the turn of the century to record a point streak of at least 12 games or longer (Henrik Sedin in 2013.14 [12 GP], Todd Bertuzzi in 2002.03 [12 GP] & 2001.02 [15 GP], Alexandre Burrows in 2009.10 [12 GP], Ryan Kesler in 2009.10 [13 GP], and J.T. Miller in 2021.22 [13 GP]).

  • Pettersson's two goals on Mar. 26 vs CHI now brings him to a total of 93 points this season, making him the second Canuck (third instance) to register at least 93 points by a Canucks skater 24 years of age or younger (trailing only Pavel Bure who had 107 points in 1993.94 and 110 points in 1992.93).

CAN'T STOP KUZY

Recording two assists on Mar. 26 vs CHI, Andrei Kuzmenko tallied his 66th point this season to tie Elias Pettersson's franchise record for most points in a season by a first-year NHL player (set in 2018.19). The assists were also his 30th and 31st in 2022.23, making Kuzmenko only the second Canucks skater in the last 40 years to have at least as many helpers in their first NHL season (also trailing Pettersson who had 38 in 2018.19).

  • Thanks to his goal on Mar. 23 vs SJS, Andrei Kuzmenko owns an NHL-best 26.7% 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).
  • Kuzmenko's goal on Mar. 23 vs SJS was his 35th of the season to surpass Pavel Bure and hold the record 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).

"SCORING ON THE PK" - A CANUCKS' SHORT

Opening the Canucks' scoring on Mar. 25 at DAL, Dakota Joshua registered the team's 14th shorthanded marker of the season to lead in the NHL this season and is the most by a Canucks team since 2002.03.

  • Previously, 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.

MILLER'S SPECIAL SAUCE

Scoring both a shorthanded penalty shot and a power play goal on Mar. 21 vs VGK, J.T. Miller registered his fourth multi-goal game of the season, which ranks third on the team. This marked the fourth time in his career (four in 2016.17, four in 2021.22, five in 2019.20) that he has recorded at least four multi-goal games in the same season.

  • Miller's penalty shot on Mar. 21 vs VGK was the second successful penalty shot goal of his career to become only the fourth Canuck to have multiple penalty shot goals with the team (tying Henrik Sedin and Markus Naslund, and trailing Pavel Bure [4]).
  • The shorthanded marker on Mar. 21 vs VGK was Miller's fifth of the 2022.23 season to surpass Elias Pettersson and four others to now lead the League in shorthanded goals.

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).

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.

2022.23 CANUCKS MILESTONES

  • Aidan McDonough appeared in his first career NHL game, Mar. 26 at CHI
  • Brock Boeser recorded his 300th career NHL point, Mar. 14 vs DAL
  • J.T. Miller appeared in his 700th career NHL game, Mar. 8 vs ANA
  • Elias Pettersson registered his 300th career NHL point, Mar. 6 vs NSH
  • Tyler Myers appeared in his 900th career NHL game, Mar. 6 vs NSH
  • Quinn Hughes became the fastest defenceman in NHL history to reach 200 assists (263 GP), Mar. 4 vs TOR
  • Dakota Joshua appeared in his 100th career NHL game, Mar. 2 vs MIN
  • Conor Garland appeared in his 300th career NHL game, Feb. 27 at DAL
  • Sheldon Dries appeared in his 100th career NHL game, Feb. 27 at DAL
  • Elias Pettersson appeared in his 300th career NHL game, Feb. 21 at NSH
  • Arturs Silovs recorded his 1st career NHL win, Feb. 18 vs PHI
  • Conor Garland recorded his 100th career NHL assist, Feb. 13 vs DET
  • Vasily Podkolzin appeared in his 100th career NHL game, Feb. 13 vs DET
  • Oliver Ekman-Larsson appeared in his 900th career NHL game, Feb. 11 at DET
  • J.T. Miller registered his 500th career NHL point, Feb. 8 at NYR
  • Ilya Mikheyev recorded his 100th career NHL point, Jan. 27 vs CBJ
  • Quinn Hughes recorded his 200th career NHL point, Jan. 12 at TBL
  • Oliver Ekman-Larsson recorded his 300th career NHL assist, Jan. 5 vs COL
  • J.T. Miller recorded his 300th career NHL assist, Dec. 5 vs MTL
  • Ethan Bear appeared in his 200th career NHL game, Nov. 21 vs VGK
  • Elias Pettersson recorded his 100th career NHL goal, Oct. 18 at CBJ

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

  • Max Sasson signed to a two-year entry level contract, Mar. 26
  • Jack Rathbone recalled under emergency conditions, Mar. 24
  • Christian Wolanin signed to a two-year contract extension, Mar. 23
  • Ethan Bear activated from injured reserve, Mar. 18
  • Aidan McDonough signed to a two-year entry level contract, Mar. 13
  • Phillip Di Giuseppe signed to a two-year contract extension, Mar. 12
  • Kirill Kudryavtsev signed to a three-year entry level contract, Mar. 10
  • Guillaume Brisebois committed to a two-year contract extension, Mar. 7
  • Arturs Silovs reassigned to Abbotsford, Mar. 7
  • Arturs Silovs recalled under emergency conditions, Mar. 6

THREE STARS - MARCH

  • Miller - 25 pts
  • Pettersson - 25 pts
  • Demko - 15 pts
  • Kuzmenko - 10 pts
  • Hughes - 10 pts
  • Di Giuseppe - 10 pts
  • Boeser - 10 pts
  • Aman-5pts
  • Joshua - 5 pts
  • Brisebois - 5 pts
  • Myers - 5 pts
  • Garland - 5 pts

FEBRUARY WINNER - Pettersson (15 pts)
JANUARY WINNER - Pettersson (20 pts)
DECEMBER WINNER - Pettersson (20 pts)
NOVEMBER WINNER - Horvat (40 pts)
OCTOBER WINNER - Horvat, Kuzmenko (10 pts)
*5 points are awarded for each Three Stars selection