Vancouver Canucks

GAME NOTES | CANUCKS VS SHARKS - MAR. 23/23

March 23, 2023



CANUCKS vs SHARKS

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, NBC Sports California

Radio: Sportsnet 650

MATCH-UP INFO

  • Tonight marks the fourth and final meeting between the Canucks and Sharks this season: Nov. 27 (4-3 OTW @ SJS), Dec. 7 (6-5 OTW @ SJS), Dec. 27 (6-2 W @ VAN), and Mar. 23 (home).
  • Vancouver is 64-55-9-7 all-time against San Jose, including a 29-26-4-5 record at home.
  • The Canucks are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games against the Sharks (including 5-0-0 in their last five).
  • J.T. Miller leads all active Canucks skaters in career points against San Jose with 18 (6-12-18 in 18 GP).
  • Tyler Myers leads all active Canucks in career games played against San Jose at 28 (2-15-17 in those games).
  • Andrei Kuzmenko has five points (2-3-5) in three career games against the Sharks.
  • Quinn Hughes has 10 points (4-6-10) in 10 career games against the Sharks.
  • Elias Pettersson has 13 points (5-8-13) in 14 career games against the Sharks.
  • Conor Garland has 17 points (8-9-17) in 19 career games against the Sharks.
  • Thatcher Demko is 7-0-0 in seven career games against San Jose with a 2.27 GAA and a .926 SV%.
  • Collin Delia has yet to face San Jose in his career.

QUICK NUMBERS

  • Elias Pettersson is on a career-high nine 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 MEETING - DEC. 27/22: VAN 6 vs SJS 2

Bo Horvat opened the scoring at 4:26 in the first period...Ilya Mikheyev registered his first of four points on the assist...Brock Boeser collected the second helper...Elias Pettersson would double the Canucks lead before the end of the period...Lane Pederson and Luke Schenn tallied assists on the play...Mikheyev reclaimed the two goal lead at 4:36 in the second period...Andrei Kuzmenko and Tyler Myers were both credited with assists...Quinn Hughes scored his first goal of the season less than two minutes later...Mikheyev and Horvat both got a point on the play...Horvat recorded his league-leading eighth multi-goal game of the season at 12:11 in the third...Boeser collected the lone assist...Boeser followed up with his own goal, the sixth of the season...Horvat and Mikheyev were once again on the helpers to both collect their fourth points of the contest...Schenn led the team in hits (7)...Riley Stillman led the team in blocked shots (4)...Spencer Martin stopped 24 shots.

LAST GAME PLAYED - MAR. 21/23: VAN 3 vs VGK 4

J.T. Miller scored the Canucks' first goal with a successful shorthanded penalty shot in the second period...The goal was Miller's second successful career penalty shot...Miller would bring the Canucks within one on the power play at 12:42...Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson registered assists on the play...Phillip Di Giuseppe scored at 11:43 in the third period with his fourth of the season...Miller collected an assist for a three-point contest...Hughes was credited with the second assist...Thatcher Demko faced 27 shots...Tyler Myers led the team in blocked shots (5).

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)

STREAKING AGAINST THE SHARKS

Entering play tonight, Vancouver has won eight straight games against the San Jose Sharks for their longest active winning streak against on opponent, dating back to Jan. 18, 2020. During that stretch they have outscored the Sharks 39-21, tallying at least four goals in each contest. With a win tonight, the Canucks could match their franchise-best winning streak of nine games against San Jose which took place from Dec. 28, 1991 to Dec. 29, 1992.

QUINN HUGHES IS ON FIRE

Collecting two assists on Mar. 21 vs VGK, Quinn Hughes broke his own franchise record for most assists in a single season by a defenceman with 62 (formerly 60 in 2021.22) 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 19934.94 to post consecutive 60-assist seasons.
  • Recording his 44th career multi-assist game on Mar. 19, Hughes tied Mark Howe for the fourth-most multi-assist performances in a defenceman's first 270 games, trailing only Bobby Orr (47), Paul Reinhart (46) and Dennis Potvin (45).
  • With his two assists on Mar. 19 giving him 206 through the first 270 games of his career, Hughes now ranks third all-time for the most assists per game among defencemen in NHL history (minimum 200 assists) with 0.76, trailing Bobby Orr (0.98) and Paul Coffey (0.81).

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. It was also the Canucks' 12th shorthanded goal on the season, which is the most by a Canucks team since 2002.03 and now ranks tied for second-most in the NHL this season.

CAN'T STOP KUZY

Thanks to his opening tally on Mar. 16 at ARI, Andrei Kuzmenko owns an NHL-best 26.8% 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).

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.

2022.23 CANUCKS MILESTONES

  • 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

  • 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 - 20 pts
  • Demko - 10 pts
  • Hughes - 10 pts
  • Aman - 5pts
  • Joshua - 5 pts
  • Kuzmenko - 5 pts
  • Boeser - 5 pts
  • Brisebois - 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