Canucks Game Facts
This Evening: Vancouver Canucks at Seattle Kraken
Where: Climate Pledge Arena
When: 7:00 pm pacific
TV/Radio: Sportsnet / AM-650
Key Factors:
Starting goalies: Thatcher Demko vs. Philipp Grubauer
The Canucks have lost three games in a row for the first time in 2023-’24, but still possess the most points in the NHL, 80.
Vancouver is 1-and-1 against Seattle this season, splitting a pair of November games, losing 4-3 at Rogers Arena and then winning 5-1 at Climate Pledge Arena six nights later.
Since joining the Canucks last summer, former Kraken defenceman Carson Soucy has managed to play just 21 games with Vancouver, first suffering from a lower body injury early in the season and now out with a hand injury.
Physical winger Dakota Joshua is missed with something very similar. His hand injury from a fight ten days ago against the Blackhawks will keep him out of the line-up week-to-week.
Seattle has a healthy roster and is carrying 14 forwards and seven defencemen.
The Kraken are three points back of both wild card teams in the west. They’ve played the same number of games as the St. Louis Blues, but have a game in-hand on the Nashville Predators.
Who’s Hot? And Not?
J.T. Miller scored the lone Canucks goal against the Avalanche on Tuesday night and has six points over his last four games. He tallied a hat trick in Monday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild.
23-year-old forward Nils Höglander continues a break-out season with five points over his last seven games. Fans might see him on an all-Swedish line with Elias Pettersson and Elias Lindholm.
Miller is tied for 5th in NHL scoring with 75 points while Pettersson is 9th with 73.
Captain Quinn Hughes leads NHL D-men in scoring with 69 points.
Russian forward Ilya Mikheyev has just one point in his last six games and two over his last eleven.
For Seattle, Jared McCann has 19 points over his last 15 games and presently has a five-game point streak. He scored two goals against the Red Wings on Monday.
Coming off four points in the previous two games, Matty Beniers was held pointless against Detroit, but he did lead the forwards in ice time by a large margin, with 20:16 on ice.
Jaden Schwartz picked up a goal against the Red Wings to snap a six-game pointless streak.
Special Teams
Vancouver went 0-for-2 on the power play on Tuesday against the Avalanche in Denver while holding Colorado to an 0-for-3. The Canucks power play has slid gradually as the season has progressed but still stands with a decent 23%. The penalty kill is a sub-standard 78.7%
Thursday night the Kraken went 1-for-2 on the power play and held the Red Wings to an 0-for-1. The season percentage on the PP is 21%. The penalty kill still needs a bit of work, but has gradually improved to 79%.
Coming In:
Canucks: 37-15-and-6, in 1st place in the Pacific Division and on top of the NHL with 80 points. Vancouver lost to the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Kraken: 23-21-and-11, in 5th place in the Pacific Division with 57 points. Seattle lost to the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday night.
Recent Canucks:
— Simmer and Gabby 12; Best Team In The NHL, Classic Brawls
