The Vancouver Canucks roll into another busy weekend with back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday night.
Friday, the Canucks are in Seattle to battle with the Kraken before a showdown with the Sharks in San Jose on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday. This back-to-back kicks off five straight games against Pacific Division foes.
After a rough start to the season, the Kraken are coming in and playing some of their best hockey. They’ve won three of their last four games and have picked up points in their last five games. The Kraken have been getting offensive contributions throughout their lineup over the last four games but the leading players over their recent winning ways have been Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jordan Eberle, who each have six points through the Kraken’s last four games.
Bjorkstrand’s recent run of offensive success has helped him jump Vince Dunn as the Kraken’s top scorer.
The Kraken will get a big breath after Friday’s game as they take the weekend off and will not play until Tuesday. You can expect the Kraken to empty the tank on Friday night, but the Canucks will be ready after they matched up well with a strong Colorado Avalanche team on Wednesday and will look to bounce back from the loss.
Quick hits on the competition (Kraken)
- It’s been a steady rotation in net from the Kraken this season. Philipp Grubauer has 12 starts and Joey Daccord has nine starts but has had to replace Grubauer thrice this season.
- Jaden Schwartz is the man to watch on Seattle’s power play. He has five goals on the man-advantage this season and the next highest is Jared McCann with three.
- 21-year-old Matty Beniers has picked up three points over his last three games, and the 2nd overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft plays a solid two-way game. He will centre the top line that has McCann and Eberle on the wings.
- The Canucks are 3-1-0 in Seattle since the Kraken joined the league.
Saturday will see the Canucks head down the coast and into San Jose to play the Sharks.
The Sharks continue to improve from their tough start to the season but the Canucks handled them this past Monday in a 3-1 win. The Sharks will also be on the second night of back-to-backs as they host the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.
It was a difficult night for the Sharks on Wednesday when they faced off with the Kraken. They were only able to get 14 shots on net in the game and the Kraken came away with a 7-1 win.
Tomas Hertl is still the only Sharks player to be in double digits for points. He has four goals and eight assists in 19 games this season.
Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood may have some not-so-nice stats, but he has had a handful of great starts this season where it looked like he would steal a win. Blackwood has had five games this season where he faced 35 or more shots and allowed two or fewer goals. On October 14th, Blackwood faced the Avalanche and stopped 51 of the 52 shots he faced. Ultimately, the Sharks were only able to score one goal in that game and lost in a shootout.
Quick hits on the competition (Sharks)
- The Sharks’ worst period this season has been the third period. They've allowed 32 goals and only scored nine.
- Scoring first is huge against the Sharks. All 12 teams that have scored the first goal of the game against the Sharks have won their game this season.
- The Sharks have not outshot an opponent this season.
- All seven of the Sharks’ points this season have come on home ice where they have a lead after the first period.
- The Canucks have outscored the Sharks by a 13-2 count through two games this season. The two teams will play a final matchup of the season right before the Christmas break.
As for our Canucks, they have an 8-4-0 record in their previous dozen games as they head into this weekend’s back-to-back games. The team has scored 49 goals and allowed 32 over this 12-game stretch.
Quinn Hughes leads in the points column over those 12 games, with 23 points in that stretch and has been electric at creating offence at both five-on-five and the power play.
J.T. Miller leads the goal-scoring over the past dozen games, he’s picked up nine goals through that run and has held a 55% control of the goal share at even-strength through that stretch while matching up against the opposition’s top lines.
Hughes woke up on Friday morning as the league leader in points with 31 through 20 games. Miller wasn’t far behind at all – he's sitting second in the league for scoring with 30 points.
No matter if it’s Thatcher Demko or Casey DeSmith in net, the Canucks will be feeling great about their netminder. Demko has a 7-3-0 record over his last 10 games and holds a .923% save percentage in those 10 starts. As for DeSmith, he’s got a 2-1-0 record over his last three starts and holds a .920% save percentage of his own.
The Canucks are confident in their backstops, and they will both be tested this weekend with the team playing in a back-to-back with travel scenario.
Each game this weekend is at 7:00 pm PT for puck drop. Friday’s game will be available for your viewing pleasure on Sportsnet, Saturday will be the nightcap of Hockey Night in Canada and both games are on Sportsnet 650 radio with Brendan Batchelor on the call.
