The Vancouver Canucks near the conclusion of their season-long eight-game homestand, with the Anaheim Ducks coming to town for a Thursday night game at Rogers Arena.
Thursday’s game will be the second of four matchups this season between the two Pacific Division clubs. The Canucks took the only matchup of the season in late November.
Elias Pettersson has been a point-per-game player against the Ducks throughout his career, with seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points in 21 games.
Kevin Lankinen and Nikita Tolopilo combine to have a 5-0-0 record against the Ducks in their careers. Lankinen is 4-0-0 with a 0.929% save percentage and a 1.76 goals-against average, while Tolopilo stopped 37 of the 41 shots he faced in his one start against the Ducks.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- Thursday’s game is the final stop of the Ducks’ five-game road trip. They picked up wins over the Colorado Avalanche, Seattle Kraken, and Calgary Flames before losing to the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night.
- Cutter Gauthier leads the Ducks with 23 goals and 47 points on the season.
- Jackson LaCombe leads his team in ice time, averaging 24:31 per game, and has six goals and 28 assists for 34 points. LaCombe is one of three Ducks who have played in all 53 games this season (Beckett Sennecke & Alex Killorn).
- Lukas Dostal has started 34 of the Ducks’ 53 games this season. He has a 19-12-2 with a 0.895% save percentage and a 3.00 goals-against average.
- The Ducks are 16-6-0 when scoring the first goal of the game.
- They are 16-0-0 when taking a lead into the second intermission.
The Story: Rookie Willander Check-Up
Defenceman Tom Willander is in his first season of pro hockey and has been up with the NHL club since October 28th. The 20-year-old defenceman scored his third goal of the season on Tuesday night, and now has 15 points in 41 games played.
Willander is sixth in rookie scoring from a defenceman and in third for even-strength points. He is averaging 14:58 of ice time per game and has 37 shots on net.
