The Vancouver Canucks face the Detroit Red Wings for the first time this season on a Monday night matchup at Rogers Arena.
Following a commanding 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night, head coach Adam Foote gave credit to his group for playing a gritty game.
“They played with a little bit more zip, but give them all credit. I mean, they played pretty; they played in the dirt, and that was probably the part that was missing consistently,” said Foote.
“[We were] challenging [them] a little bit to play more of a not dirty as a cheap shot, but play more of a gritty game, playing the hard areas with more snap, more grit, more gristle. I mean, you look at some of the guys you’re looking over there, they’ve got the full beards and things like that, and you’ve got a 20-year-old, you just have to get in the dirt and realize you’ll survive it.”
Monday’s game is the second-last game at Rogers Arena before the Christmas break. The Canucks will conclude their current four-game homestand on Thursday when the Buffalo Sabres come to town.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- Monday’s game is the third game of a season-long six-game road trip for the Red Wings. They began the journey in Columbus with a 6-5 shootout loss and then followed that up with a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night.
- Detroit has five power play goals in their last three games. Their power play ranks seventh in the league, clicking at 24.5% on the year.
- Lucas Raymond has two power play goals in his last three games and has 19 points (6g-13a) in his previous 14 games. Raymond is tied for 19th in points this season with 10 goals and 21 assists for 31 points in 27 games played.
- It has been a relatively even split between the pipes this season, with Cam Talbot starting 14 games and John Gibson starting 15 so far this season.
- Moritz Seider leads the Red Wings’ defence corps and is tied with Quinn Hughes for 10th in defenceman scoring with 22 points. Seider averages 25:03 of ice time per game.
- The Wings are 9-3-1 when scoring the opening goal of the game.
- They are 11-1-1 when leading at the second intermission.
The Story: Räty’s Career Game
Aatu Räty had the first three-point game of his career on Saturday night as he potted a pair of goals and added an assist on a faceoff win that resulted in a goal from (D) Elias Pettersson.
He also won 14 of the 16 faceoffs he took on Saturday and has won 53 of 71 faceoffs (74.6% win-rate) over his last eight games.
Räty is riding a three-game point streak and has tied his career high with 11 points this season. He is also second on the Canucks in hits and has won 59.4% of his 300+ faceoffs this season.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Aatu Räty: 2g-3a-5p
Tom Willander: 1g-2a-3p
Evander Kane: 1g-2a-3p
Linus Karlsson: 1g-1a-2p
Arshdeep Bains: 1g-1a-2p
When and Where to Watch
Monday’s game is at 7:00 p.m. PT, and you can watch the game on Sportsnet or listen to Brendan Batchelor’s radio call on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
