The Vancouver Canucks are back in action on Sunday evening as they take on the Utah Hockey Club, with both teams being on the second night of a back-to-back.
Sunday is the second of three meetings between Vancouver and Utah this season. Utah picked up a 3-2 overtime victory on December 18th. The game means a lot in the standings as Utah is one of the teams in the hunt with the Canucks for a wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Utah currently sits with 57 points and has a 24-24-9 record this season. On home ice, they are 9-12-6.
Both teams come into Sunday’s game fresh off a loss on Saturday night. Utah fell to the Kings by a score of 5-3, with Barrett Hayton scoring a hat trick in the loss.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- Clayton Keller leads Utah with 20 goals, 41 assists and 61 points through 56 games this season.
- Utah’s penalty kill is clicking at 80.8% and ranks 11th in the league.
- Mikhail Sergachev leads in ice time per game, averaging just shy of 26 minutes per night.
- They are tied for the league-worst 2.59 goals per game on home ice.
- Kevin Stenlund is 59% in the faceoff dot this season and ranks near the top of the league in winning faceoffs. Stenlund kills penalties and has seven goals while averaging 14:20 of ice time per game.
- Connor Ingram started for Utah on Saturday. The expectation is that Karel Vejmelka will go for Utah on Sunday. Vejmelka has a 13-15-4 record with a .909% save percentage, 2.57 goals-against average, and has one shutout.
The Story: DeBrusk Gets Goal Count to 20
Jake DeBrusk became the first Canuck to the 20-goal plateau this season when he scored on Saturday night in Vegas. DeBrusk is averaging 16:40 this season. Three of his goals have been game-winners, while he leads the Canucks with eight power play goals.
DeBrusk spoke following the Canucks’ loss to Vegas on Saturday night. He mentioned that the team had some good practices at the end of the break and said there were some positives, but there are some things the team needs to clean up.
