The Vancouver Canucks are in Vegas and will play the Golden Knights for their final game before the Olympic break on Wednesday night.
Wednesday’s game will be the first matchup of the season between the Canucks and the Golden Knights. The two Pacific Division clubs will play twice more after Wednesday; once in late March and then again in early April.
Teddy Blueger picked up a two-point night on Monday in the team’s loss to the Utah Mammoth. Blueger now has four goals and five points in his last six games. He has averaged 16:55 through that six-game stretch and has won 51.2% of his faceoffs in those half-dozen games.
Linus Karlsson has controlled 52.1% of scoring chances at five-on-five this season. In his 505:18 of ice time, he has been on the ice for 249 scoring chances for and 229 against. Karlsson is sixth in scoring on the team with 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Golden Knights come into Wednesday’s game on a five-game losing streak but still sit atop the Pacific Division with a 25-16-14 record.
- Jack Eichel leads the Golden Knights with 64 points (19g-45a) through 48 games played. He has not scored a power play goal this season, but has 23 assists on the man-advantage.
- Mitch Marner is 55 games into his first season with Vegas. The 28-year-old winger has 15 goals and 41 assists for 56 points in 55 games.
- Eichel and Marner control 60% of the goal share at five-on-five this season. Eichel has been on the ice for 42 goals and 28 against, while Marner has been on for 45 and 30 against.
- Pavel Dorofeyev leads the Golden Knights with 13 power play goals and is tied with Kirill Kaprizov for second in the league.
- Their power play ranks fifth in the league, clicking at 25.3% on the season.
- Vegas’ penalty kill ranks 12th in the league, killing off 80.5% of their penalties.
- Akira Schmid has made 24 starts for Vegas this season. He has a 15-6-6 record with a .894% save percentage, 2.55 goals-against average, and two shutouts.
- Defencemen Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin average over 23 minutes of ice time per game. Theodore has seven goals from the backend this season.
The Story: Liam’s First Point Streak
Liam Öhgren is 71 games into his NHL career and is officially on his first point streak.
The 22-year-old scored the opening goal on Monday in Utah and picked up a primary assist on the first goal of the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Öhgren has four goals and four assists through 25 games with the Canucks. He has also recently been given some penalty killing time, and head coach Adam Foote likes what he’s seen from the young winger.
“We gave him some reps in practice, but also did a lot of work with him,” said Foote following a practice last week. “We can’t keep using the same guys moving forward. We’ve got to teach these young guys how to do it, and he’s got the speed. Give him a little bit more of a role until he develops more offensively, which he’s got the tools to.”
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Teddy Blueger: 3g-1a-4p
Jake DeBrusk: 1g-3a-4p
Elias Pettersson: 0g-4a-4p
Liam Öhgren: 1g-2a-3p
Filip Hronek: 1g-2a-3p
When and Where to Watch
Wednesday’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.
