The Vancouver Canucks host the New Jersey Devils at Rogers Arena on Friday night as the Canucks hit the halfway point of their eight-game homestand.
Friday’s game will be the second and final match of the season between the Canucks and Devils. These two teams met in New Jersey on December 14th, with the Canucks picking up a 2-1 victory.
Wednesday night saw the Canucks pick up a win against the Washington Capitals, and the team is looking to build on what was a gutsy effort after coming back from an early 2-0 deficit.
“You have to build on it,” said Head Coach Adam Foote. “We got a team coming in that’s won their last two. They had a slow start, and they’ve been playing some pretty good defensive hockey. So, make sure we move on and then, you know, guys did a good job, and learn from it and keep, keep applying it.”
The Canucks scored four consecutive goals in the game and had multi-point efforts from Brock Boeser, David Kämpf, and Jake DeBrusk in the win.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Devils are 14-13-0 on the road this season.
- Nico Hischier leads the Devils with 15 goals and is tied for the team lead with Jesper Bratt at 37 points apiece.
- Timo Meier and Jack Hughes join Bratt on the Devils’ top line. That trio has played 92 minutes of five-on-five together and has registered 49 scoring chances while only giving up 27.
- Friday’s game is the third stop of a four-game road trip through the Pacific Division. The Devils have picked up a pair of 2-1 wins over the two Alberta teams.
- The Devils are 17-4-1 when scoring the opening goal of the game and are 17-0-0 when leading after two periods.
- They have the lowest five-on-five shooting percentage in the NHL at 7.00% this season.
The Story: Blueger is Back
Teddy Blueger returned to the lineup on Wednesday in the Canucks’ win over the Capitals and played 18:24 in his return.
“It was great. I was energized to get back. I’d been a while, so I should have been well rested. But I think once you get the first couple of shifts out of the way, then you just let the instincts take over and just kind of go from there,” said Blueger.
He went on to add that he felt better than he hoped for, and that the timing felt good even though he hadn’t been in a lot of five-on-five situations in the past few months.
Blueger finished the game with three shots on net and four hits. He played on a line with Conor Garland and Liam Öhgren, and we’ve seen Garland and Blueger develop chemistry over the past couple of seasons.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Brock Boeser: 2g-1a-3p
David Kämpf: 0g-3a-3p
Evander Kane: 2g-0a-2p
Drew O’Connor: 2g-0a-2p
Filip Hronek: 1g-1a-2p
Elias Pettersson: 1g-1a-2p
When and Where to Watch
Friday’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.
