It is another three-game week for the Vancouver Canucks and all three games will be on home ice as the team goes through their longest homestand of the season.
Tuesday brings the St. Louis Blues to town for their first meeting of the season. This will be the fourth and final game of the Blues’ Canadian road trip which has seen them go through Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton.
The Blues beat Winnipeg and Calgary last week before losing in overtime to Edmonton on Saturday night. Their road record currently stands at 8-7-1 and the Blues are sixth in the Central Division with a 13-13-2 record.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg were offer-sheeted from the Edmonton Oilers in the offseason and both players have already hit career highs in points.
- The Blues have the 26th-ranked power play in the league and are clicking at 16.9% on the man-advantage.
- They are 22nd on the penalty kill with a 78.1% kill rate.
- Jordan Kyrou leads the team in goals (9) and assists (14).
- Defenceman Colton Parayko leads the Blues with 24:55 of average ice time. Parayko has five goals and nine assists through 28 games. He has scored all five of his goals at even strength.
- Jordan Binnington has started 20 of their 28 games. He holds a 2.93 goals-against average, a .897% save percentage and has one shutout this season.
- After playing every second day to begin this road trip, the Blues have two full days off before Tuesday’s game and their record on two days rest is 2-3-1.
The Story: Stats to Know
Through 26 games, Elias Pettersson leads the team with 74 scoring chances.
Jake DeBrusk is second with 70 but leads the team with 46 chances from high-danger areas.
Canucks’ captain Quinn Hughes leads the team in shot attempts with 209. He ranks eighth in the NHL for shot attempts.
Hughes scored his seventh goal of the season on Sunday afternoon and is now up to 32 points on the season. He is riding a seven-game point streak and is first in the league for points-per-game from a defenceman (1.23 ppg).
He has had more multi-point games this season than he has had games without a point.
Kiefer Sherwood has had a strong start to his Canucks’ tenure and it’s not just about the hits. Yes, Sherwood leads the NHL with 160 hits, but he has also been great at controlling the goal share at five-on-five. Sherwood has been on the ice for 20 goals scored and 10 against at five-on-five.
The 29-year-old winger is up to eight goals and is now just two goals away from his career-high that he set last year with the Nashville Predators.
Sherwood has also become a consistent contributor to the Canucks’ penalty kill. He is third of the forwards for shorthanded ice time and in his 41:31 of penalty-killing time, he has only been on the ice for three power play goals against.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Quinn Hughes: 2g-7a-9p
Jake DeBrusk: 6g-1a-7p
Elias Pettersson: 0g-7a-7p
Pius Suter: 4g-2a-6p
Conor Garland: 2g-3a-5p
When and Where to Watch
Tuesday night’s game is a 7 p.m. PT start, and you can watch it on Sportsnet or listen along to the radio call with Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
