The Vancouver Canucks continue their road trip with two Florida stops, starting Thursday evening with a matchup against the Florida Panthers.
Thursday will be game five of the road trip, and Jake DeBrusk has been the most productive player so far. He has scored three goals and added an assist for four points in four games. All three of his goals have come at even strength, and his line, which also features Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Elias Pettersson, has done a good job getting to high-danger areas to create scoring chances.
Goaltender Leevi Meriläinen has been strong in his first five outings with the Canucks. He has posted a save percentage over .900% in each outing this season and ranks second in the league in five-on-five save percentage (.958%) among goaltenders with at least 100 minutes played.
Tom Willander played a career-high 25:43 on Tuesday night against the New York Islanders. It was more than two and a half minutes more than his previous high of 23:04.
Willander and Elias Pettersson (D) have posted stellar underlying numbers as a pairing this season. The two have played 24:55 of five-on-five ice time together and controlled 81% of shot attempts, 80% of shot share, and 89.9% of expected goal share.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Panthers are 3-2-2 through seven games this season.
- They enter Thursday’s game after an offensive explosion against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. The Panthers scored seven goals; the Tkachuk brothers combined for nine points, and Brady Tkachuk scored his first hat trick as a Panther.
- Matthew Tkachuk leads the Panthers with 10 points through seven games.
- Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand, and Jonah Gadjovich are all on injury reserve.
- The Panthers started the season at 1/28 on the power play but have scored six goals in their last 10 man-advantage opportunities.
- Seth Jones leads the Panthers in ice time, averaging 25:52 per game. He has one goal and six assists this season.
- Garnet Hathaway leads the Panthers with 34 hits through seven games.
- Sam Reinhart centres the top line with the Tkachuk brothers on his wings. Reinhart leads the Panthers with four goals this season.
The Story: Brock Boeser Cracks Top Five
Brock Boeser moved past Todd Bertuzzi for fifth in franchise history for power play goals with his second-period goal on Tuesday.
