Following a five-game road trip, the Vancouver Canucks return to home ice and will face off with the Montreal Canadiens at Rogers Arena for an all-Canadian matchup on Saturday night.
Note the early home-ice start time of 4:00 p.m. PT.
Saturday’s game kicks off a three-game homestand for the Canucks. They will face the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday and the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
A solid goaltending duo is vital during a back-to-back weekend, and the Canucks have that with Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen. The duo has combined to have a .910% save percentage through eight games, and Demko’s .927% save percentage is fifth in the league for goaltenders with a minimum of five games played.
Max Sasson is up to three goals on the season in five games played. He’s had a hot stick since his call-up and is using his speed to create offence off the rush.
Conor Garland leads the team in points (7) and shots on net (22) through the first eight games of the season. Four of his five assists are primary assists, and he is the only Canucks forward averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per game.
Jake DeBrusk has played 80 minutes and 16 seconds at five-on-five, and in that time has been on the ice for four goals scored and one goal against.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Canadiens’ trip to Vancouver will be their third stop of a four-game road trip through the Pacific Division. They picked up a 2-1 overtime win in Calgary before a barnburner 6-5 loss against Edmonton.
- We’ve seen a lot of goals in the Canadiens’ games this season; they have scored three or more goals in seven of their nine games played. They rank sixth in the league for goals scored per game with an average of 3.56 per game.
- Canadiens’ captain Nick Suzuki leads his team with 12 points in nine games.
- Cole Caufield is tied for the goal-scoring leader of the NHL with seven on the season.
- Netminder Jakub Dobes has had a strong beginning to the season. In his four starts, he has a 4-0-0 record and holds a .950% save percentage.
- The Canadiens have three defencemen who are playing more than 22 minutes a game this season: Mike Matheson (24:21), Noah Dobson (22:37), and Lane Hutson (22:25).
- Hutson leads his team in points from a defenceman this season. He has one goal and seven assists this year.
The Story: New Guy, Lukas Reichel
On Friday afternoon, Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced that the team had traded a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forward Lukas Reichel.
Reichel was selected 17th overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and has played 174 NHL games over five seasons. Last season, he had a career-high eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points in 70 games with the Chicago Blackhawks.
General Manager Patrik Allvin spoke about what intrigued the organization about acquiring Reichel, noting his age (23), his ability to use his speed through the neutral zone, and his skill level.
Allvin also confirmed that Reichel would get a shot on Saturday against the Canadiens if he were to arrive in Vancouver on Friday.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Conor Garland: 2g-4a-6p
Quinn Hughes: 1g-3a-4p
Filip Hronek: 0g-4a-4p
Max Sasson: 3g-0a-3p
Tyler Myers: 1g-2a-3p
Elias Pettersson: 1g-2a-3p
When and Where to Watch
Saturday’s game is a 4:00 p.m. PT start time, and you can watch the game on Hockey Night in Canada or listen to Brendan Batchelor’s radio call on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
