With only two games remaining before the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Vancouver Canucks travel down to San Jose for a single-game road trip to battle with the Sharks.
Note the 7:30 p.m. PT start time for Thursday night’s game. It will be the third matchup of the season between the two Pacific Division teams. The Canucks have won the first two games and are looking to build off a big 3-0 win on Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche.
Brock Boeser scored his 17th goal of the season in the game against the Avs and now turns his attention to continuing to thrive against the Pacific Division. Boeser has eight goals in 11 games against inter-division teams and leads the Canucks as he averages 8.83 scoring chances per 60 minutes.
Boeser leads the team with 31 scoring chances over his last eight games and is getting high-quality shots off at even-strength and on the Canucks’ first power play unit.
The Sharks sit with a 15-34-6 record and are in the middle of a three-game road trip that will take them into the 4 Nations break.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- Vancouver-born rookie Macklin Celebrini leads the Sharks with 39 points this season. The 18-year-old is averaging 19:41 of ice time per game and is second on the Sharks with 17 goals.
- Former Canuck Tyler Toffoli leads with 19 goals and has been a good veteran presence for the young Sharks team. He has scored 15 of his 19 goals at even strength.
- The Sharks are the only team in the NHL with four goaltenders who have made a minimum of 12 starts this season. They currently have Alexandar Georgiev and Vitek Vanecek as their two netminders on the roster and Vanecek has better numbers with a 3-8-1 record along with an .885% save percentage and a 3.84 goals-against average.
- Jake Walman leads the Sharks in average ice time and is logging 22:49 per game. Walman sees time on both special teams units.
- Celebrini and Toffoli are joined by William Eklund on their top line and that trio had controlled 52.9% of scoring chances through their 115:21 of ice time as a line.
The Story: Keeping the energy level high
Head coach Rick Tocchet likes how the group has played over their past couple of games and wants to see his group keep their energy up as they approach the two-week break.
“The thing I’ve liked the last couple days is the energy level is really high, so you want to keep that momentum with the energy,” said Tocchet.
The coach spoke about a good energy level in the room and likes how Filip Chytil, Marcus Pettersson, Victor Mancini, and Drew O’Connor are working with the coaches to get up to speed with the Canucks’ system and structure.
“The last three or four days, there’s a nice energy in the room. When you bring in five or six new guys, there’s a new energy. The one thing I can tell you is that they want to be coached.”
Aside from the players who came in from trades, defenceman Elias Pettersson is beginning to find more success in the NHL and has impressed his teammates and coaches with his ability to blend into an NHL game.
“We really wanted to kind of guard him a little bit but now that he’s taken little bites, we’ve got to give him more,” said Tocchet of D-Petey after Tuesday’s win over the Colorado Avalanche.
The 20-year-old defenceman is doing a solid job protecting his crease and making a strong first pass to exit his own zone. D-Petey has averaged 13:10 of ice time through his four NHL games and has been on the ice for 13 high-danger scoring chances for and just one against.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Quinn Hughes: 0g-3a-3p
Conor Garland: 2g-0a-2p
Jake DeBrusk: 1g-1a-2p
Nils Höglander: 1g-1a-2p
Filip Hronek: 0g-2a-2p
When and Where to Watch
Thursday’s game is a 7:30 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.
