The Vancouver Canucks begin a back-to-back with travel on Wednesday night when they hit the Mile High City to face the league’s top team, the Colorado Avalanche.
Evander Kane played and scored in his 1000th NHL game on Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights. Kane has played the Avs 36 times in his career, putting up 20 goals and adding 12 assists for 32 points. Jake DeBrusk has scored in more than half of his career games against the Avs, potting nine goals in 17 games.
Brock Boeser and Marco Rossi have three goals and seven assists apiece in their last 10 games.
Drew O’Connor leads the Canucks with 27 scoring chances over his last 10 outings.
Aatu Räty has won 63.3% of his faceoffs over the past 10 games. He also leads the team with 30 hits over that stretch.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Avalanche are 49-14-10 and have the most points in the league.
- They rank first in goals for (274) and first in goals against (179).
- The Avs are 25-7-5 on the road this season and have outscored their opposition 133-90 when away from Ball Arena.
- Colorado is 37-2-5 when scoring the first goal of the game.
- Nathan MacKinnon is third in the NHL for scoring. He has 49 goals and 71 assists for 120 points in 49 games. His 49 goals lead the NHL.
- Martin Necas (35) and Brock Nelson (33) are the other two Avs players with 30+ goals this season.
- Their penalty kill ranks second in the league, killing off 84.2% of their penalties.
- On the power play, they rank 24th, with a 18.1% conversion rate.
- Scott Wedgewood has started 39 of the Avs’ 73 games this season, while Mackenzie Blackwood has started in 31. Wedgewood has a 27-5-6 record with a 9.17% save percentage, 2.18 goals-against average, and has two shutouts. Blackwood has a 21-9-1 record with a .905% save percentage, 2.42 goals-against average, and three shutouts.
The Story: Climbing the Franchise History Books
Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson moved up the franchise record books on Monday. Boeser scored his 79th power play goal, tying him with Todd Bertuzzi for fifth in Canucks history. Pettersson notched his 107th power play assist, tying him with Stan Smyl and Thomas Gradin for ninth.
Daniel Sedin is the franchise leader in power play goals with 138.
Henrik Sedin is the franchise leader in power play assists with 308.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Elias Pettersson: 0g-6a-6p
Filip Hronek: 1g-3a-4p
Brock Boeser: 2g-1a-3p
Jake DeBrusk: 2g-1a-3p
Evander Kane: 1g-1a-2p
When and Where to Watch
Wednesday’s game is at 5:30 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.
