Game Notes: Canucks vs. Sharks

CANUCKS VS SHARKS

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet One, CITY, NBC Sports California

Radio: Sportsnet 650

MATCH-UP INFO

• Tonight marks the second of four meetings between the Canucks and Sharks this season: Nov. 28 (road, 3-2 L), Dec. 27 (home), Jan. 27 (home), and Apr. 11 (road).
• Vancouver is 72-57-9-7 all-time against San Jose, including a 34-26-4-5 record at home.
• The Canucks are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games against the Sharks (4-1-0 in their last five).
• Conor Garland leads all active Canucks skaters in scoring against San Jose with 26 points (9-17-26) in 29 career games.
• In 28 career games against the Sharks, Brock Boeser has 23 points (13-10-23).
• Tyler Myers has 20 points (2-18-20) in 37 career games against San Jose.
• In 20 career games against the Sharks, Kiefer Sherwood has 13 points (6-7-13).
• Thatcher Demko holds a 13-0-0 record with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage in 13 career games against San Jose.
• Kevin Lankinen is 3-1-0 with a 2.94 goals-against average and an .893 save percentage in four career games against the Sharks.

QUICK NUMBERS

• Jake DeBrusk ranks t-6th in the NHL in power play goals (eight).
• Max Sasson has goals in back-to-back games for the second time this season.
• Zeev Buium ranks second amongst rookie defencemen in points (17) and third in assists (13).

LAST MEETING – NOV. 28/25: VAN 2 at SJS 3

Brock Boeser opened the scoring 4:28 into the first period…Conor Garland and Tom Willander had the assists…Will Smith tied the game 4:57 later on the power play…Elias Pettersson re-took the lead for Vancouver just past the three-minute mark of the second…Evander Kane and Filip Hronek had the helpers…William Eklund evened the game on the power play with 5:57 left in the middle frame…Adam Gaudette gave San Jose the lead 1:14 later…Boeser, Pettersson, and Jake DeBrusk each had five shots…D Elias Pettersson had five hits…Quinn Hughes blocked two shots…Nikita Tolopilo made 21 saves.

2025.26 TEAM RANKS

LAST GAME PLAYED – DEC. 22/25: VAN 2 at PHI 5

Nikita Grebenkin opened the scoring with 6:47 remaining in the second frame…Carl Grundstrom doubled the Flyers lead just before the six-minute-mark of the third…Christian Dvorak gave Philadelphia a three goal lead 1:51 later…Max Sasson got Vancouver on the board with 6:55 remaining in regulation…Conor Garland and Tyler Myers had the assists…Owen Tippett added one for the Flyers 2:30 later…Matvei Michkov scored an empty-netter with 1:11 left in the third…Drew O’Connor scored Vancouver’s second goal of the contest with 18 seconds remaining…Evander Kane had four shots…Kiefer Sherwood had a season-high 11 hits…Garland blocked three shots…Thatcher Demko made 34 saves.

LAST 5 – vs SAN JOSE

• Nov. 28/25: VAN 2 at SJS 3
• Apr. 14/25: VAN 2 vs SJS 1 (OT)
• Feb. 6/25: VAN 2 at SJS 1 (OT)
• Dec. 23/24: VAN 4 vs SJS 3
• Nov. 2/24: VAN 3 at SJS 2

ON THIS DATE

• The Canucks have played 20 times on December 27 in the franchise’s history, holding a record of 10-8-2-0.
  • This includes a 8-5-1-0 record at home.
  • Vancouver has one their last five matchups on December 27, including the most recent one (in 2022) against San Jose (6-2 W).

CHIEF KIEF

• Recording 11 hits on Dec. 22/25 at PHI, Kiefer Sherwood now owns 12 of the top 28 individual hit games since the start of the 2024.25 season.
  • Since the start of the 2024.25 season, Sherwood has 626 hits, the most in the NHL (second place: Will Cuylle, 432 hits).
• Scoring three goals on Dec. 19/25 at NYI, Kiefer Sherwood registered his third hat trick since joining the Canucks in the 2024.25 season, tied with seven other players for the most over that span (as of Dec. 19/25).
  • Sherwood became the second-fastest player to record three hat tricks with the Canucks (112 GP), only behind Alexander Mogilny (37 GP).

THE FINNISHER

• Stopping all seven shooters in the shootout on Dec. 20/25 at BOS, Kevin Lankinen improved his career record in the shootout to 9-4, stopping 45 of 51 shots (.882 save percentage), the highest shootout save percentage (minimum 40 shots against) in NHL history.

SHOWING OUT IN THE SHOOTOUT

• With their third win of the season in a game decided in a shootout on Dec. 20/25 at BOS, the Canucks joined Anaheim (4-0), New Jersey (3-0), Buffalo (3-0) and Ottawa (3-0) as the only teams undefeated in the shootout this season (minimum three shootouts).

WELCOME TO THE DEMSHOW

• Stopping 23 of 24 shots on Dec. 19/25 at NYI, Thatcher Demko set a new career-long shutout streak (150:53), the 10th longest in Canucks franchise history.
• Making 23 saves for his first shutout of the season on Dec. 16/25 at NYR, Thatcher Demko tied Ryan Miller for the fifth most shutouts in Canucks history.
  • Demko’s shutout was the first by a Canucks goaltender at Madison Square Garden since Kevin Weekes on Oct. 24/99.

FIL THE THRILL

• With his first of two assists on Dec. 19/25 at NYI, Filip Hronek became the sixth-fastest Canucks defenceman to 100 points with the franchise (180 GP), trailing Paul Reinhart (113 GP), Quinn Hughes (133 GP), Dale Tallon (146 GP), Kevin McCarthy (164 GP), and Jocelyn Guevremont (165 GP).

EARLY BIRD GETS THE GOAL

• Opening the scoring 1:46 into the first period on Dec. 16/25 at NYR, the Canucks scored inside the first two minutes of a game for the fifth time this season, tied with three other teams for the second-most in the league.

HERE COMES THE BUIUM

• With a goal and an assist on Dec. 14/25 at NJD, Zeev Buium became the first defenceman in franchise history to record multiple points in the first period of his Canucks debut, and the third to record multiple points in his Canucks debut overall.
  • With an assist on Jake DeBrusk’s goal 61 seconds into the game, Buium became the fastest player to record a point in his Canucks debut since Todd Bertuzzi on Feb. 7/98.
  • Recording the game-winning-goal on Dec. 14/25 at NJD, Buium became the fourth defenceman to score the game-winner in his Canucks debut, and the first overall since Brock Boeser on Mar. 25/17 at MIN.

JAKE THE SNAKE

• Opening the scoring on Dec. 14/25 at NJD, Jake DeBrusk registered his eighth power play goal of the 2025.26 season, tied for third in the league (now t-5th).
  • DeBrusk’s 22 power play goals since the start of the 2024.25 season rank t-4th in the NHL over that span.

NEW KIDS IN TOWN

• Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren, and Zeev Buium were acquired from the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 12/25.
  • Rossi, 24, is a native of Feldkirch, Austria, and has appeared in 202 career games, posting 114 points (49-65-114) and 87 penalty minutes. He posted a career-high 60 points (24-36-60) in 82 games in 2024.25 and has 13 points (4-9-13) in 17 games in 2025.26.
  • Öhgren, 21, is from Stockholm, SWE, and has played in 46 career NHL games (including 18 in 2025.26), recording seven points (3-4-7) and two penalty minutes. In 2024.25 with the Iowa Wild (AHL), he posted 37 points (19-18-37) in 41 games.
  • Buium, 20, hails from San Diego, CA, and is in his rookie season, having posted 14 points (3-11-14) in 31 games. He made his NHL debut on Apr. 20/25 in Game 1 of Minnesota’s first round series against the Vegas Golden Knights.

A WILD NIGHT OF FIRSTS

• Scoring his first NHL goal on Dec. 6/25 vs MIN, Tom Willander became the third defenceman from the 2023 draft class to score their first NHL goal.
  • Adding an assist on Dec. 6/25, Willander also leads all defencemen from the 2023 draft class in assists (7) and is first for first in points (8).
• With two goals and an assist on Dec. 6/25 vs MIN, Aatu Räty recorded the first three-point game of his career.
  • Räty’s first goal on Dec. 6/25 vs MIN also stood as the game-winning goal, the first GWG of his career.

MOVIN’ ON UP

• Scoring Vancouver’s second goal on Nov. 28/25 at SJS, Elias Pettersson passed Pavel Bure for the seventh-most points in franchise history (479).
• Recording an assist on Nov. 26/25 at ANA, Elias Pettersson tied Pavel Bure for the seventh-most points in franchise history (478).
  • Pettersson also passed J.T. Miller for the 10th most assists in franchise history.
• With the opening goal on Nov. 23/25 vs CGY, Filip Hronek passed Jaroslav Modry for the ninth-most points by a Czech defenceman in NHL history (250).
• Scoring two goals on Nov. 17/25 at FLA, Elias Pettersson passed Stan Smyl for the seventh-most multi-goal games (31) in franchise history.
• Recording two points (1-1-2) on Nov. 14/25 at CAR, Elias Pettersson passed Tony Tanti for eighth on the franchise’s all-time scoring list (472).
  • With his goal on Nov. 14/25 vs CAR, Elias Pettersson passed Todd Bertuzzi for 12th on the Canucks all-time goals list (189).
• Assisting on two goals on Nov. 11/25 vs WPG, Elias Pettersson passed J.T. Miller for ninth on the franchise’s all-time multi-assist game list (60).

BROCKSTAR

• Opening the scoring on Nov. 28/25 at SJS, Brock Boeser passed Todd Bertuzzi for 10th in the Canucks all-time scoring list (450).
• Recording an assist on Nov. 26/25 at ANA, Brock Boeser tied Todd Bertuzzi for 10th on the Canucks all-time scoring list (449).
• With his game-winning goal at 14:15 of the third period on Nov. 8/25 vs CBJ, Brock Boeser passed Tony Tanti and tied Brendan Morrison for the seventh-most game-winning goals in franchise history.
• Scoring the overtime winner on Nov. 3/25 at NSH, Brock Boeser tied Tony Tani for the eighth-most game-winning goals in franchise history (29).
• Recording an assist on the overtime winner on Oct. 26/25 vs EDM, Brock Boeser tied Daniel Sedin for the third-most overtime assists (15) in franchise history.
  • The assist also moved Boeser passed Sami Salo and Alex Edler for fourth on the Canucks all-time overtime points list (18).