We have reached the final game of the regular season, and on Wednesday, the Vancouver Canucks will finish the year with the Vegas Golden Knights in town for Fan Appreciation Night at Rogers Arena.
Kiefer Sherwood comes into Wednesday’s game with 454 hits, an NHL record. He is one of the players the fans have appreciated this season and will look to add to his record by continuing to play to his strengths in the final game of the year.
Dakota Joshua has 191 hits through 56 games. He is averaging 15.8 hits per 60 minutes this season. Teddy Blueger comes into the final game of the season with 104 hits. That is a new career high for Blueger, who has never eclipsed 100 hits in a season before this year.
Kirill Kudryavtsev played 13:33 in his NHL debut on Monday night. The 21-year-old impressed his Head Coach Rick Tocchet, who spoke highly of the young defenceman following Monday’s overtime win over the San Jose Sharks.
“Kirill was good. I liked him in camp and haven’t seen him since camp. I think there’s something there,” said Tocchet. “I think there’s a good shot for him down the road. He’s got some good feet, a good brain, [and a] good stick. I thought he was really good.”
The Golden Knights come into Wednesday’s game with a 49-22-9 record. They lead the Pacific Division with 107 points and are second in the Western Conference and third in the NHL.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- Vegas will be on the second night of a back-to-back as they play the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome on Tuesday night. They will sit Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and Noah Hanifin against the Flames.
- Eichel set a franchise record for the Vegas Golden Knights with 93 points this season. He has scored 27 goals and added 66 assists, including five power play goals and 29 power play assists.
- Pavel Dorofeyev leads Vegas with 33 goals. He is joined by Tomas Hertl (31) as the two Golden Knights players with 30 goals this season.
- William Karlsson has been dynamite in the faceoff dot this season. He has won 58.1% of his draws through 51 games played.
- Reilly Smith and Mark Stone are currently joining Karlsson on their top line.
- Vegas’ third periods have been their best on the road this season. They have outscored their opposition 46-36 in the final regulation frames.
- They are 20-13-6 on the road this year.
- Vegas has the second-best power play in the league. This year, they are scoring on 29.1% of their man-advantages, and Hertl (14) and Dorofeyev (13) are the two leading goal-scorers on the power play.
The Story: Career Year for Jake in First Season with Canucks
Jake DeBrusk notched his team-leading 28th goal of the season on Monday night when he scored the game-winning goal in overtime.
