PREVIEW | Canucks at Coyotes
MATCH-UP INFO
QUICK NUMBERS
LAST MEETING - MAR. 16/23: VAN 2 at ARI 3
Andrei Kuzmenko opened the scoring for third time in the last six games at 5:14 in the first period...His goal matched Pavel Bure's record of 34 goals for most by a Canucks player in their first NHL season...Anthony Beauvillier and Elias Pettersson recorded the Vancouver Canucks: Media Notes assists for their first of two points each on the night...Pettersson then tallied his 31st goal of the season at 11:41 in the third period, assisted by Beauvillier and Conor Garland...Pettersson led all Canucks skaters in shots (5)...Brock Boeser registered a team-high four hits...Guillaume Brisebois led the team in blocked shots (3)...Thatcher Demko faced 27 shots.
LAST GAME PLAYED - APR. 11/23: VAN 3 at ANA 2
Brock Boeser opened the scoring on a tic-tac-toe power play passing play for his 18th goal of the season at 12:14 in the first period...Elias Pettersson recorded his 100th point of the season with the primary assist while J.T. Miller collected the secondary assist...Andrei Kuzmenko notched his team-leading 39th goal of the campaign, also on the power play, at 16:12 in the first period...Akito Hirose and Thatcher Demko assisted on the play...Miller added a goal of his own at 1:26 in the third period for the eventual game-winning goal and his 200th career tally, assisted by Phillip Di Giuseppe and Pettersson...Boeser and Pettersson co-led the team in shots (5)...Miller led all Canucks in hits (3) and Kyle Burroughs led in blocks (3)...Thatcher Demko made 33 saves.
LAST 5 vs ARIZONA
WRAPPING UP ON THE ROAD
As the final game of a three-game trip (1-1-0 so far) tonight's game marks the 22nd time in franchise history that the Canucks will conclude their regular season on the road (7-8-3-3 all-time) and the sixth time in the last seven years. Since the team's inception in 1970.71, Vancouver has posted a 26-16-6-3 on the final game of the regular season, home or away. In the only two season finales against the Coyotes/Jets franchise to date, the Canucks have recorded a 3-2 OTW (1990.91 vs Winnipeg Jets) and 3-1 L (2006.07 at Phoenix Coyotes).
ECLIPSING ONE HUNDRED
Collecting the primary assist on Brock Boeser's power play marker on Apr. 11 at ANA, Elias Pettersson became the sixth player in Canucks history (seventh instance) to record 100 points in a season (38-62-100) and the first since Daniel Sedin (41-63-104) in 2010.11. Pettersson added another assist later in the game to reach 101 points and enters Thursday's game at Arizona three points shy of tying Daniel Sedin and Markus Naslund (2002.03) for fifth-most points in a season by a Canucks skater (104).
THIRTY AND THRIVING
Netting his third game-winning goal of the season on Apr. 11 at ANA, J.T. Miller reached the 200-goal plateau in his career. Of his 200 career goals between Vancouver, Tampa Bay, and the New York Rangers, 105 have come in a Canucks uniform in just 282 games played (0.37 G/GP). The 30-year-old centreman is also only three points away from 300 as a Canuck and could become the second- fastest player in club history to reach the milestone behind Pavel Bure (246 GP) and ahead of Elias Pettersson (306 GP).
TWO POINTS ARE BETTER THAN ONE
With two assists (0-2-2) in a winning effort on Apr. 11 at ANA, Pettersson registered his 29th multi-point game of the 2022.23 season, ranking as the sixth-most multi-point outings by a Canucks player in a single season behind only Henrik Sedin (34 in 2009.10), Pavel Bure (32 in 1992.93 & 1993.94), Daniel Sedin (32 in 2010.11), and Alexander Mogilny (30 in 1995.96).
KUZMENK-SHOW CONTINUES
Scoring the go-ahead goal on the power play on Apr. 11 at ANA, Andrei Kuzmenko regained sole possession of the team lead in goals this season (39), one up on Elias Pettersson. Kuzmenko's 39 goals are also tied for the fifth-most in an NHL player's first season since 1988.89 with Sidney Crosby (2005.06), trailing Auston Matthews (40 in 2016.17), Eric Lindros (41 in 1992.93), Alex Ovechkin (52 in 2005.06), and Teemu Selanne (76 in 1992.93).
CANUCKS ANNOUNCE 2022.23 TEAM AWARDS
The Vancouver Canucks announced their annual Team Awards during their final home game of the regular season on April 8 at Rogers Arena. Among the seven awards announced, four were voted on by Canucks fans from April 2 to 6.
"SCORING ON THE PK" - A CANUCKS' SHORT
With his shorthanded tally on Apr. 8 vs CGY, Elias Pettersson registered the team's 15th shorthanded marker of 2022.23, second in the NHL to the Edmonton Oilers (17). This total represents the fifth-highest single-season total in franchise history, and the most in a single season since 1998.99. Pettersson and teammate J.T. Miller, who recorded the assist, each registered their ninth shorthanded points in 2022.23 to tie Pavel Bure (1992.93 & 1997.98) and Russ Courtnall (1995.96) for most shorthanded points by a Canucks player in a single season.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Following Cole McWard's NHL debut on Apr. 6 vs CHI, a total of six players have made their NHL debuts with Vancouver this season, tied for fourth-most in the League (w/ NSH, NYI, OTT) behind only Chicago (7), Columbus (7), and Toronto. The Canucks have now had 38 skaters appear in at least one game this season, matching the franchise record for most skaters dressed in a season (1987.88). McWard also became the 16th defenceman to play for the team, two more than the previous club record of 14 (1997.98, 2005.06, and 2018.19).
PETEY'S POINT STREAK
Scoring his 36th goal of the season on Mar. 31 vs CGY, Elias Pettersson extended his career-high point streak to 14 games (from Mar. 4 vs TOR to Mar. 31 vs CGY with 8-12-20 in those games), matching Clayton Keller (ARI) for the longest active point streak in the NHL during that time. He tied Darcy Rota (1982.83) for the third longest point streak in franchise history, only trailing Petr Nedved (1992.93) and Todd Bertuzzi (2001.02) who each had point streaks of 15 games.
ANOTHER RECORD... BUT HUGHES COUNTING?
Recording two goals and adding an assist on Mar. 28 at STL, Quinn Hughes (7-65-72 in 70 GP) became the fifth NHL defenceman in the last 30 years to record a 70-point season before the age of 24. The three-point effort (2-1-3) was the 16th such occasion of Hughes' career, tying him with Jyrki Luume for the most three-point games by a Canucks blueliner in franchise history. Hughes has been on a tear all season, recently breaking the following records:
2022.23 CANUCKS MILESTONES
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
THE LAST TIME...
2022.23 SEASON HIGHS AND LOWS
VANCOUVER'S 2022.23 RECORD WHEN...
THREE STARS - APRIL
MARCH WINNER - Miller/Pettersson (25 pts)
FEBRUARY WINNER - Pettersson (15 pts)
JANUARY WINNER - Pettersson (20 pts)
DECEMBER WINNER - Pettersson (20 pts)
NOVEMBER WINNER - Horvat (40 pts)
OCTOBER WINNER - Horvat, Kuzmenko (10 pts)
\5 points are awarded for each Three Stars selection*
