Canucks @ Wild game notes

CANUCKS AT WILD PREVIEW: (TV: Sportsnet; Radio: Sportsnet 650)

LAST GAME - Oct. 24/17 - VAN 1 AT MIN 0

Jake Virtanen scored the game's lone goal (unassisted)...Anders Nilsson made 29 saves to record his second shutout of the season...Michael Del Zotto had a game and season-high 6 blocked shots...According to ESB, before this game, the last and only time in club history the Canucks had a regular season, nonshootout 1-0 win in which the lone goal was unassisted occurred on Feb. 16/04.

VS. MINNESOTA NOTES:

• Jake Virtanen is the only player among both teams to have registered a point in the season series vs the Wild this season (1-0-1).
• Henrik Sedin leads the Canucks in career points vs MIN (13-56-69 in 84 GP).
• Thomas Vanek played 2 seasons with the Wild from 2014-2016. He appeared in 154 games for Minnesota, collecting 93 points (39 54-93). Vanek's ties to Minnesota trace back to college, when he played two seasons with the University of Minnesota.
• Minnesota native, Brock Boeser made his NHL debut and only appearance against the Wild on Mar. 25/17.

LAST GAME: JAN. 12/18: VAN 5 at CBJ 2

The Canucks set a season high for most goals in a period (4) with goals from Baertschi, Gudbranson, Gaunce, and Edler...Jake Virtanen notched an empty-netter...VAN went 2-4 on the power play...Jacob Markstrom faced 29 shots.

THE GOING RATE:

• In the month of December, Brock Boeser had 13 points in 13 games including a 5-game point streak from Dec. 7-15 and a 4-game point streak from Dec. 19-28. He led all rookies in goals (8), ranked second in points (13) and tied for 5th in assists (5) in the month of December. Boeser currently has 9 points (5-4-9) over his last 8 games.
• Henrik Sedin has 18 assists/points over the past 19 games. In the month of December, he ranked tied for 9th in the League for most assists with 11. He is currently on a 4-game assist steak (0-5-5).
• Alex Edler is on a three game scoring streak (1-2-3).
• Thomas Vanek has 13 points (5-8-13) over the past 10 games. He sits tied for 6th in League scoring since Dec. 19 (13). • Sam Gagner has collected 9 points (4-5-9) over the past 12 games.
• Daniel Sedin has 11 points (4-7-11) over the past 12 games. He is currently on a 5-game scoring streak (2-3-5).

QUICK HITS:

• Brock Boeser ranks tied for 5th in the NHL goal-scoring race and leads all rookies with 22 goals. Boeser has scored 19.0% of the Canucks 116 goals this season which is the second highest percent of team goals scored in the NHL (behind Ovechkin - 20.4%).
• Daniel Sedin notched his 132nd career PPG, moving into a tie for 79th all-time with Nicklas Lidstrom. He ranks 7th among active players for most career PPG and is one behind Thomas Vanek in 6th place (133).
• Brock Boeser won NHL Rookie of the Month honours in both November and December, becoming the first Canucks rookie to win it in back-to-back months.
• Notable goal achievements: Boeser is the 8th rookie in the past 28 years to score 16+ goals within his first 28 games of a season. His 20th goal in game #37 broke the Canucks record for quickest 20 goals scored in a rookie season, previously held by Trevor Linden in 1988-89 (20 in game #52). His 17 goals through the first 30 games are the most by a Canuck through his first 30 games of a season in franchise history. His 15 goals through the Canucks first 30 games are also the 2nd most by a US-born rookie through his team's first 30 games of a season (behind Tony Granato's 16 goals through the Rangers first 30 games during the 1988.89 season).
• Thomas Vanek collected his 54th career GWG on Dec. 28 vs CHI to place him in 2-way tie for 17th among active NHL players. Daniel Sedin is the only Canuck with more GWG (82) and ranks fifth among active NHLers for most GWG.
• Thomas Vanek notched his 10th career hat trick against Montreal on Dec. 19. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Vanek ranks tied for 6th, alongside Sidney Crosby, for most career hat tricks. Only Ovechkin (20), Jagr (15), Gaborik (14), E. Staal (13) and Malkin (11) have more. According to Sportsnet Stats, he is also tied for the 3rd most in the NHL since the start of 2007-08.
• Henrik Sedin notched his 800th career assist on Dec. 13 vs NSH. In doing so, he became the first Canucks player, the 31st player in NHL history, the 3rd active player and the 2nd Swedish-born player to accomplish the feat. He is now at 812 assists and ranks tied for 30th all-time with P. Turgeon (t-28th is M. Modano and J. Bucyk with 813 assists).
• Jacob Markstrom has recorded 3 assists this season, which leads all goaltenders in that category. The last goaltenders to record 3 or more assists in a season were Jonathan Quick (3), Kari Lehtonen (3) and Henrik Lundqvist (4) who all accomplished the feat during the 2015.16 season.