Game Notes: Canucks vs. Maple Leafs

The Canucks face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight in their second of two match ups this season. Vancouver lost the first outing by a score of 5-0 on Jan. 5.
After returning from a three game road trip, Vancouver kicks off a home and road back-to-back tonight against Toronto before heading to Edmonton to face off against the Oilers. Tonight marks the start of the ninth of 11 back-to-backs the Canucks will play this season. Vancouver is 7-8-1 in back-to-backs so far this season (4-3-1 in the first game and 3-5-0 in the second game).
Vancouver is 2-2-1 in their last five games versus the Leafs (3-6-1 in their last 10).

MORNING SKATE UPDATE

Puck drop is 6 pm tonight at Rogers Arena, meaning the Canucks did not take to the ice Wednesday morning. Instead, Josh Leivo and Troy Stecher met with the media in the hallway to discuss their match-up with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Leivo, who was drafted 86th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, will be facing his former team for the first time. It goes without saying that he's very excited.

Stecher, on the other hand, is merely excited to be back on the ice following two days off following a 3-0 loss in Vegas to the Golden Knights. The Canucks are very unhappy with how they performed that night and are talking the talk that a better effort is forthcoming tonight.

Ben Hutton and Ryan Spooner will not play tonight, confirmed Coach Green, while Jacob Markstrom starts in net.

LAST MEETING - Jan. 5/19: VAN 0 at TOR 5

Alex Edler led the team in shots (5) and shared the team lead in hits (4) alongside Erik Gudbranson...Brock Boeser led Canucks forwards in ice time (22:03)...Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves.

LAST GAME - Mar. 3/19: VAN 0 at VGK 3

The Canucks concluded a three game road trip in Vegas...Alex Edler blocked five shots, a team high on the night...Luke Schenn led the team in hits (8)...Jacob Markstrom faced 48 shots.

RACKING UP THE MINUTES

Since February 1, Ben Hutton currently ranks third in the NHL in TOI/GP with 26:42 while Troy Stecher ranks sixth with 25:11. Hutton also ranks sixth in this time span for total ice time (400:28) while Stecher ranks 14th (377:52).

HIGH MARK

Since Dec. 6, Jacob Markstrom has posted a record of 15-10-5. This includes a .926 SV%, 948 shots against and 878 saves. Markstrom ranks tied for 10th in the League in wins (23) and third in shots against (1,596) and total saves (1,459).

THE ROOKIE

With his 13th multi-point game this season on Feb. 14 at LAK, Elias Pettersson moved into a tie with Thomas Gradin for 4th all-time in Canucks rookies multi-point games (Pavel Bure leads the way with 18).
Petterson is within four points of tying the franchise record for most points in a rookie season; Pavel Bure and Ivan Hlinka share the title with 60 each.
Pettersson not only leads his team but all rookies in goals (26), points (56), assists (30), power-play goals (8), power-play points (16) (tied for 1st), game-winning goals (7), and points per game (1.02).
Elias Pettersson joins an elite list of 10 players who have scored at least 25 goals in thier first 44 games played, aged 20 or younger (Ovechkin, Martin, Murdoch, Bossy, Lindros, Robitaille, Yzerman, Gretzky, Hawerchuk, Boeser).
Pettersson was named to Team Pacific Division for the 2019 NHL All-Star Game. He became the youngest Canucks player and just the third Canucks rookie (Tallon, Boeser) named to the honour. He participated in the Fastest Skater and Puck Control Relay.
With his seventh GWG Jan. 2 at OTT, Pettersson established a new Canucks single-season record for most GWG scored by a rookie.
With a hat trick on Jan. 2 at OTT, Pettersson became just the fourth active player to accumulate 40 or more career points within his first 40 NHL games. He also became the first rookie in Canucks franchise history to score a hat trick that included an OTG. He is the eighth Canucks rookie to net a hat trick.
Pettersson, who led all rookies with seven goals and 10 points in eight games (7-3-10) in October, was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month for October. He was named the NHL's second star of the week ending November 4th (sharing the League lead with four goals and ranked third overall with seven points in three games) and was named first star of the week ending December 9th (after leading the NHL with eight points (2-6-8) in three games).
With five points (1-4-5) on Dec. 9 at STL, Pettersson became the sixth rookie since 1967-68 to record multiple outings with at least five points in a single season. He also registered five points (2-3-5) on Nov. 2 vs COL.

FACE THE FACTS

Bo Horvat ranks second in the NHL in face-off wins (866), first in even-strength face-off wins (716) and first in face-offs taken (1644). He also ranks 9th in PP face-off wins (113).
Horvat ranks second on the team in goals (23), power play goals (6), points (48), assists (25), power play points (12), face-off win percentage (52.7%; min. 10 GP), and first in shots (190) and TOI (among forwards; 21:00).
With two goals Feb. 25 vs ANA, Horvat has also set a new career high for most goals in a season.

GOOD-BETTER-BOES

Brock Boeser notched his 20th goal of the season on Feb. 14 at LAK, becoming the fifth Canucks player with multiple 20-goal seasons before turning 22 years old, joining Linden, Bure, Blight and Tanti.
Among players to debut with the Canucks franchise, Brock Boeser required the second fewest games played to score his 50th career goal (110 GP), trailing only Pavel Bure (82 GP) (source: NHL PR).

THE GOING RATE

• Brock Boeser has five points (2-3-5) over the past eight games
• Antoine Roussel has six points (3-3-6) over the past eight games
• Elias Pettersson has six points (1-5-6) over the past 10 games
• Bo Horvat has five points (4-1-5) over the past 10 games
• Alex Biega has six points (1-5-6) over the past eight games
• Ryan Spooner has three points (0-3-3) over past four games
• Josh Leivo has two points (1-1-2) over the past four games
• Derrick Pouliot has two points (0-2-2) over the past five games