Game Notes: Canucks vs. Jets

The Canucks face off against the Winnipeg Jets for their third and final match up this season. The Jets defeated the Canucks in their two previous meetings this season (4-1 on Oct. 18 and 6-3 on Nov. 19). Vancouver is 0-5-0 in their last five games versus the Jets (1-9- 0 in their last 10).
Tonight marks the final game of a five-game homestand before Christmas in which the Canucks have gone 3-1-0 so far.
The Canucks have not allowed a power play goal against since Dec. 4th vs MIN. Over the last eight games they have killed off 20 consecutive shorthanded occasions.

MORNING SKATE UPDATE

Troy Stecher and Brandon Sutter were the only Canucks absent from morning skate Saturday, ahead of Vancouver's final game before the Christmas break.
The Jets come into the game with the NHL's best power play, while the Canucks have killed off 20 straight penalties. Jay Beagle is a big reason why and he breaks down the importance of special teams tonight.

SWEDE RECORD

Playing in his 782nd career game tonight (all with Vancouver), Alex Edler passes Harold Snepsts for most games played by a defenceman in Canucks franchise history.
Edler also leads the way among Canucks defencemen in career points (348), power play points (160) and shots (1723). He ranks second among Canucks blueliners in goals (87; 6 behind Mattias Ohlund), second in assists (261; 29 behind Dennis Kearns) and second in power play goals (43; 5 behind Sami Salo).

LAST MEETING - Nov. 19/18: VAN 3 vs WPG 6

Elias Pettersson evened the game 1-1 with a tally on the power play at 8:09 in the first...Tyler Motte notched his first career shorthanded goal...Nikolay Goldobin led Canucks skaters in scoring (1-1-2)...Bo Horvat won 23 face-offs, a Canucks season high, for the third time this year...Michael Del Zotto and Tyler Motte led the Canucks in hits (4)...Jacob Markstrom faced 48 shots.

LAST GAME - DEC. 20/18: VAN 5 vs STL 1

Bo Horvat converted a backdoor pass to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 5:51...Adam Gaudette scored 28 seconds later to make it 3-0...Josh Leivo banked a shot from below the goal line to make it 3-0 at 2:08 of the third period...Jake Virtanen scored his career-high 11th goal on a point shot to make it 4-1 at 11:24...Loui Eriksson made it 5-1 with an empty-netter at 15:24...Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves...Alex Edler recorded two assists in his 781st game which tied a franchise mark among Canucks blueliners.

THE ROOKIE

Elias Pettersson tied Lars Molin for the second longest rookie point streak in franchise history, going 4-9-13 from Dec. 6-16. Pavel Bure holds the club record of 8 games, established in the 1991-92 season.
Pettersson leads all rookies in goals (17), assists (19), points (36), power-play points (12), shooting percentage (26.6%) and points per game (1.13). Only three rookies in franchise history averaged better than 0.80 points per game (min. 50 GP): Pavel Bure (1991.92; 0.92), Brock Boeser (2017.18; 0.89) and Ivan Hlinka (1981.82; 0.83). He also ranks tied for first among rookies in power- play goals (5).
Pettersson currently ranks fourth for most goals versus Western Conference opponents this season (12).
Pettersson was named first star of the week ending December 9th after leading the NHL with eight points (2-6-8) in three games. He collected one assist on Dec. 4 vs MIN, then scored his third career game-winning goal and added one helper on Dec. 6 vs NSH. He capped the week with his second career five-point performance on Dec. 9 at STL.
With five points (1-4-5) on Dec. 9, Pettersson became the sixth rookie since 1967-68 to record multiple outings with at least five points in a single season. He also joined Bryan Trottier as the only NHL rookies to accomplish the feat before the end of December.
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 also named the NHL's second star of the week ending November 4th. He shared the League lead with four goals and ranked third overall with seven points in three games.

FACE THE FACTS

Bo Horvat ranks first in the NHL in face-off wins (508), first in even-strength face-off wins (411) and first in face-offs taken (942). He also ranks fifth in PP face-off wins (66).
Horvat tied a season-high 23 face-off wins (the third time this season) on Nov. 19 vs MTL and had 40 total face-offs on Nov. 6 at DET
Horvat ranks second on the team in points (34), assists (17) and power play points (10) and first in shots (100), face-off win percentage (53.9%; min. 10 GP) and TOI (among forwards; 20:47). He also shares the team lead in goals (17) and power play goals (5).
With two points on Dec. 20 vs STL, Horvat moved into a tie for seventh for most points by a Canucks player aged 23 or younger through the first 38 team games.

THE GOING RATE

• Brock Boeser has nine points (6-3-9) over the past seven games
• Chris Tanev has four points (2-2-4) over the past six games
• Josh Leivo has four points (3-1-4) over the past six games
• Jake Virtanen has three points (1-2-3) over the past two games; he scored his 11th goal on Dec. 20 to set a new career-high
• Loui Eriksson has two points (2-0-2) over the past four games
• Alex Edler has six points (1-5-6) over the past six games
• Antoine Roussel has two assists (0-2-2) over the past three games
• Ben Hutton has four assists (0-4-4) over the past seven games
• Elias Pettersson has 14 points (4-10-14) over the past nine games (he had 13 points during a seven-game point streak from Dec. 6-16)
• Troy Stecher has three assists (0-3-3) over the past three games
• Bo Horvat has nine points (5-4-9) over the past eight games
• Markus Granlund has three points (1-2-3) over the past five games
• Tyler Motte has three points (1-2-3) over the past six games
• Nikolay Goldobin has five points (1-4-5) over the past eight games
• Jay Beagle has two points (1-1-2) over the past five games
• Adam Gaudette has two points (1-1-2) over the past four games