CANUCKS VS PENGUINS PREVIEW
TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 360
Radio: Sportsnet 650
MATCH-UP INFO
- Tonight marks the first of two meetings between the Canucks and Penguins this season: Oct. 28 (home) and Jan. 10 (away).
- The Canucks are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs Pittsburgh (1-4-0 in their last five)
- The Canucks are 42-65-11-4 all-time against the Penguins, including a 27-27-4-3 record at home against Pittsburgh.
- Among active Canucks skaters, J.T. Miller leads the team in career points vs Pittsburgh with 16 points (8-8-16) in 23 games.
- Thatcher Demko is 0-3-0 in his career against Pittsburgh with an .882 save-percentage.
- Spencer Martin has yet to face the Penguins in his career.
LAST MEETING – DEC. 4/21: VAN 1 vs PIT 4
Vasily Podkolzin tied the game with his fifth goal of the season at 6:18 in the second period…Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brock Boeser recorded the assists…Quinn Hughes led the Canucks in shots (4)…Tyler Myers logged a team-high in TOI (26:04) and blocked shots (5)…Elias Pettersson won 10 of 14 face-offs…Thatcher Demko faced 44 shots.
LAST GAME PLAYED – OCT. 27/22: VAN 5 at SEA 4
Ilya Mikheyev opened the scoring with his first goal as a Canuck at 4:38 in the first period…Luke Schenn and Andrei Kuzmenko eached recorded their second assists of the season on the play…Mikheyev buried his second goal of the game to even the score at 3:58 in the second period on the power play…Sheldon Dries and Conor Garland registered the assists…Andrei Kuzmenko gave Vancouver a 3-2 lead on the power play at 14:17 in the second period, assisted by J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson…Pettersson also added a goal of his own at 1:16 in the third period, with Luke Schenn collecting his second assist of the evening…Conor Garland scored an empty-net goal, which would be the eventual GWG, at 18:35 in the third period, unassisted…Luke Schenn led the team in hits (7)…Bo Horvat won 22 of 30 face-offs (73%)…Thatcher Demko faced 36 shots.
LAST 5 vs PITTSBURGH
- Dec. 4/21: VAN 1 vs PIT 4
- Nov. 24/21: VAN 1 at PIT 4
- Dec. 21/19: VAN 4 vs PIT 1
- Nov. 27/19: VAN 6 at PIT 8
- Oct. 2718: VAN 0 vs PIT 5
TRADE ALERT – CANUCKS ACQUIRE STUDNICKA FROM BRUINS
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced before the game on Oct. 27 at SEA that the club had acquired forward Jack Studnicka from the Boston Bruins in exchange for goaltender Michael DiPietro and defenceman Jonathan Myrenberg. Studnicka, 23, has accumulated seven points (1-6-7) and 10 penalty minutes in 38 games played at the NHL level and 96 points (34-62-96) in 117 AHL contests.
BOUDREAU REACHES 600 WINS
Thanks to Vancouver’s 5-3 win on Oct. 27 at SEA, Canucks Head Coach Bruce Boudreau became the 22nd coach in NHL history and just the fifth active head coach to reach 600 regular season wins with a record of 600-322-127. Among coaches with 600 wins to their name, Boudreau’s 1,049 games coached are the second-fewest required to reach the mark, while his .633 points percentage ranks second only to Scotty Bowman (.657).
ELIAS PETTER-CENT
Netting his third goal of the season on Oct. 18 at CBJ, Elias Pettersson registered his 100th career NHL goal, requiring the second- fewest games in Canucks history to reach the mark among players to debut with the franchise, trailing only Pavel Bure (154 GP).
- The goal also tied Pettersson with Jake Guentzel (PIT) and Brayden Point (TBL) as the ninth-fastest active player to reach 100 career goals. He also is the first player from the 2017 NHL draft class to reach the milestone.
SHORTHANDED SHOOTER
Opening the scoring with a shorthanded tally on Oct. 18 at CBJ, Bo Horvat passed Matt Cooke for sole possession of eighth-most shorthanded goals in franchise history (9), and now sits just one back of tying Ryan Kesler (10) for seventh-most. Pavel Bure holds the club record with 24 shorthanded goals.
SPENCE-T ACULAR
Turning aside 29 shots in an overtime defeat on Oct. 18 at CBJ, Spencer Martin improved his record with the Canucks to 3-0-4, and now sits just one game back of tying Curt Ridley (6-0-2 in 1975.76) as the only goaltender in franchise history to earn at least a point in each of his eight starts with the team.
HOMEGROWN TALENT
Making his 137th NHL regular season appearance on Oct. 12 at EDM, Thatcher Demko gained sole possession of most games played in franchise history by a Canucks-drafted goaltender, surpassing Glen Hanlon’s mark of 136 games. Following Vancouver’s 5-4 win at Seattle on Oct. 27, Demko now stands just four wins away from tying Gary Smith for sixth-most wins among all goalies in team history.
RECENT CANUCKS MILESTONES
- Elias Pettersson recorded his 100th career NHL goal, Oct. 18 at CBJ
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Jack Studnicka acquired from Boston in exchange for Michael DiPietro and Jonathan Myrenberg, Oct. 27
- Travis Dermott placed on LTIR, Oct. 27
- Riley Stillman placed on injured reserve, Oct. 27
- Sheldon Dries and William Lockwood recalled from Abbotsford, Oct. 26
- Brock Boeser and Curtis Lazar placed on injured reserve, Oct. 26
- Noah Juulsen recalled from Abbotsford, Oct. 24
- Quinn Hughes placed on injured reserve, Oct. 24
- Tucker Poolman placed on LTIR, Oct. 24
- Guillaume Brisebois recalled from Abbotsford, Oct. 24
- Tucker Poolman placed on injured reserve, Oct. 24
- Noah Juulsen assigned to Abbotsford, Nils Höglander recalled from Abbotsford, Oct. 23
- Nils Höglander assigned to Abbotsford, Noah Juulsen recalled from Abbotsford, Oct. 22
THREE STARS – OCTOBER
- Horvat – 5 pts
- Kuzmenko – 5 pts
- Mikheyev – 5 pts
- Miller – 5 pts
- Pettersson – 5 pts
*5 points are awarded for each Three Stars selection