The Vancouver Canucks close out their three-game homestand on Wednesday night with a matchup against Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils.
After a 4-3 overtime loss on Monday night, the Canucks saw their four-game winning streak snapped and are looking to get back in the win column before they embark on a three-game road trip through California.
This will be the only game where all three Hughes brothers will play at Rogers Arena this season. It will be the second time all three brothers play in an NHL game.
As the Canucks wrap up their homestand, they currently sit with a 4-1-3 record and second in the Pacific division with a .688% points percentage.
New Jersey is kicking off a road trip that will see them play the Canucks and then roll through Alberta with games against the Calgary Flames on Friday and Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
The Devils have lost four of their last five games but began the season winning five of their first seven. No team has played more games than the Devils, who hold a 6-4-2 record after a dozen games played.
In an effort to improve their goaltending, the Devils’ big offseason move was when they traded a 2025 first-round pick and Kevin Bahl to the Calgary Flames in exchange for former Canuck, Jacob Markstrom. In his eight starts with the Devils, Markstrom has a 4-3-1 record with a .895% save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average.
The Devils' other big move to bolster their goal prevention was signing free agent right-shot defenceman Brett Pesce to a six-year, 33-million-dollar contract. Pesce has missed the beginning of the season but made his Devils debut last Thursday and has averaged 20:54 of ice time in his three games this season.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Devils’ leading goal scorer through their first dozen games is Nico Hischier with nine tucks this season. Hischier’s nine goals put him in sole possession of the league lead, and he also has a tie for the most power play goals this season with four.
- With a 30% conversion rate on their power plays this season, the Devils rank sixth in the league on the man advantage. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt get a lot of touches on the power play while Hischier and Dougie Hamilton have been the shooters. Stefan Noesen rounds out the first power play unit and has a pair of power play goals through 12 games played.
- Hischier and Erik Haula are the top two faceoff men for the Devils. Hischier leads the team with 304 faceoffs taken (23.3 per game) and has won 55.3% of his draws. Haula sits in second on the Devils with 133 faceoffs but has a 57.1% win rate.
- Their top line has Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer on the wings while Hischier holds down the middle of the ice.
- On the second line, Ondrej Palat and Jesper Bratt flank Jack Hughes down the middle.
- The defence pairing of Jonas Siegenthaler and Johnathan Kovacevic has played more five-on-five minutes than any other pairing in the NHL and has a 60% control of expected goals while being on the ice for 10 goals scored and five goals against.
The Story: Intensity, Execution and Effort at Forefront for Power Play
Head coach Rick Tocchet wants to see his group execute at a higher level on the man-advantage and create those opportunities for execution from their intensity.
“I really believe it's the intensity, the awareness, things like that,” said the coach. “So that's the boxes that the guys have to check right now. Sometimes, when you're talented, you think you can just skill your way, and that doesn't work. It's not horrible at 20% but we [the coaches] don't have a good taste in our mouth with it, but the [players] don't either, trust me.”
The coach later discussed some potential changes to the power play entries.
"We're going to change a couple of things. A couple of guys might bring the puck up with some different guys, but that's supporting the puck at that speed,” said Tocchet. “You got to give them the information, then you got to make sure that you apply it. We'll work on it; the guys had a good practice for it.”
Tocchet also spoke highly of assistant coach Yogi Svejkovský’s video presentation in the morning to the group. Svejkovský ran most of the drills at Wednesday’s practice and then spent time talking with players afterwards, as he typically does.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
J.T. Miller: 3g-4a-7p
Brock Boeser: 3g-3a-6p
Quinn Hughes: 2g-4a-6p
Kiefer Sherwood: 2g-3a-5p
Teddy Blueger: 1g-3a-4p
Conor Garland: 1g-3a-4p
When and Where to Watch
Wednesday night’s game has a 7:30 p.m. PT start time and can be viewed on Sportsnet or listen to Brendan Batchelor with the call on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
