With a pair of wins under their belt, the Vancouver Canucks (31-11-4) continue along their five-game homestand ahead of the All-Star break with a Monday night affair against the Chicago Blackhawks (14-30-2).
Monday’s game is the second of three matchups between the Canucks and Blackhawks this season. The Canucks picked up a 4-3 win in Chicago on December 17th.
Tyler Myers and J.T. Miller each had a pair of assists while Brock Boeser, Dakota Joshua, Ilya Mikheyev, and Elias Pettersson were the four goal-scorers for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko was between the pipes for the Canucks and he stopped 25 of the 28 shots he faced in the game.
Local kid and 2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard will not be in the lineup for the Blackhawks on Monday. He is recovering from a fractured jaw earlier this month. Bedard has been spotted back on the ice in Chicago but is not on the trip. It’s still going to be a few weeks before the youngster gets back into the lineup.
Leading the way offensively for the Blackhawks is former Canuck Jason Dickinson. The 28-year-old centre has 24 points through 46 games and is tied with Bedard for the most goals on the team with 15.
Some other notables in the Blackhawks’ top-six include Rem Pitlick, Philipp Kurashev, Taylor Raddysh, and Joey Anderson.
Seth Jones leads the pack from the back and will eat up a ton of minutes as the team’s number one defenceman. Jones is averaging 25:27 a night, which is 4:28 more than the next closest player.
Coming in at 19:51 per game is 19-year-old defenceman and former Seattle Thunderbird, Kevin Korchinski. The 6’3”, left-shot, teenager is a former WHL champion and has scored two goals and added seven assists this season. Korchinski was selected seventh overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and will play on the Blackhawks’ second power play unit.
Quick Hits on the Competition:
- There are eight players currently injured for the Blackhawks including former Canuck Anthony Beauvillier. Taylor Hall, Andreas Athanasiou, Connor Bedard, Nick Foligno, Tyler Johnson, Connor Murphy and Nikita Zaitsev have not been in the lineup of late.
- We will see a very green defence corps for the Blackhawks that has Jarred Tinordi, Jaycob Mega and Isaak Phillips eating up a lot of minutes.
- Philipp Kurashev is the leading power play scorer of active players. He has three power play markers on the year.
- Petr Mrazek has seen the bulk of starts this season. He has split time with Arvid Söderblom but Mrazek has started 29 of their 46 games and is the expected starter for Monday night at Rogers Arena.
- Monday’s game is the first of a four-game road trip for the Blackhawks. That trip kicks off with three games in four nights with back-to-backs in Seattle and Edmonton on Wednesday and Thursday.
Over their last 20 games, the Canucks now hold a 15-2-3 record and have an 8-1-0 record on home ice through that stretch.
Elias Pettersson has been excellent over the last 20 games. Pettersson has 15 goals to go with 12 assists for a total of 27 points. Pettersson has been scoring at a high rate at even-strength since the Lotto Line of himself, J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser have been playing together.
Following the Lotto Line has been the No Name line of Conor Garland, Teddy Blueger, and Dakota Joshua. This trio has picked up a combined 50 points over the last 20 games. Blueger leads the way in points with 18 over his last 20 games and Joshua has been the scorer of the line, picking up eight goals over the 20-game stretch.
The No Name line has been on the ice for 16 goals scored and only six goals against over the last 20 games.
Between the pipes, the Canucks have been a top-five team since the calendar flipped to 2024. Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith combine for a .924% save percentage in 2024 and the duo has a 2.94 goals saved above average in January.
Nils Höglander’s two-goal game on Saturday night propelled him into fourth place on the Canucks in goals scored. Höglander is now at 14 goals on the season and has scored every single one of those goals at even strength.
Heading into Monday’s game, the Canucks have eight players with double-digit goals: Brock Boeser (27), Elias Pettersson (24), J.T. Miller (21), Nils Höglander (14), Dakota Joshua (12), Quinn Hughes (11), Ilya Mikheyev (10), and Sam Lafferty (10).
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five:
Elias Pettersson: 5g-3a-8p
J.T. Miller: 3g-5a-8p
Quinn Hughes: 0g-5a-5p
Conor Garland: 3g-1a-4p
Teddy Blueger: 0g-4a-4p
Monday’s game gets us back to 7:00 pm PT starts at Rogers Arena and you can watch the game on Sportsnet. The radio broadcast is available on Sportsnet 650, where Brendan Batchelor will be the play-by-play voice that makes you rejoice.
