PREVIEW | Canucks vs. Blackhawks
MATCH-UP INFO
QUICK NUMBERS
LAST MEETING - JAN. 31/22: VAN 3 vs CHI 1
Alex Chiasson opened the scoring at 12:21 in the first period...Justin Dowling recorded the lone assist...Brock Boeser doubled Vancouver's lead at 4:28 in the second period, assisted by Quinn Hughes and Jason Dickinson...Luke Schenn scored an unassisted empty-net goal at 19:39 in the third period...Quinn Hughes logged 26:52 to lead the team in TOI...Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland each registered four shots...Luke Schenn matched a franchise record in hits (12), set previously by himself in 2019...Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves.
LAST GAME PLAYED - JAN. 21/23: VAN 2 vs EDM 4
Andrei Kuzmenko got Vancouver on the board with his 19th goal of the season at 16:46 in the second period to extend his point streak to four games (2-3-5)...Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes registered the assists...J.T. Miller fired a slapshot home from the blueline for his 18th goal of the season at 3:26 in the third period to bring Vancouver within one goal...Quinn Hughes recorded his second assist of the game while Conor Garland picked up the secondary assist...Luke Schenn led the Canucks in shots (4)...Curtis Lazar recorded a team-high in hits (5)...Spencer Martin faced 28 shots.
LAST 5 vs CHICAGO
CANUCKS HOST FIFTH ANNUAL LUNAR NEW YEAR GAME TONIGHT, PRESENTED BY TD
The Vancouver Canucks will be celebrating Lunar New Year and the Year of the Rabbit tonight when they take on the Chicago Blackhawks. Players will wear special warm-up jerseys designed by award-winning artist Trevor Lai, uniting the Year of the Rabbit with the iconic Skate jersey to symbolize elements of speed, power, and good fortune. These player-worn warm-up jerseys will be available via online auction at Vanbase.ca along with other Lunar New Year merchandise, with partial proceeds from sales being donated to Elimin8hate and the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation. For more information, please see the full press release at Canucks.com.
TOCCH OF THE TOWN
On January 22nd, Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced that Rick Tocchet had been named the 21st Head Coach in franchise history. Tocchet joins the Canucks having most recently served four seasons as head coach of the Arizona Coyotes from 2017.18 to 2020.21. During his tenure in Arizona, Tocchet led the Coyotes to their first trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs (2020) in eight years, when the team defeated the Nashville Predators in four games to advance from the Qualifying Round. That same season, he was selected to coach the Pacific Division at the NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis. Prior to his appointment in Arizona, Tocchet spent three seasons (2014.15 to 2016.17) as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017.
QUICK QUINN
Registering a multi-point effort with one goal and one assist on Jan. 18 vs TBL, Quinn Hughes reached the 40-point mark this season in just 40 games, becoming the fastest defenceman in Canucks history to reach this mark, besting Paul Reinhart by four games (1988.98). Jan. 18th was also Hughes' 45th career multi-point game and is the fourth active defenceman to reach as many games before the age of 24 (Erik Karlsson [58 GP], Cale Makar [47 GP], and Rasmus Dahlin [46 GP]).
• Thanks to his third period goal and assist on Jan. 12 at TBL, Quinn Hughes reached and surpassed the 200-point mark in his career (22-179-201) in just his 242nd NHL game, becoming the fastest defenceman in franchise history to ever reach this milestone, doing so in 106 fewer games than the next closest Canucks defenceman (Jyrki Lumme - 348 GP). Hughes is also the third-fastest active NHL defenceman to the mark behind only Cale Makar (195 GP) and Adam Fox (241 GP).
EXCEPTIONAL ELIAS
Scoring on Jan. 20 vs COL, Elias Pettersson registered his 19th goal of the season, with all 19 having come at even-strength. Pettersson ranks t-8th in the NHL in even-strength goals and is the only player with 15+ tallies to have scored all of his goals at even- strength.
• Netting the game-deciding goal in the shootout by successfully executing "The Forsberg" on Jan. 15 at CAR, Elias Pettersson recorded his fifth career game-deciding goal, tying teammate Bo Horvat for most in franchise history.
BO'S BLAZIN' STREAK
Assisting on Quinn Hughes' goal on Jan. 18 vs TBL, Bo Horvat extended his point streak to nine games (4-6-10), setting a new personal career-high. Horvat has also tied J.T. Miller (Nov. 12-29) and Brock Boeser (Nov. 8-26) for the longest point streak by a Canucks player this season.
• On Jan. 3 at NYI, Bo Horvat registered his ninth game with 2+ goals this season, to lead all NHL skaters. He also became the first Canuck since Ryan Kesler (9) in 2010.11 to post as many multi-goal performances in a single season. Horvat now has 28 career multi-goal games, passing Petri Skriko and Thomas Gradin for sole possession of eight place in that category in franchise history.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY - HORVAT FOR 200
With a power play goal on Jan. 14 at FLA, Bo Horvat registered his 200th career NHL goal in his 614th regular season game, becoming the sixth fastest player to reach this milestone in franchise history (fourth-fastest among players who started their career with the Canucks). The goal was also Horvat's 30th of the season, solidifying consecutive seasons with 30 or more goals (posting 31-21-52 in 70 GP in 2021.22) to become the first Canuck since Daniel Sedin in 2010.11 & 2011.12 to achieve this feat. Horvat is only one of seven active NHLers to break 30 goals this season and ranks t-5th in the NHL for goals.
• Horvat's goal on Jan. 14 at FLA is his 30th goal in 42 games, ranking him fourth in franchise history for most goals in the team's first 42 games of the season (trailing Pavel Bure [38] in 1992.93, Alexander Mogilny [34] in 1995.96, and Markus Naslund [31] in 2002.03).
TYLER FINDS TWINE
Opening the second period scoring on Jan. 14 at FLA, Tyler Myers scored his first goal of the season to snap a 66-game goal-less streak. Myers scored that goal just 39 seconds into the period, becoming only the fourth Canucks defenceman to score a goal within the first 39 seconds of a period joining Kevin McCarthy (0:19 of P2 on March 8, 1983), Rick Lanz (0:32 of P2 on Nov. 11, 1985) and Ed Jovanovski (0:36 of P2 on Dec. 21, 2000).
• Tyler Myers also registered seven shots on goal on Jan. 14 at FLA to match his career high for the second consecutive game (also Jan. 12 at TBL).
ROAD READY HUGHES
Posting a goal and two assists on Jan. 12 at TBL, Quinn Hughes collected his 19th career multi-point game on the road, tying Kevin Bieksa for sixth-most occurrences by a defenceman in franchise history. In those 19 games, Hughes has amassed 45 points (2.33 points per game), the highest points per game average among defenceman with 10 or more multi-point road games in Canucks history.
