Get ready to see a bunch of previews on the matchups between the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings.
The two Pacific Division foes have not faced each other this season but will play four games over the next six weeks.
LA comes into Thursday’s game with a 29-19-10 record and currently sits fourth in the division while holding strong on a wild card spot in the Western Conference.
It’s the final game of the Canucks’ short three-game homestand. The group hits the road for games in Anaheim, Los Angeles and Vegas before returning home for nine straight games.
Thursday will be the first live viewing of Drew Doughty against the Canucks this season. The 34-year-old defenceman is leading the league in ice time with an average of 26:02 per night. He’s on the power play, he’s killing penalties, he’s on the top pairing, he’s likely selling hot dogs – Doughty is doing it all and he is finding the back of the net at one of the highest rates of his career.
Doughty has scored 13 goals this season and six of those goals have come on the power play. The Kings thrive on special teams and Doughty is a big reason why his team sits in 12th for power play conversion percentage. Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala each have seven goals on the man-advantage this season and Pierre-Luc Dubois has come on strong over the past six weeks - picking up four power play goals in the Kings’ last 20 games.
The penalty kill is where the Kings have been shining this season. They are the league’s best PK group and have killed off 86.4% of their penalties this year. They are also one of five teams in the NHL with double-digit shorthanded goals. Each of Adrian Kempe, Trevor Moore and Blake Lizotte have two shorthanded goals this season.
The depth of their team sees plenty of young talent while the top-six is a mix of youth and veterans. Their top line sees Dubois alongside Kopitar with Quinton Byfield playing on the right wing. Byfield has been the hottest King over the past 10 games and we are beginning to see why he was selected 2nd overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
Arthur Kaliyev, Alex Laferriere, Jordan Spence and Alex Turcotte round out some of the youth in the Kings lineup and they are being guided by veterans like Kopitar, Fiala, Doughty, and Phillip Danault.
Last game, the Kings had five players on their injured list. Pheonix Copley, Carl Grundstrom, Viktor Arvidsson, Mikey Anderson and Adrian Kempe are all out with injuries.
The net has been primarily patrolled by Cam Talbot this season but he has been spelled off by David Rittich and the two have similar numbers this season with Talbot’s save percentage being .913% compared to Rittich’s .914%.
Quick Hits on the Competition:
- Adrian Kempe is the leading point-getter for the Kings. He’s picked up 19 goals and added 32 assists this season for 51 points in 57 games.
- Trevor Moore is the goals leader. He’s scored 22 this season, including 18 at even-strength. Moore has been skating on a line with Fiala and Danault.
- Leading after the first period is key for the Kings on the road. They have a 10-0-1 record when they have the lead after 20 minutes. When trailing after 20 minutes on the road, they have a 4-4-0 record. When tied, their record is 4-5-3.
- The Kings have been one of the league’s best first-period teams and are holding a 58% control of the goal share – they have scored 53 goals and allowed 38 in first periods this season.
- Shots will be coming early and often and the Kings hit the net more than anyone in the NHL at five-on-five. They average 33.8 shots on net per 60 minutes.
- They also give up the third-lowest shots on net at five-on-five and do a good job getting into shooting lanes to keep point shots off their net.
The Canucks come into Thursday’s game looking to get back to their winning ways. Head coach Rick Tocchet likes what he is seeing from his new-look forward lines and doesn’t want to throw things into a blender after each loss because he believes that going with J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, Elias Lindholm and Teddy Blueger down the middle gives his team a competitive edge on many of the other teams in the league.
Tocchet is experimenting with his power play units to see if there can be a spark but also noted that we are still going to see a lot of Quinn Hughes out there when the team is on the man-advantage.
A big focus from the coach is on turnovers and stick penalties. He’s looking for the group to bounce back on Thursday night with a disciplined game that sees the team get back to their structured breakouts and keep their feet moving to avoid silly stick penalties.
J.T. Miller has been extremely effective over his last dozen games. He’s been on the ice for 11 goals scored and only one goal against at five-on-five and is contributing on both the special teams units. He’s also held a 57.7% win percentage in the faceoff circle over those dozen games and has been an emotional leader for the group.
With his goal on Tuesday night, the Canucks now have two players with 30 or more goals this season and will soon be adding to that list as Elias Pettersson is one goal away from joining Miller and Brock Boeser in the 30-goal scorers club.
Nils Höglander scored the game’s opening goal on Tuesday night and is fast approaching 20 goals on the season. The 23-year-old winger has already surpassed his career high that was set in his rookie season when he scored 13 goals.
Canucks’ Top Performers over Last Five:
J.T. Miller: 6g-5a-11p
Brock Boeser: 4g-3a-7p
Quinn Hughes: 0g-4a-4p
Pius Suter: 0g-4a-4p
Elias Pettersson: 1g-2a-3p
Thursday’s game can be viewed on Sportsnet or listened to on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network. It’s a 7:00 pm PT start time and Rogers Arena is going to once again be rocking.
