The Vancouver Canucks have reeled off a three-win streak on home ice and will open the week against a Los Angeles Kings team that has won three of their own on home ice over the past seven days.
Monday’s game is a 6:00 pm PT start time and will be another tough test of playoff-like hockey as the Kings are currently holding on to third place in the Pacific Division. The core of the Kings knows what playoff hockey is all about after making the postseason dance in each of the previous two years. Veteran players like Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty lead a Kings team with young talent scattered throughout their lineup.
Kopitar has been red-hot lately and has picked up five goals and four assists over his last five games. The 36-year-old continues to be one of the best two-way centres in the league and has been excellent in the faceoff dot – winning 55.2% of his draws this year. He is fourth in the league for faceoffs taken and only trails Sidney Crosby, Robert Thomas, and Joel Eriksson Ek.
Joining Kopitar on the Kings’ top line are young star Quinton Byfield and crafty right winger Adrian Kempe. Byfield, the 21-year-old, 2nd overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft has scored 19 goals and 32 assists for 51 points this season. Shattering his career-best for points that he put up last season.
Defenceman Drew Doughty continues to eat up minutes at the age of 35. He is averaging 25:47 per game and that puts him number one in the league for average time on ice.
Doughty has scored 14 goals this season and contributes on both special teams units.
Cam Talbot has been the lead between the pipes this season and has started 43 of the Kings’ 70 games. Talbot holds an impressive .917% save percentage and has secured three shutouts this season.
Quick Hits on the Competition:
- The Kings have the number-one ranked penalty kill in the league and have killed off 85.6% of their penalties.
- Their leaders on the penalty kill include Matt Roy, Vladislav Gavrikov, Mikey Anderson, Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, and Phillip Danault.
- Kevin Fiala leads the Kings in power play goals with 10.
- Adrian Kempe will be sure to have his name called a lot on Monday night. He is second on the Kings for shots on net with 215 and adds a physical element to his game with 100 hits this season.
The Canucks are looking to build on their three-game winning streak and roll along through their homestand.
Nils Höglander is now up to 22 goals on the season and all of them have come at five-on-five. Those 22 five-on-five goals tie him with Mikko Rantanen for ninth in the league.
The trio of Höglander, Conor Garland, and Elias Pettersson have now played 33 minutes as a line and have been on the ice for five goals score and just one goal against.
Goaltender Casey DeSmith has now started 22 games and holds an 11-5-6 record. Since taking over for the recovering Thatcher Demko, DeSmith has stopped 105 of the 116 shots he has faced and has guided the Canucks to a 3-1-1 record.
The Canucks’ penalty kill has been coming around through March. They have only allowed a power play goal against in one of their nine games this month and have focused on playing discipline to limit their trips to the box. In March, they’ve averaged two minor penalties a game.
Head coach Rick Tocchet is excited for the matchup between the Canucks and Kings on Monday evening. The two Pacific Division playoff-bound teams have played twice this season with the Kings winning at the end of February and the Canucks winning in early March.
These two teams will battle on Monday and then once again in LA on April 6th.
Canucks’ Top Performers over Last Five:
J.T. Miller: 2g-3a-5p
Conor Garland: 2g-3a-5p
Elias Pettersson: 2g-3a-5p
Nikita Zadorov: 3g-1a-4p
Ilya Mikheyev: 1g-3a-4p
Monday’s game is an earlier start time. The game is scheduled for 6:00 pm PT and you can watch the game on Sportsnet or listen to the radio broadcast with Brendan Batchelor on the call with Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
