Following a weekend of back-to-back early games where the Vancouver Canucks picked up three of a possible four points, the team is now in Chicago to finish off their five-game road trip that will see the team travel for a total of 10,283 kilometres by the time they return home.
The Canucks come into Tuesday’s game with an eight-point lead in the Pacific Division. They must keep pushing because, though they have a healthy lead, the Vegas Golden Knights are playing some good hockey lately and have a 7-1-1 record over their last nine games.
We know the Canucks have been picking up points lately but there’s a lot more work to be done and this final game of the road trip presents a chance for the team to pick up some confidence before they return home to Rogers Arena.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet has spoken highly of the Blackhawks in the Canucks’ two matchups against. Though the Blackhawks sit at the bottom of the standings, they have had periods this season where they play into head coach Luke Richardson’s system to a tee.
Lately, the Blackhawks have been struggling. They hold a 3-13-1 record over their last 17 games and the Canucks will be looking to take care of business as they close out the road trip.
Quick Hits on the Competition:
- Connor Bedard is still out with a fractured jaw. He is recovering well but is not expected to be back in the Blackhawks’ lineup for at least another week.
- The Blackhawks are in a comfortable part of the season, playing 10 of 11 games on home ice.
- Though they sit at the bottom of the standings, the Blackhawks have a 10-12-1 record on home ice.
- Philipp Kurashev is the leading scorer for the Hawks with Bedard out of the lineup. Kurashev is playing centre on the top line. Kurashev has eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points in 45 games this season.
- Former Canuck Jason Dickinson leads the Hawks with 16 goals this season.
- Nick Foligno is the leading man in the man-advantage group. He has four power play goals this season and joins Kurashev and Tyler Johnson on the top line at even-strength.
- Seth Jones is averaging 25:27 a night. That’s the fourth-highest TOI/GP in the league.
The Canucks are looking to make this a successful road trip with a win to put a bow on a five-game trip that has seen them go 2-1-1 through the first four games.
We’ve got a tie for the lead in points on the team as Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller continue to pick up points. Pettersson and Miller each have 69 points on the season, which is nice enough to get them in a tie for fifth in the league.
Nils Höglander is now up to 16 goals on the season and he is number one in the league for goals scored per ice time at five-on-five. Höglander is averaging 1.74 goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five, and Auston Matthews is second in the league with a 1.72 G/60.
Conor Garland scored his ninth goal of the season in Sunday’s morning match with the Washington Capitals. Garland is on the brink of breaking into double-digit goals on the season and when the next Canucks hits the 10-goal mark, it will be the 10th player to hit double digits goals on the team.
Elias Lindholm is getting some extra time to begin fitting in with the Canucks before the playoff run and he’s found some success on the power play and in the faceoff dot. Lindholm has a pair of power play goals on tips from Quinn Hughes shots and has won 27 of the 47 faceoffs (57.4%) he has taken in Canucks colours.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five:
Elias Pettersson: 3g-5a-8p
Brock Boeser: 3g-3a-6p
Quinn Hughes: 0g-6a-6p
J.T. Miller: 2g-3a-5p
Filip Hronek: 1g-2a-3p
Tuesday’s game is scheduled for 5:30 pm PT, and it’s nice to get back to some evening games. The game can be viewed on Sportsnet, or you can experience the masterpiece that is Brendan Batchelor on play-by-play with the radio broadcast on Sportsnet 650.
