Game Notes: Canucks at Canadiens

CANUCKS AT CANADIENS

TV: Amazon Prime, RDS

Radio: Sportsnet 650

MATCH-UP INFO

• Tonight marks the first of two meetings between the Canucks and Canadiens this season: Jan. 6 (road) and Mar. 11 (home).
• Vancouver is 40-91-13-3 all-time against Montréal, including a 16-49-5-2 record on the road.
• The Canucks are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games against the Canadiens (4-1-0 in their last 5).
• J.T. Miller leads all active Canucks skaters in scoring against Montréal with 24 points (5-19-24) in 35 games.
• In 19 career games against the Canadiens, Brock Boeser has 16 points (7-9-16).
• Jake DeBrusk has 16 points (9-7-16) in 21 career games against Montréal.
• In 10 career games against the Canadiens, Teddy Blueger has eight points (2-6-8).
• Thatcher Demko is 5-4-0 with a 3.42 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage in nine career starts against Montréal.
• Kevin Lankinen has yet to appear in a game against the Canadiens.
• Artūrs Šilovs has never appeared in a game against Montréal.

QUICK NUMBERS

• Brock Boeser has six goals in his last six games.
• J.T. Miller has six points (0-6-6) in his last six games.
• Jake DeBrusk has five points (2-3-5) in his last six games.
• Conor Garland has four points (2-2-4) in his last six games.

LAST MEETING – MAR. 21/24: VAN 4 vs MTL 1

Nikita Zadorov opened scoring for the game at 15:38 in the first period…Ilya Mikheyev and Elias Lindholm were credited with the assists…Zadorov posted the GWG at 19:33 in the first period…Ilya Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty recorded the assists…Conor Garland extended the lead with a goal at 18:14 in the second period…Teddy Blueger recorded the lone helper…Montreal answered back with a goal of their own…Nils Åman closed scoring for the game with his third goal of the season…Tyler Myers and Vasily Podkolzin were awarded with the assists…Zadrov had his second multi-goal game of his career…Podkolzin recorded his points of the season…Zadorov led the team in shots (5)…Noah Juulsen and Podkolzin led the team in hits (6).

2024.25 TEAM RANKS

LAST GAME PLAYED – JAN. 3/25: VAN 0 vs NSH 3

Steven Stamkos opened the scoring for Nashville with just over three minutes remaining in the second period…Gustav Nyquist and Colton Sissons each scored empty net goals in the final two minutes of the third…Kiefer Sherwood led the team with five shots…Phillip Di Giuseppe had a game-high nine hits…Carson Soucy, Guillaume Brisebois, and Tyler Myers each blocked three shots…Kevin Lankinen made 16 saves.

LAST 5 – vs MONTRÉAL

• Mar. 21/24: VAN 4 vs MTL 1
• Nov. 12/23: VAN 5 at MTL 2
• Dec. 5/22: VAN 7 vs MTL 6
• Nov. 9/22: VAN 2 at MTL 5
• Mar. 9/22: VAN 5 vs MTL 3

KEVIN BLANKINEN

• Entering in relief on Jan. 2/25 vs SEA, Kevin Lankinen secured his 11th road win of the season, becoming the first goaltender in franchise history with as many wins in his first 14 road appearances of a season.
• Recording a shutout on Dec. 12/24 vs FLA, Kevin Lankinen tied Connor Hellebuyck and Sam Montembeault for the most among goaltenders in 2024.25 (now tied for third) and set a new career-high for most shutouts in a season.
• Defeating Detroit in overtime on Dec. 1/24, Kevin Lankinen tied Evgeni Nabokov (2007.08) and Carey Price (2014.15) for the third-longest road winning streak in NHL history (10 games).
• With his victory on Dec. 1/24 at DET, Kevin Lankinen is now 10-0-0 on the road this season, passing Glenn Hall (1965.66) and Cam Talbot (2023.24) for the most road wins to start a season in NHL history.

BOES-T IN CLASS

• With his power play goal on Dec. 31/24 at CGY, Brock Boeser tied Pavel Bure for seventh on the franchise’s all-time power play goals list (69) and tied Alex Burrows for the 10th-most goals in franchise history (193).
• Scoring two goals on Dec. 28/24 vs SEA, Brock Boeser recorded the 31st multi-goal game of his career, good for sixth in franchise history.
• Opening the scoring on Dec. 28.24 vs SEA, Brock Boeser passed Bo Horvat for the eighth-most power play goals in franchise history (68).
• With his two-goal performance on Dec. 21/24 vs OTT, Brock Boeser became the seventh player in Canucks history to have 30 or more multi-goal games.
• By scoring the game-tying goal with 4:50 remaining in regulation on Dec. 21/24 vs OTT, Brock Boeser tied Daniel Sedin for the third-most game-tying goals in the final five minutes of regulation (7). Elias Pettersson and Markus Naslund lead the list (8).
• Scoring a goal in his 500th career game on Dec. 12/24 vs FLA, Brock Boeser became the 14th player in Canucks history to score a goal in his 500th career game.
• Recording a goal and an assist on Dec. 6/24 vs CBJ, Brock Boeser reached the 400-point mark in his career, becoming the 15th player in Canucks history to record at least 400 points with the franchise. He also became the 10th player from the 2015 draft class to hit the milestone.

JAKE ‘N BAKE

• Thanks to a goal on Dec. 28/24 vs SEA, Jake DeBrusk now has 16 goals since November 2, tied for the fourth-most in the NHL.
• Recording his second career hat-trick on Dec. 1/24 at DET, Jake DeBrusk became the eighth player in Canucks history to finish a regular-season hat-trick with an overtime goal.

QUINN-TASTIC

• With two assists on Dec. 23/24 vs SJS, Quinn Hughes now has 324 career assists in 399 games. The only defencemen with more assists prior to their 400th career game are Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey.
• Recording two assists on Dec. 23/24 vs SJS, Quinn Hughes now has 75 career multi-assist games, the fifth most in franchise history.
• Scoring a goal and adding two assists on Dec. 21/24 vs OTT, Quinn Hughes tied the franchise record (set by himself in 2023.24) for the fewest games to 40 points in a season by a defenceman (33 games). He also became the seventh defenceman in NHL history to accomplish this feat multiple times, joining Paul Coffey, Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, Brian Leetch, Randy Carlyle, and Steve Duchesne.
• Recording two assists on Dec. 18/24 at UTA, Quinn Hughes reached the 70-assist mark in 2024, becoming the fifth defenceman in NHL history to record multiple calendar years with at least 70 assists, joining Paul Coffey, Bobby, Orr, Ray Bourque, and Brian Leetch.
• With an assist on Dec. 16/24 vs COL, Quinn Hughes now has 28 assists through 30 games this season, tied for the third-most assists through 30 games in a season in franchise history.
• Recording two assists on Dec. 12/24 vs FLA, Quinn Hughes now has 81 points since the start of 2024, and became the seventh defenceman in NHL history to record consecutive calendar years with at least 80 points.
• Scoring his seventh goal of the season on Dec. 8/24 vs TBL, Quinn Hughes now has 50 in his career, passing Adrian Aucoin for the 10th most in franchise history.
• Putting home the 50th goal of his career on Dec. 8/24 vs TBL, Quinn Hughes became both the second fastest defenceman to 50 goals with the franchise and second youngest to 50 goals with the Canucks, behind Rick Lanz in both instances.
• With two assists on Dec. 6/24 vs CBJ, Quinn Hughes reached the 30-point mark in just his 25th game, the second-fewest number of games to do so in franchise history, trailing only himself (19 games, 2023.24).
• Chipping in with two assists on Dec. 6/24 vs CBJ, Quinn Hughes joined Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, and Nathan MacKinnon as the only players with 100 or more assists since the start of the 2023.24 season.
• Recording a league-leading nine points (1-8-9) in four games from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, Quinn Hughes was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week.
• With three assists on Dec. 1/24 at DET, Quinn Hughes passed Alex Edler for the most assists by a defenceman in franchise history (313).
• By recording three assists on Dec. 1/24 at DET, Quinn Hughes passed Roman Josi for the second-most three-point games by a defenceman since the start of the 2019.20 season (30, now 31). Cale Makar tops the list (33).

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

• Since entering the NHL as an expansion franchise in 1970.71, the Canucks have faced off against a new expansion franchise on 21 occasions, holding a record of 11-8-1-1 (including a 2-7-1-1 record on the road).

“KIE-FER SHER-WOOD”

• Scoring three goals on Dec. 16/24 vs COL, Kiefer Sherwood recorded his first career hat-trick, and set a new career-high in goals (11) with his third goal of the contest.
• In recording his first career hat-trick on Dec. 16/24 vs COL, Kiefer Sherwood also became the 13th player in franchise history to record a natural hat-trick and first since Brock Boeser on Dec. 12/23 vs TBL.

PUSH IT TO THE MAX

• Scoring his first career NHL goal on Dec. 14 vs BOS, Max Sasson became the second Canuck to score their first NHL goal this season, following Jonathan Lekkerimäki on Nov. 14/24 vs NYI.
• Recording an assist in his second-career game on Nov. 27/24 at PIT, Max Sasson became the first Canucks player to begin their career with points in at least two straight games since Elias Pettersson.
• Making his NHL debut on Nov. 23/24 at OTT, Max Sasson became the 46th player in franchise history to record a point in his NHL debut.

5 CANUCKS, 4 NATIONS

• As announced on Wednesday, Dec. 4, Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, and Kevin Lankinen will join Quinn Hughes and Rick Tocchet in representing their countries at the 4 Nations Face-Off, taking place from February 12-20 in Montreal, QC and Boston, MA.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

• Jonathan Lekkerimäki recalled from Abbotsford on emergency basis, Jan. 6
• Dakota Joshua placed on Injured Reserve retroactive to January 3, Jan. 6
• Elias Pettersson placed on Injured Reserve retroactive to December 23, Jan. 3
• Artūrs Šilovs recalled from Abbotsford on emergency basis, Jan. 3
• Guillaume Brisebois recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 27
• Max Sasson recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 27
• Phillip Di Giuseppe recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 27
• Max Sasson reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 23
• Phillip Di Giuseppe reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 23
• Linus Karlsson reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 23
• Phillip Di Giuseppe recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 17
• Linus Karlsson recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 17
• Artūrs Šilovs reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 17
• Mark Friedman reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 17
• Aatu Räty reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 15
• Artūrs Šilovs recalled from Abbotsford on emergency basis, Dec. 14
• Max Sasson recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 14
• Aatu Räty recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 14
• Mark Friedman recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 14
• Max Sasson reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 13
• Aatu Räty reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 13
• Mark Friedman reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 13
• J.T. Miller placed on the Active Roster, Dec. 12
• Derek Forbort activated from Injured Reserve, Dec. 12
• Mark Friedman recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 12

THE LAST TIME…

• The Canucks won when leading after 1P: Dec. 16/24 vs COL
• The Canucks lost when leading after 1P: Dec. 19/24 at VGK
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when leading after 1P: Dec. 28/24 vs SEA
• The Canucks won when leading after 2P: Jan. 2/25 at SEA
• The Canucks lost when leading after 2P: Feb. 19/24 at MIN
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when leading after 2P: Dec. 28/24 vs SEA
• The Canucks won when trailing after 1P: Dec. 6/24 vs CBJ
• The Canucks lost when trailing after 1P: Dec. 31/24 at CGY
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when trailing after 1P: Dec. 10/24 vs STL
• The Canucks won when trailing after 2P: Feb. 24/24 vs BOS
• The Canucks lost when trailing after 2P: Jan. 3/25 vs NSH
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when trailing after 2P: Dec. 21/24 vs OTT
• The Canucks won when tied after 1P: Jan. 2/25 at SEA
• The Canucks lost when tied after 1P: Jan. 3/25 vs NSH
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when tied after 1P: Dec. 21/24 vs OTT
• The Canucks won when tied after 2P: Dec. 6/24 vs CBJ
• The Canucks lost when tied after 2P: Dec. 19/24 at VGK
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when tied after 2P: Dec. 21/23 at DAL

2024.25 SEASON HIGHS AND LOWS

• Most Goals Scored, Game: 6, Oct. 22/24 at CHI
• Most Goals Scored, Period: 4, 3x, Latest Oct. 26/24 vs PIT, 2nd period
• Most Goals Allowed, Game: 7, Nov. 9/24 vs EDM
• Most Goals Allowed, Period: 4, 2x, Latest Nov. 27/24 at PIT, 1st period
• Fewest Goals Scored, Game: 0, 2x Latest Jan. 3/25 vs NSH
• Fewest Goals Allowed, Game: 0, 3x, Latest Dec. 12/24 vs FLA
• Most PPG Scored, Game: 2, 3x, Latest Dec. 1/24 at DET
• Most PPG Allowed, Game: 2, 3x, Latest Dec. 8/24 vs TBL
• Most SHG Scored, Game: 1, Dec. 16/24 vs COL
• Most SHG Allowed, Game: 1, 4x, Latest Dec. 21/24 vs OTT
• Most Shots, Game: 37, Nov. 5/24 at ANA
• Most Shots, Period: 20, Nov. 14/24 vs NYI, 3rd period
• Most Shots, OT: 3, 3x, Latest Dec. 18/24 at UTA
• Fewest Shots, Game: 15, Nov. 26/24 at BOS
• Fewest Shots, Period: 2, 2x, Latest Dec. 19/24 at VGK, 2nd period
• Fewest Shots, OT: 0, 3x, Latest Dec. 21/24 vs OTT
• Most Shots Allowed, Game: 34, 2x, Latest Nov. 29/24 at BUF
• Most Shots Allowed, Period: 18, 2x, Latest Dec. 8/24 vs TBL, 2nd period
• Most Shots Allowed, OT: 3, 2x, Latest Dec. 18/24 at UTA
• Fewest Shots Allowed, Game: 21, Dec. 19/24 at VGK
• Fewest Shots Allowed, Period: 2, Nov. 17/24 vs NSH, 3rd period
• Fewest Shots Allowed, OT: 0, Oct. 17/24 at FLA
• Most Hits, Game: 51, Jan. 3/25 vs NSH
• Fewest Hits, Game: 13, Oct. 9/24 vs CGY
• Most Blocked Shots, Game: 26, Nov. 26/24 at BOS
• Fewest Blocked Shots, Game: 7, Nov. 5/24 at ANA
• Largest Margin of Victory: 4 goals, 2x, Latest Dec. 12/24 vs FLA
• Largest Margin of Defeat: 6 goals, Oct. 30/24 vs NJD
• Longest Win Streak: 4 games, Oct. 17-26/24
• Longest Point Streak: 5 games, Oct. 17-28/24 (4-0-1)
• Longest Winless Streak: 3 games, 2x, Latest Dec. 18-21/24 (0-1-2)
• Longest Pointless Streak: 2 games, Nov. 17-19/24

VANCOUVER 2024.25 RECORD WHEN…

• Score 4+ Goals: 12-1-3
• Score 3 Goals or Less: 6-11-5
• Allow 4+ Goals: 1-9-5
• Allow 3 Goals or Less: 17-3-3
• Scoring First: 7-4-6
• Allowing First Goal: 11-8-2
• On 0 Days Rest: 0-4-0
• On 1 Day Rest: 10-6-6
• On 2 Days Rest: 6-1-0
• On 3+ Days Rest: 2-1-2
• Score a PPG: 11-4-5
• Give up a PPG: 6-7-4
• 25 or More Shots on Goal: 10-6-6
• Less than 25 shots: 8-6-2

THREE STARS – JANUARY

• Miller – 5 pts
• Lankinen – 5 pts

DECEMBER WINNER – Hughes (20 pts)

NOVEMBER WINNER – DeBrusk (20 pts)

OCTOBER WINNER – Lankinen (25 pts)

*5 points are awarded for each Three Stars Selection