The Vancouver Canucks have a pair of home games ahead of their holiday break and will host an all-Canadian matchup on Hockey Night in Canada with the Ottawa Senators in town on Saturday night.
These two teams matched up in late November and it was a heated affair that saw the Canucks come away with a 4-3 road win.
This will be the Canucks’ third game in four nights after a quick two-game road trip that saw them play in back-to-back games against Utah and Vegas. Saturday’s game kicks off a three-game homestand that will be split up by the holiday break.
Over the past five games, the Canucks’ penalty kill has killed off 12 of their last 14 penalties and sits 12th in the league with an 80.2% kill rate. Vincent Desharnais has been a big piece of the penalty kill this season and in his 32:31 of shorthanded ice time, he has been on the ice for just one goal against.
The Senators come into Saturday’s game mirroring the Canucks’ last two opponents as they are playing their best hockey of the season. Since the Canucks beat the Senators, the Sens have reeled off a 9-2-1 record and outscored their opponents 37-26 in those 12 games.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- Tim Stützle, Drake Batherson, and Brady Tkachuk have all been point-per-game players over the Sens’ last dozen games.
- Tkachuk leads his team with 16 goals this season, but the Senators have five players with double-digit goals this season: Batherson (13), Adam Gaudette (13), Josh Norris (12) and Stützle (11).
- Goaltender Linus Ullmark has been lights out for the Sens since the beginning of December. The Sens’ big offseason trade acquisition has a 7-0-1 record in December with a .959% save percentage and a 1.23 goals-against average.
- The Sens have back-to-back games with travel as they head to Edmonton on Sunday. We will have to see if the Sens decide to go with Ullmark on Saturday or save him for the Oilers on Sunday.
- With a power play clicking at 25% on the year, the Sens rank seventh in the league on the man-advantage. On the penalty kill, they rank 24th, killing off 76.7% of their penalties.
- On the road this season, the Sens are 6-1-0 when they score first and 1-6-1 when their opposition gets the first goal.
- They have outscored the opposition 61-48 in the first two periods of their games this season while being outscored 34-41 in third periods.
The Story: December Quinn
Quinn Hughes has been on the ice for 10 goals scored and five against at five-on-five this month. He ranks third in the league for five-on-five ice time from a defenceman and leads the NHL for points from a defenceman in December with 12 while no other defenceman has more than nine.
Hughes has more shot attempts than any defenceman this month (76) and is second to Zach Werenski in scoring chances with 21.
On the year, the 25-year-old captain is second in the NHL for points from a defenceman with 37 through 32 games played. No defenceman has attempted more shots than Hughes (257) and he has only taken four penalties while drawing 11 through 803 minutes of ice time.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Quinn Hughes: 0g-5a-5p
Kiefer Sherwood: 3g-1a-4p
Danton Heinen: 2g-2a-4p
Teddy Blueger: 1g-3a-4p
Max Sasson: 1g-2a-3p
J.T. Miller: 0g-3a-3p
When and Where to Watch
Saturday night’s game is a 7:00 p.m. PT start, and you can watch it on Hockey Night in Canada or listen along to the radio call with the great Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
