Second Game of Homestand has Calgary Flames in Town for an All-Canadian Tuesday Night Game

The Vancouver Canucks continue their homestand with the Calgary Flames coming to town for an all-Canadian, Tuesday night affair at Rogers Arena.

With a 7-3-3 record, the Canucks look to build on their winning record with some home-ice wins over the next eight days. The start of the season hasn’t been ideal at Rogers Arena but through their 1-2-3 record at home, the team is controlling possession and has 128 scoring chances for compared to 111 against at five-on-five.

Head coach Rick Tocchet wants to see his defencemen do a better job around their crease and focus on taking the body and allowing their goaltender to find the puck. He wants to see the big bodies on the defence be physical and use their size to the team’s advantage.

Elias Pettersson’s game is coming along, and he leads the Canucks with 17 scoring chances over his last four games. The 25-year-old will turn 26 on Tuesday and holds a 65.8% control of scoring chances over his last four games. He has made some strong defensive plays to go along with his recent jump in offence.

The Flames have had a strong start to the season. They currently sit fourth in the Pacific Division with a 7-5-3 record and are 3-2-3 on the road.

Calgary plays Monday night in Los Angeles and will be on the second night of a back-to-back when they roll into Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

Ahead of Tuesday night’s game against LA, they have been struggling of late – having a 2-5-2 record over their last nine games. Dustin Wolf is scheduled to start for the Flames on Monday night, which indicates that Dan Vladar will face the Canucks on Tuesday.

Vladar picked up a 6-5 win against the Canucks in the season opener and holds a 3-3-2 record with a 2.60 goals-against average, a .906% save percentage, and one shutout on the year.

Quick Hits on the Competition

• The Flames’ top line sees youngster Connor Zary on left wing while Nazem Kadri plays centre and the line is rounded out by Yegor Sharangovich on right wing.

• Zary has three goals and five assists for eight points on the season and has scored all three of his goals at even strength this season.

• The leading scorer for the Flames is defenceman Rasmus Andersson, who has four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 15 games.

• Andersson is averaging 24:39 of ice time per game and that ranks him 10th in the league for average ice time per game.

• Martin Pospisil leads the Flames with 44 hits this season and is closely followed by defenceman Brayden Pachal, who has 43.

• The Flames have the 27th-ranked penalty kill in the league and are killing off 72.3% of their penalties this season.

• Their power play is clicking at 15.9% and that puts them 24th in the league.

• At five-on-five, the Flames rank sixth in the league in allowing goals. They have given up just 1.92 goals per 60 minutes of five-on-five play. Special teams will be important on Tuesday night.

The Story: Jonathan Lekkerimäki set to make NHL debut

At just 20 years old, the 2022 first-round pick is set to make his NHL debut following a strong start to his season in the AHL where he has five goals in his last five games with the Abbotsford Canucks and has at least five shots on net in each of his last six games.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki was the MVP of the most recent World Junior Championships and scored 19 goals in the SHL last season. The winger loves to shoot the puck and with Brock Boeser out of the lineup due to an upper-body injury, an opportunity has arisen for Lekkerimäki to get top-six minutes with Vancouver.

Tocchet wants Lekkerimäki, or Johnny as he calls him, to play his game and do what he has done to be successful up to this point in his young hockey career.

“I think Millsy’s forechecking, and being able to get the puck, [will be good]. How he gets the puck to Brock. [Lekkerimäki has] got a great shot, and Sutes is that Swiss Army knife that can play that defensive game if we need him to help out. So, [it puts] less pressure on Johnny,” said Tocchet.

“I just want Johnny to just go play the game and be who he is. We had these two-on-ones and he's trying to pass to everybody. That's not his job. I want him to shoot the puck. These young guys, I was laughing, even Bains last year, he had a couple of two-on-ones and he was trying to pass. I want these young guys to be selfish, that's what he is, he's a shooter. Shoot the puck every time. Millsy won't be mad if you shoot, trust me.”

Lekkerimäki skated the last two practices on a line with J.T. Miller and Pius Suter, and that is what we expect to see on Tuesday night against Calgary.

Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games

Quinn Hughes: 1g-6a-7p
Jake DeBrusk: 3g-1a-4p
Conor Garland: 1g-3a-4p
Pius Suter: 3g-0a-3p
Elias Pettersson: 2g-1a-3p

When and Where to Watch

Tuesday night’s game will be a 7:00 p.m. start and you can watch the All-Canadian matchup on Sportsnet or listen along with Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.