Step two of the Vancouver Canucks’ California road trip sees them head into Anaheim to battle with the Ducks on Tuesday night.
Pius Suter scored a pair of goals in San Jose as the Canucks won the first game of their road trip on Saturday night. The two goals scored gave Suter seven goals in the seven games he has played against the Sharks in his career.
In today’s preview introduction, we thought we could look at four players who thrive against the Ducks as we approach Tuesday’s tilt.
J.T. Miller has 24 points (8g-16a) in 22 games against the Ducks. He has three game-winning goals in those 22 games.
Filip Hronek is on a five-game point streak against the Ducks and has eight points (3g-5a) in 10 outings.
Elias Pettersson has 19 points (6g-13a) in 17 games and Quinn Hughes has 14 (1g-13a) points in 13 games.
The Ducks are off to a 4-5-2 start this season but have lost in four of their last five. They are led by their goaltender Lukas Dostal, who has been electric to begin this season. Dostal has made nine starts and has a .937% save percentage to go with a 2.22 goals-against average, as well as one shutout.
Dostal leads the NHL in save percentage and goals-saved above average (12.4 GSAA). The 24-year-old is locked in, and the Canucks will need to be aggressive and accurate to beat the goaltender who leads the league in saves.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- This current Anaheim Ducks team has shown that they are going to roll four lines consistently. No forward on the Ducks is averaging more than 18 minutes per game.
- The Ducks’ top line sees Frank Vatrano, Mason McTavish, and Troy Terry together while the top-six is rounded out by a second line of Cutter Gauthier, Trevor Zegras, and Alex Killorn.
- Terry leads the Ducks with five goals and nine points through 11 games played.
- Special teams play has been a struggle in the early parts of the season. The Ducks rank 27th on the power play with a 13.9% conversion percentage. On the penalty kill, they rank 26th killing off 72.4% of their penalties this season.
- Radko Gudas and Brock McGinn lead the way in physicality. Gudas has 35 hits while McGinn has 32. Gudas also leads the Ducks with 34 blocked shots.
- 21-year-old Pavel Mintyukov is logging 20:47 per game right now and is second on the Ducks in average ice time, trailing Cam Fowler, who has averaged 21:40 this season.
The Story: Top-Six Suter
Pius Suter skated on a line with Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland at practice on Monday. Suter has been the Canucks’ hottest goal scorer over the past five games and is known to have solid two-way ability along with his flexibility to play both centre and the wing.
“He's easy to play with,” said Conor Garland of Suter. "Him and Dak (Joshua) have a lot of similarities. [Like] how smart they are, and they go to the right areas, not the fastest players, but just how they’re in the right areas. They're above the puck at all times. And then when they get their chances, they can bury it. So, I love playing with Sutes.”
Suter has found success in his limited time on a line with Pettersson and Garland and the trio has produced some big goals in the past.
Head coach Rick Tocchet spoke about Suter’s hockey IQ being a main reason Suter can find success in a top-six role.
“That's one thing that he's really good at,” said Tocchet of Suter’s hockey IQ. “He's not the fastest player out there, but when you have a brain like that, you can make up for that. And I think that's where he's really good at.”
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
J.T. Miller: 2g-4a-6p
Conor Garland: 1g-4a-5p
Quinn Hughes: 1g-4a-5p
Pius Suter: 4g-0a-4p
Brock Boeser: 2g-2a-4p
When and Where to Watch
Tuesday night’s game against the Ducks is a 7:00 p.m. start and can be seen on Sportsnet or listened to on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
