The Vancouver Canucks travel to Detroit for a Sunday morning matchup against the Red Wings as they near the conclusion of their six-game road trip.
Following an overtime win on Friday afternoon, the Canucks have an even earlier game as they will play at 9:30 a.m. PT in the Motor City.
With a 3-1-0 record on their current road trip, the club looks to continue their winning ways away from Rogers Arena and will want to continue playing with the pack mentality they have shown on this current trip.
Head Coach Rick Tocchet spoke about his team being good in key moments on Friday afternoon with big special teams play and strong goaltending from Kevin Lankinen. The team will look to be good in those key moments and play to their game plan with a strong start in Sunday’s early game.
The Red Wings are wrapping up a three-game homestand on Sunday after a 5-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Friday and a 2-1 overtime win on Wednesday against the Calgary Flames.
Wings’ forward Lucas Raymond has scored in five consecutive games and is finding success alongside Vladimir Tarasenko and Dylan Larkin on Detroit’s first line.
Canucks forward Conor Garland has an impressive streak of his own. He has put up a seven-game point streak and has four goals and six assists during his hot stretch. Garland came up huge on Friday afternoon with two goals, including the overtime winner, and an assist. He played a career-high 23:37 in their win over Buffalo and is contributing on both special teams units.
Garland liked the fight from his team on Friday and thought his team did a good job fighting through missing some key pieces from their lineup.
Another player we wanted to highlight is forward Max Sasson. The rookie has found early success in the NHL with his first three games played. Sasson has been on the ice for three goals scored and zero against and is playing with some familiar linemates from his time in Abbotsford (AHL) with Aatu Räty and Nils Höglander.
Quick Hits on the Competition:
- The Red Wings sit sixth in the Atlantic with a 10-11-2 record. They are 5-6-1 on home ice this season.
- Dylan Larkin leads with 12 goals on the season. He has scored half of his goal on the power play and leads the Wings for goals with the man-advantage.
- Detroit has been strong on the power play this season. They rank fifth in the league with a 27.9% conversion rate. Lucas Raymond is the man to watch as he leads the Wings with 11 power play assists.
- Special teams are likely to play an important role in the outcome. The Wings’ power play is good, but their penalty kill is the worst in the league – clicking at 66.2% through 23 games.
- The Wings average the least number of shots at five-on-five per minute. They are the second-lowest scoring team at five-on-five this season, scoring 1.64 goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five.
- Mo Seider is the leader for ice time. The 23-year-old defenceman averages 24:38 per game and has scored a pair of goals while adding 11 assists.
- Another young defenceman making a significant impact is Simon Edvinsson. The 21-year-old is averaging 21:06 in his first full season in the NHL. He leads the Red Wings’ defence corps with three goals – all three coming at even-strength.
The Story: History for Hughes
With two assists on Friday afternoon, Canucks’ captain Quinn Hughes now has 310 career assists and moved into a tie with Alex Edler for the franchise record for assists from a defenceman.
The Norris Trophy-winning defenceman is looking to make history on Sunday with a single assist and he has picked up an assist in 14 of the Canucks’ 22 games this season. The Canucks are 9-4-2 when Hughes picks up a point this season and he has put up 16 assists in 11 road games so far this year.
In 22 games this season, Hughes has tallied 20 assists and also leads the Canucks in points with 25 this season. He has been able to control the game when he is on the ice, being on for 24 goals scored and 15 against at five-on-five.
We will be ready to celebrate him becoming the franchise leader for assists in the near future and when he passes Edler, he will move into sole possession of seventh for assists in Canucks history, only trailing Henrik (830) and Daniel Sedin (648), Trevor Linden (415), Stan Smyl (411), Markus Naslund (410), and Thomas Gradin (353).
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Conor Garland: 4g-4a-8p
Quinn Hughes: 2g-5a-7p
Elias Pettersson: 1g-6a-7p
Jake DeBrusk: 4g-1a-5p
Pius Suter: 2g-3a-5p
When and Where to Watch
Sunday morning’s game is a 9:30 a.m. PT start, and you can watch it on Sportsnet or listen along to the radio call with Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
