After a convincing 3-1 win on Tuesday night, the Vancouver Canucks are back in action on Thursday as the New York Islanders come to town for the teams’ one and only meeting at Rogers Arena this season.
Winning four of their last five games, the Canucks are beginning to play to their system and structure. There is still a lot of room for improvement and plenty of hard work to get them to where they want to be, but the club has taken steps over the past couple of weeks and Rick Tocchet gave credit to his centres following Tuesday’s game.
“I thought all the centres were good tonight,” said Tocchet during a postgame media availability on Tuesday. “That's a big part of our team. When you can have centers play a good game. But yeah, when Millsy and Petey have good games. It really makes a difference for us.”
Elias Pettersson has made multi-point efforts in his last two games, picking up a goal and assisting during the first two games of the homestand. The now 26-year-old has five points in his last four games and has won 21 of the 38 faceoffs he has taken over his last two games.
The Islanders come into Thursday night’s game with back-to-back 4-3 overtime losses. They played the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday as they kicked off a five-game road trip.
With a 6-6-4 record, the Islanders have not had a great start to the season but have talent up and down their lineup, including former Canuck captain Bo Horvat as the centre of their top line with Anders Lee and J-G Pageau on the wings.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Islanders are 4-3-2 on the road this season.
- Head coach Patrick Roy has a 26-18-9 record since taking over for Lane Lambert on January 20th, 2024.
- Former Canuck Bo Horvat has five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 16 games. He has been on the ice for nine goals scored and five against at five-on-five this season.
- Kyle Palmieri leads the Isles with seven goals and seven assists for 14 points in 16 games played. Palmieri has done most of his damage at even-strength; picking up 12 of his 14 points while at evens.
- Brock Nelson and Pageau each have a shorthanded goal this season but the Islanders’ penalty kill ranks 31st in the league, killing off 64.7% of their penalties.
- On the power play, they are tied for 29th with a 12.5% conversion rate. Special teams will once again be important on Thursday.
- Ilya Sorokin has been the leader between the pipes this season. He’s started 10 of their 16 games and holds a 4-3-3 record with a .915% save percentage and a 2.66 goals-against average.
- The Islanders are 3-1-2 when scoring first this season and 2-0-0 when scoring first on the road.
- Leading after two periods will be important on Thursday as the Islanders are 4-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes while going 1-4-1 while trailing and 1-2-3 when tied going into the third frame.
The Story: Notable Numbers over Their Last Five Games
With a 4-1-0 record over their last five games, the Canucks have some individuals who have impressive numbers over their recent stretch. Let’s go through some impressive numbers over the past five games.
Filip Hronek has been on the ice for seven goals for and just three goals against at five-on-five. He has also been on the ice for 55 scoring chances for and 23 against.
Elias Pettersson leads all forwards for being on the ice for scoring chances over his last five games. He has been on the ice for 34.4 scoring chances per 60 minutes at five-on-five.
Quinn Hughes leads all players with 17 shots on net in his last five games. Pius Suter comes in second with 14, while Pettersson has 13 and Jake DeBrusk has 12.
Hughes also leads the team with eight points (1g-7a) through the past five. Suter leads in goals with four.
Tyler Myers and Carson Soucy have been strong over their past five games. Myers has only been on the ice for one goal against at five-on-five over his last five games while Soucy has been on the ice for two against.
As a pairing, Myers and Soucy have played 63:25 at five-on-five and have only been on the ice for one goal against in the last five. They are getting a lot of defensive zone faceoffs and are looking to protect the net with their size.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Quinn Hughes: 1g-7a-8p
Jake DeBrusk: 3g-2a-5p
Elias Pettersson: 3g-2a-5p
Pius Suter: 4g-0a-5p
Conor Garland: 1g-3a-4p
J.T. Miller: 1g-3a-4p
When and Where to Watch
Thursday night’s game will be a 7:00 p.m. start and you can watch the game on Sportsnet or listen along with Brendan Batchelor as he has the call on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
