Canucks vs. Sabres game notes

CANUCKS VS SABRES PREVIEW: (TV: Sportsnet Pacific; Radio: Sportsnet 650)

LAST MEETING - Oct. 20/17: VAN 4 at BUF 2

Markus Granlund tied the game 1-1 at 11:56 of the first period...Derek Dorsett notched a shorthanded goal to make it 2-2 at 5:52 of the second and later scored an empty-net goal at 19:38 of the third...Daniel Sedin notched the game-winner at 8:10 of the second...Brandon Sutter chipped in with 2 assists while Michael Del Zotto, Chris Tanev, Jake Virtanen and Henrik Sedin each recorded an assist a piece...Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves to record his second win of the season.

VS SABRES TIDBITS:

-Thomas Vanek was drafted by Buffalo fifth overall in the 2003 NHL Draft. In parts of 9 seasons with the team, Vanek registered 497 points (254-243-497). His 254 goals ranks fifth all-time in team history while his 106 power play goals and 41 game winning goals rank 4th all-time in each category. He has faced his former team on 12 occasions and has 7 points (3-4-7) in those games.
-Anders Nilsson spent the 2016.17 season with the Sabres posting a career-high for wins (10) and games played (26) along with a 2.67 GAA and .923 save percentage. His shots against (857), saves (791) and minutes played (1,485) last season with Buffalo were also career-highs. Against his former team, Nilsson is 3-0-0 along with a 1.95 GAA and .944 save percentage.
-In 5 career games versus the Sabres, Jacob Markstrom has posted a 4-1-0 record along with a 2.17 GAA and .920 save percentage.
-In 26 career games versus the Sabres, Michael Del Zotto has registered 13 points (all assists). In 14 games versus the Sabres in his career, Sam Gagner has registered 10 points (3-7-10).
-Daniel Sedin has recorded 19 points (6-13-19) in 21 career games versus the Sabres. Henrik Sedin has collected 15 points (4-11-15) in 21 career games versus Buffalo.
-Brandon Sutter has 17 points (7-10-17) in 27 career games versus the Sabres.

LAST GAME: JAN. 23/18: VAN 6 vs LAK 2

Loui Eriksson opened the scoring at 1:02 of the first and added another at 3:50 to make it 2-0 (he also added an assist)...Thomas Vanek added a goal 2 minutes later and also recorded 2 assists...Sven Baertchi notched a goal on the power-play midway through the first to make it 4-1...Brock Boeser had a pair of power-play goals in the second...Bo Horvat and Alex Edler each notched 2 assists; Edler also had a team-high 6 blocked shots...Michael Del Zotto and Sam Gagner also picked up a helper...Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves.

THE GOING RATE:

-Brock Boeser has 13 points (7-6-13) over his last 14 games.
-Henrik Sedin has 20 assists/points over the past 23 games including at least one assist in 5 of the last 8 games.
-Alex Edler has 8 points (1-7-8) over the past 7 games.
-Thomas Vanek has 17 points (8-9-17) over the past 14 games.
-Daniel Sedin has collected 6 points (3-3-6) over the past 7 games.
-Loui Eriksson has 6 points (3-3-6) over the past 5 games.
-Sam Gagner has 11 points (4-7-11) over the past 16 games and has collected an assist in 3 of the last 5 games.
-Brandon Sutter has collected a goal in 2 of the past 4 games.
-Sven Baertschi has 3 points (2-1-3) over the past 5 games.
-Chris Tanev has recorded an assist in 2 of the past 4 games.

PLAYER QUICK HITS:

-Brock Boeser ranks tied tied for 7th in the NHL goal-scoring race and leads all rookies with 24 goals. Boeser has scored 18.9% of the Canucks 127 goals this season.
-Boeser will be making his All-Star debut this weekend and will be the lone NHL rookie representing his team in Tampa. He is also the first Canucks rookie named to the game since Dale Tallon in 1971 and is the youngest Canucks player named to the game since Trevor Linden in 1991.
-Boeser won NHL Rookie of the Month honours in both November and December, becoming the first Canucks rookie to win it in back- to-back months.
-Daniel Sedin notched his 133rd career PPG on Jan. 20 at EDM, moving into sole of possession of 79th all-time. He ranks tied with teammate Thomas Vanek for 6th among active players.
-Thomas Vanek notched his 10th career hat trick against Montreal on Dec. 19. According to Sportsnet Stats, he is also tied for the 3rd most in the NHL since the start of 2007-08.
-Henrik Sedin notched his 800th career assist on Dec. 13 vs NSH. In doing so, he became the first Canucks player, the 31st player in NHL history, the 3rd active player and the 2nd Swedish-born player to accomplish the feat.
-Jacob Markstrom has recorded 3 assists this season, which leads all goaltenders in that category. The last goaltenders to record 3 or more assists in a season were Jonathan Quick (3), Kari Lehtonen (3) and Henrik Lundqvist (4) who all accomplished the feat during the 2015.16 season.