Game Notes: Canucks vs. Panthers

Vancouver hosts Florida as the Canucks end a two-game homestand at Rogers Arena. Tonight's game is presented by Budweiser Canada.

MORNING SKATE UPDATE

Thatcher Demko will make his fourth start of the season Monday when the Canucks host the Panthers. Demko, who is second in the NHL with a goals against average of 1.64 and save percentage at .943, is 2-1-0 this season with 83 saves on 88 shots this year.
Loui Eriksson returns to the line-up for the first time since October 2nd; the 34-year-old veteran has been a healthy scratch for the last nine games. Eriksson will play in place of Tyler Motte, who blocked a shot in Friday's game against the Capitals and will miss a week-or-two. Eriksson said he's been working hard in the gym to stay in shape for when his number is called and that night is tonight.

LAST MEETING - Jan. 13/19: VAN 5 vs FLA 1

Loui Eriksson opened the scoring at 12:32 in the second period...Ben Hutton notched the eventual game-winner...Brock Boeser and Jay Beagle each recorded an empty-netter...Markus Granlund registered the Canucks fifth goal of the night, and fourth in the third period...Brandon Sutter and Erik Gudbranson each had six hits on the night...Jacob Markstrom faced 24 shots.

LAST GAME - Oct. 25/19: VAN 5 vs WSH 6 (SO)

Brock Boeser got the Canucks on the board at 5:33 in the first on the power play to tie the game 1-1...Tim Schaller netted two goals on the night, tying a career high...Elias Petterson and Jake Virtanen each notched a goal to give the Canucks a 5-2 lead heading into the third...Alex Edler blocked five shots...Jacob Markstrom faced 29 shots.

HIGH FIVE

The Canucks recorded five third-period goals (Oct. 22/19 game at DET) for the sixth time in franchise history and first since Apr. 15/93 at LA. The franchise record for team goals in any period is six, accomplished on two occasions: Jan. 21/06 vs MTL and Jan. 16/87 vs CGY.

LEANING ON THEIR STRENGTHS

On Oct. 20/19 at NYR, the Canucks scored one even strength, power play and shorthanded goal, all in the first period. This is the first time Vancouver has accomplished the feat since Mar. 21/15 at LA and the first time in a single period since Mar. 15/09 vs COL.

HEAD OF THE CLASS

Bo Horvat collected his 100th career goal on Oct. 20/19 at NYR to become the 4th player from the 2013 NHL Draft to score 100 or more goals. Sean Monahan, Nathan MacKinnon and Aleksander Barkov are the three that have accomplished the feat to date.
After recording his first career hat trick on Oct. 22/19 at DET, Horvat sits at 103 career goals. Of the 103 career goals, 28 have come on the power play, six shorthanded and 69 at even strength. The last time a Vancouver Canuck scored a hat trick against Detroit took place on Nov. 13/05 by Todd Bertuzzi.

WITH THE ADVANTAGE

first on the power play to tie the game 1-1...Tim Schaller netted two goals on
On Oct. 15/19, the Canucks netted three power play goals for the first time since Dec. 16/18 vs EDM. Over the past five seasons (prior to 2019.20), the Canucks have posted three or more power play goals in a game on nine occasions.
JT Miller notched two of the Canucks power play goals, becoming the first player to do so since Brock Boeser accomplished the feat on Jan. 23/18 vs LA. Since the 2007.08 season, only nine Canucks have scored two power play goals in a game. The club record for most power play goals in a game is three, which has been achieved four times: Todd Bertuzzi (Dec. 30/00 vs SJ), Pavel Bure (Mar. 27/94 vs LA), Dave Babych (Nov. 22/91 vs CGY) and Rick Blight (Oct. 6/76 vs PIT).

FROM THE BLUELINE

On Oct. 9/19, three Canucks defenceman (Hughes, Tanev and Edler) each notched a goal, becoming the first trio to do so since Mar. 3/04 at COL when Brent Sopel, Marik Malik and Mattias Ohlund accomplished the feat.
There have now been 19 occasions in franchise history when three or more Canucks defenceman have scored a goal in a single game. There is only one instance in club history when four or more have done so, which took place on Jan. 12/02 against the Carolina Hurricanes with goals from Bryan Helmer, Ed Jovanovski, Mattias Ohlund and Scott Lachance.

GROUP MENTALITY

On Oct. 9/19 vs LA, 14 Canucks skaters were on the scoresheet, each earning at least one point in the game. The last time 14 or more Canucks skaters earned one point or more took place Dec. 22/14 against the Arizona Coyotes (7-1 win). Three Canucks players were involved in the offensive output for both of those games: Chris Tanev, Alex Edler and Bo Horvat.

According to NHL stats, the last five times the Canucks had 14 or more skaters each register at least one point in a game (prior to Oct. 9/19) took place on: Dec. 22/14 vs ARI, Jan. 24/11 vs DAL, Dec. 28/02 vs ANA, Jan. 1/01 vs NSH and Nov. 8/00 vs ANA.

YOUNG GUNS

Elias Pettersson boosted his career totals to 30-41-71 in 76 games on Oct. 15/19; among players to debut with the Canucks, he required the second-fewest contests to reach the 70-point mark (all with VAN) behind only Pavel Bure on Oct. 22/92 (73 GP). Pettersson recorded his 70th career regular-season point in eight fewer games than teammate Boeser, who reached the milestone in his 84th outing on Nov. 2/18.
Quinn Hughes (19 years, 360 days) notched his first NHL goal Oct. 9 vs LA and became the youngest Canucks defenceman to find the back of the net since J.J Daigneault (19 years, 176 days) did so on April 6, 1985 at Los Angeles.

LIGHT THE LAMP

The Canucks tied a club record for goals in a home opener with 8 on Oct. 9/19 vs LA (the two previous times were Oct. 8/87 vs STL and Oct. 11/78 vs CLR). According to NHL PR, just three other teams in the last 10 years have scored eight or more goals in their home opener: Chicago (10; Oct. 5/17 vs PIT), Philadelphia (8; Oct. 14/17 vs WSH) and Toronto (8; Oct. 7/17 vs NYR). The last time the Canucks scored 8 goals in a game was Nov. 8/18 vs Boston, which ended in an 8-5 Canucks win.