The Vancouver Canucks will close out 2024 with a New Year’s Eve matchup against the Calgary Flames.
Tuesday’s game will be the third matchup of the season between the two Canadian clubs. The Flames won in the season-opener while the Canucks took round two back in November.
It is a road-heavy schedule for the Canucks over the next couple of weeks. The team will play seven of their next eight games on the road and the one home game will be on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Canucks currently sit with a 10-3-2 road record and have the second-highest points percentage on the road in the league. They have outscored their opponents 31-24 at five-on-five on the road and Jake DeBrusk’s 11 goals away from home have him tied for eighth in the league.
At 17-12-7, the Flames have come back down to earth following their 5-0-1 start to the season. Saying that, they are playing above what many expected from them this season. Jonathan Huberdeau has had a strong bounce-back season and is up to 15 goals and 27 points through 36 games played.
Goal scoring has been the biggest struggle of the season for the Flames, but they play a hard defensive game and have been pleased with 23-year-old netminder Dustin Wolf taking a step this season. Wolf has an equal split with Daniel Vladar for starts this season.
Wolf and Vladar have 18 starts apiece while Wolf’s numbers are much more impressive. Both Flames’ goaltenders have two shutouts this season, but Wolf’s goals-against average is 2.70 compared to Vladar’s 3.02. Wolf also leads in save percentage, posting a .912% compared to a .890% from Vladar.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Flames’ top line features Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and Martin Pospisil. That trio has outscored the opposition 10-6 in their 138 minutes of five-on-five ice time this season.
- They sit fifth in the league for points percentage on home ice with a 12-4-3 record.
- Rasmus Andersson leads in terms of average ice time. He is averaging 24:32 per game and has scored six goals while adding 10 assists. Andersson will see some time on the second power play unit but eats a ton of minutes on the penalty kill.
- Pospisil leads the Flames with 110 hits this season – that ranks 17th in the league.
- Their power play ranks 17th in the league, clicking at 21%. Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich each have three power play goals while Connor Zary leads the team with eight power play assists.
- They rank 29th on the penalty kill, killing off 72.2% of their penalties this season. Huberdeau and Anthony Mantha each have a shorthanded goal this season.
- Scoring first has been important on home ice, the Flames are 11-2-2 when they score first at the Saddledome and are 1-2-1 when the opposition scores first.
The Story: When Opportunity Knocks...
The team practiced on Monday ahead of their flight to Calgary and head coach Rick Tocchet spoke about how the team needs to view this next stretch of games as an opportunity for the group to come together through playing a team game.
“It's challenging, but we don't really use it as excuses,” said Tocchet about missing Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes from the lineup. “I mean, there are situations where there's opportunity for people to take advantage of it.”
“We know the positive is that we're going to get these guys back soon, and that's the way you’ve got to look at it,” Tocchet continues. “So, there's opportunity, and you have to play even more of a team game. You're going to play your identity even more when you have people like that out.”
Tocchet went on to say that the bottom line is that his team needs to be able to make a play under pressure and that is what they have been practicing. To ease the ability to make a play under pressure, Tocchet wants his team to play predictable so that the decision-making is easier.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Quinn Hughes: 1g-6a-7p
Brock Boeser: 5g-0a-5p
Jake DeBrusk: 2g-2a-4p
Teddy Blueger: 1g-2a-3p
J.T. Miller: 0g-4a-4p
When and Where to Watch
Tuesday’s game is a 6:00 p.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.
