PREVIEW | Canucks vs. Predators
presented by Aeroplan
MATCH-UP INFO
QUICK NUMBERS
LAST MEETING - FEB. 21/23: VAN 4 at NSH 5 (SO)
Andrei Kuzmenko scored his first goal of the night at 12:47 in the second period...Ethan Bear and Quinn Hughes were credited with the assists...Sheldon Dries registered his eighth goal of the season on the power play to tie the game at two...Brock Boeser and Conor Garland recorded assists on the play...Garland registered his second point of the night with a goal at 18:53 in the third period...Hughes and Elias Pettersson were both credited with the helpers...Kuzmenko scored the game-tying goal with 16 seconds remaining in Vancouver Canucks: Media Notes regulation, assisted by J.T. Miller and Anthony Beauvillier ...Garland led the team in shots (6)...Kyle Burroughs led the team in hits (5)...Collin Delia made 22 saves and stopped two shootout attempts.
LAST GAME PLAYED - MAR. 4/23: VAN 4 vs TOR 1
Andrei Kuzmenko opened the scoring on the power play with his team-leading 29th goal of the season at 17:51 in the second period...Quinn Hughes and Brock Boeser registered the assists...Elias Pettersson tied Kuzmenko for the team-lead in goals with a shorthanded marker at 6:49 in the third...J.T. Miller and Tyler Myers drew the assists...Miller (goal) and Pettersson teamed up just 44 seconds later for the fourth-fastest pair of shorthanded goals in franchise history...Quinn Hughes became the fastest defenceman in NHL history to reach 200 assists with the second helper on the play...Nils Aman added an insurance marker at 12:34 in the third period, assisted by Boeser and Phillip Di Giuseppe...Thatcher Demko made 36 saves and was named first star.
LAST 5 vs NASHVILLE
DOWN A MAN, UP TWO GOALS
Burying back-to-back shorthanded goals in a span of just 44 seconds on Mar. 4 vs TOR, Elias Pettersson (6:49, 3rd period) and J.T. Miller (7:33, 3rd period) recorded the fourth-fastest pair of shorthanded goals in Canucks history to turn a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 lead. It also marked the sixth time in franchise history (second time this season: also Feb. 18 vs PHI) that the Canucks have scored multiple times on the same two-minute penalty against, and the first occasion not involving an empty net since Apr. 9/98 vs CGY.
HUGHES WRITES HISTORY
Thanks to one assist each on the power play and shorthanded on Mar. 4 vs TOR, Quinn Hughes registered his 200th career NHL assist in just his 263rd regular season game, becoming the fastest defenceman in NHL history to do so (previously Brian Leetch, 264 games). He is also the fastest player of any position in Canucks history to record 200 assists with the club (23 players total, six defencemen), smashing the previous record set by centre Cliff Ronning (333 games).
KEEP IT SHORT
Thanks to his two shorthanded points (1-1-2) on Mar. 4 vs TOR, Elias Pettersson is now tied for the League-lead in shorthanded goals (4) and points (7) so far this season. His seven shorthanded points this season are the most by a Canuck since Alex Burrows in 2009.10 and he now sits tied for fourth with seven other players for most shorthanded points by a Canucks skater in a single season, two shy of the mark set by Pavel Bure (1992.93, 1997.98) and Russ Courtnall (1995.96).
DOUBLE OR NOTHING
Collecting two assists on Mar. 4 vs TOR, Quinn Hughes registered his 17th multi-point game of the season, surpassing Doug Lidster (1986.87) and Paul Reinhart (1988.89) for the most such occurrences by a defenceman in a single season in franchise history. It also marked Hughes' 14th multi-assist game this season, tying Dennis Kearns (1976.77) for the most in one season by a defenceman in Canucks history.
• Hughes is now also tied with Alexander Edler for most total multi-assist games in franchise history with 42, trailing only Dennis Kearns (53) for most all-time.
"MR. CLUTCH"
Scoring the game-tying goal at 19:31 of the third period on Feb. 23 at STL, (just two days after he tied the game at 19:44 of the third period on Feb. 21 at NSH), Andrei Kuzmenko became the first player in Canucks history and fourth player in NHL history to score the game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation in consecutive games. In doing so, he joined Sawn McEachern (Dec. 28-30, 1998 w/ OTT), Mikko Makela (Feb. 28 - Mar. 3, 1987 w/ NYI) and Phil Esposito (Jan. 7-9, 1977 w/ NYR) to accomplish the feat.
SHOOT TO SCORE, KUZY
Deflecting home a power play marker for his 29th goal of the season on Mar. 4 vs TOR, Andrei Kuzmenko now own's an NHL-best 26.4% shooting percentage (min. 50 shots). The first year NHLer is on pace to rank second for highest shooting percentage (min. 50 shots) in a season in team history, currently trailing only Gary Lupul (28.1%) in 1982.83.
• Scoring two goals on Feb. 21 at NSH, Andrei Kuzmenko registered his 25th career NHL goal and became the fourth fastest player in Canucks history to hit this milestone (56 GP), only trailing Pavel Bure (55 GP), Elias Pettersson (44 GP), and Brock Boeser (44 GP).
PETEY KEEPS PUTTING UP THE POINTS
Notching one goal and two assists on Feb. 23 at STL, Elias Pettersson recorded his 24th career three-plus point game, surpassing Cliff Ronning for sole possession of fourth place in franchise history for most three-plus point games among Canucks centreman (trailing Patrik Sundstrom [29], Thomas Gradin [38], and Henrik Sedin [62]).
• Elias Pettersson played in his 300th career NHL game on Feb. 21 at NSH, concluding the contest with 293 career points (124-169-293). As a result, Pettersson ranks second in franchise history for the most points in a player's first 300 NHL games (trailing Pavel Bure with 348) and is ranked sixth among Swedish-born NHL players all-time (behind Mats Sundin [306], Nicklas Backstrom [308], Mats Naslund [313], Peter Forsberg [382], and Kent Nilsson [401]).
NO QUIT CANUCKS
Despite beginning the third period on Feb. 23 at STL with a 2-0 deficit, the Canucks notched two third period goals and the overtime winner to earn their seventh multi-goal comeback win this season, trailing only Chicago (8) for the most such instances in the NHL. The number is also the second-most in a single season Canucks franchise history behind only 2009.10 (8).
• The Canucks also earned their ninth third period comeback win of the 2022.23 campaign on Feb. 23 at STL, ranking second only to the Vegas Golden Knights (10) in that category.
FAST FIFTY
Registering two assists on Feb. 21 at NSH, Quinn Hughes became the fifth U.S.-born defenceman to record at least 50 multi-point games before the age of 24 and only the third active defenceman to hit this milestone, tying Rasmus Dahlin (50) and trailing Erik Karlsson (58). Hughes is also only one of six Canucks blueliners to reach at least 50 multi-point games in their career joining Doug Lidster (52), Mattias Ohlund (54), Dennis Kearns (59), Jyrki Lumme (67), and Alexander Edler (68).
FANTASTIC FIVE
Thanks to his fifth career five-point game (2-3-5) on Feb. 18 vs PHI, Elias Pettersson became the fifth-fastest player in franchise history to reach 70 points (27-44-71 in 54 GP) in a season, behind Pavel Bure (46 GP), Henrik Sedin (49), Alexander Mogilny (49), and Bure again (52).
- Collecting two shorthanded empty-net goals enroute to five points, Elias Pettersson joined Mario Lemieux as the only players in NHL history to have a 5-point game with multiple empty-net goals. Pettersson also broke a tie with Alexander Mogilny for the most five-point games in a single season (3) in franchise history.
- Pettersson's five-point outing also tied Nicklas Backstrom (WSH) for the third-most five-point games in NHL history by a Swedish-born player, trailing Peter Forsberg and Kent Nilsson (9 each).
- Among primary centremen in NHL history, Pettersson now ranks tied for seventh-most five-point games before the age of 25, trailing Wayne Gretzky (62), Mario Lemieux (29), Dale Hawerchuk (9), Bryan Trottier (8), Steve Yzerman (7), and Connor McDavid (7).
