Game Notes: Canucks at Avalanche

CANUCKS AT AVALANCHE

TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Altitude Network, KUSA

Radio: Sportsnet 650

MATCH-UP INFO

• Tonight marks the third and final meeting between the Canucks and Avalanche this season: Dec. 16 (home, 3-1 W), Feb. 4 (home, 3-0 W), and Apr. 10 (road).
• Vancouver is 80-68-15-14 all-time against Colorado, including a 37-36-8-6 record on the road.
• The Canucks are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games against the Avalanche (2-2-1 in their last five).
• Brock Boeser leads all active Canucks skaters in scoring against Colorado with 16 points (7-9-16) in 18 career games.
• In 14 career games against the Avalanche, Jake DeBrusk has 10 points (7-3-10).
• Filip Hronek has seven points (1-6-7) in 10 career games against Colorado.
• In eight career games against the Avalanche, Kiefer Sherwood has six points (5-1-6).
• Thatcher Demko has a record of 3-4-1 with a 3.17 goals-against-average, an .889 save percentage, and one shutout in eight career appearances against Colorado.
• Kevin Lankinen is 0-3-0 with a 5.13 goals-against-average and an .864 save percentage in three career appearances against the Avalanche.

QUICK NUMBERS

• Quinn Hughes has seven points (0-7-7) in his last seven games. Hughes is first in points per game amongst defencemen (1.16), tied for second in assists (58), and third in points (74).
• Brock Boeser has 11 points (7-4-11) in his last 11 games.
• Pius Suter has seven points (3-4-7) in his last six games.
• Kiefer Sherwood has six points (1-5-6) in his last six games.
• Since February 1, the Canucks have a penalty kill percentage of 87.5%, ranking first in the NHL over that span.

LAST MEETING – FEB 4/25: VAN 3 vs COL 0

Jake DeBrusk opened the scoring 4:26 into the second frame…Filip Hronek had the lone assist…Brock Boeser doubled the lead on the power play at the 8:20 mark of the third…DeBrusk and Hronek each picked up their second points of the night with the assists…Drew O’Connor scored his first as a Canuck into an empty net with nine seconds remaining…Filip Chytil and Tyler Myers had the assists…DeBrusk had five shots…D Elias Pettersson had four hits…Hronek blocked three shots…Thatcher Demko made 25 saves for his ninth career shutout.

2024.25 TEAM RANKS

LAST GAME PLAYED – APR. 8/25: VAN 6 at DAL 5 (OT)

Mikko Rantanen opened the scoring on the power play at 13:48 of the first…Mason Marchment doubled Dallas’ lead with just under two minutes remaining in the first…Matt Duchene made it 3-0 at 7:28 of the second…Jake DeBrusk got the Canucks on the board with a power play goal 17 seconds into the third…Conor Garland and Quinn Hughes had the assists…Victor Mancini scored his first as a Canuck 4:22 later on the power play…Aatu Räty and Linus Karlsson had the helpers…Mavrik Bourque re-established the Stars’ two-goal lead at 17:15…Mikael Granlund scored an empty-netter with 2:21 left…Räty cut the deficit to two with 1:00 remaining in regulation…Marcus Pettersson had the lone assist…Pius Suter made it a one-goal game with 30 seconds left in the third…Garland and Filip Hronek were credited with the assists…Suter tied the game with seven seconds remaining…Hronek and Hughes had the helpers…Kiefer Sherwood scored the overtime winner with 1:16 left in the extra frame…Garland had the only assist…Suter led the team with five shots…Dakota Joshua had six hits…Mancini blocked two shots…Thatcher Demko made 23 saves.

LAST 5 – vs COLORADO

• Feb. 4/25: VAN 3 vs COL 0
• Dec. 16/24: VAN 3 vs COL 1
• Mar. 13/24: VAN 3 vs COL 4 (OT)
• Feb. 20/24: VAN 1 at COL 3
• Nov. 22/23: VAN 2 at COL 5

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

• With three goals in the final minute of regulation on Apr. 8/25 at DAL, the Canucks became the first team in NHL history to overcome a three-goal deficit in the final minute and win the game.
• Scoring the game-tying goal at 19:56 of the third period on Mar. 20/25 at STL, Brock Boeser scored the second-latest game-tying goal in franchise history, only behind Martin Gelinas (19:58 of the third, Apr. 5/97 at EDM).

BLINK AND YOU’LL MISS IT

• With three goals in 54 seconds on Apr. 8/25 at DAL, the Canucks recorded the second-fastest instance of three goals in franchise history, only behind a 48 second spurt on Apr. 13/93.
• Putting home five goals in the opening period on Apr. 5/25 vs ANA, the Canucks set a franchise record for the fastest five goals in team history (4:30). The previous mark was 5:15, achieved on Apr. 13/93 vs LAK.
• Scoring goals at 9:50 (Nils Åman) and 9:58 (Pius Suter) of the third period on Mar. 15/25 vs CHI, the Canucks tied two previous instances of scoring two goals in eight seconds (Apr. 2/71 and Apr. 3/77) for the second-fastest two goals in franchise history.
• Scoring two goals in 35 seconds or less twice on Mar. 15/25, the Canucks accomplished this feat twice in the same game for the first time since Apr. 15/93.

PIUS SHOOTER

• Scoring two goals in 24 seconds on Apr. 8/25 at DAL, Pius Suter scored the fastest two goals by a Canucks player since Tyler Motte netted two in 11 seconds on Mar. 13/19.
• Assisting on Nils Höglander’s first period goal on Apr. 6/25 vs VGK, Pius Suter hit 21 assists on the season, tying his career-high in a single season (also accomplished in 2021.22 with DET)
• With three assists on Mar. 28/25 at CBJ, Pius Suter hit the 20-assist mark for the second time in his career. He becomes the fifth Swiss forward (eighth player overall) to record multiple 20+ assist seasons.
• Recording two assists on Mar. 26/25 at NYI, Pius Suter set a new career-high in points (37, now 38), surpassing his total from the 2021.22 season (36) with Detroit.
• Putting home two goals on Mar. 18/25 vs WPG, Pius Suter recorded his 20th goal of the season, becoming only the sixth Swiss-born player in NHL history to record a 20-goal season.
• Scoring a goal on Mar. 1 at SEA, Pius Suter reached a new career-high of 16 goals in a single season (surpassing his 15 in 2021.22 with DET). Suter currently sits seventh all-time in scoring by a Swiss-born player with 144 points (73-71-144) in 342 career games.

FIL THE THRILL

• Recording two assists and winning the opening faceoff of overtime on Apr. 8/25 at DAL, Filip Hronek became the first defenceman in franchise history to have multiple points and win a faceoff in the same game.
• With two assists on Mar. 7/25 vs MIN, Filip Hronek has 34 career multi-assist games in his career, trailing only Adam Fox (61), Charlie McAvoy (45), and Mikhail Sergachev (44) amongst defenceman selected in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
• Recording two assists on Mar. 5/25 vs ANA, Filip Hronek reached the 60-assist mark for the Canucks, becoming the third-fastest player to reach the mark in franchise history (125 games), only trailing Quinn Hughes (103 games), and Dale Tallon (122 games).

QUINN-TASTIC

• With an assist on Jake DeBrusk’s power play goal on Apr. 8/25 at DAL, Quinn Hughes registered the 177th power play point of his career, tying Alexander Edler for the most by a defenceman in franchise history.
• Recording two assists on Apr. 5/25 vs ANA, Quinn Hughes joined Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, and Denis Potvin as the only defencemen in NHL history with 80+ games of multiple assists before turning 26.
• Quinn Hughes (16-54-70 in 60 GP) has matched his own franchise record for the most points by a defenseman through the first 60 games of a season, matching his 12-58-70 performance over the same span in 2023.24.
  • Hughes also became the sixth defenseman in NHL history to record at least 70 points in 60 games on multiple occasions, joining Paul Coffey (8x), Bobby Orr (6x), Denis Potvin (3x), Phil Housley (2x), and Cale Makar (2x).
• With two assists on Mar. 28/25 at CBJ, Quinn Hughes notched the 80th multi-assist game of his career, surpassing Stan Smyl for third-most in franchise history.
• Playing a career-high 31:38 on Mar. 24/25 at NJD, Quinn Hughes skated a total distance of 4.77 miles over the course of the contest, the third-highest milage accumulated by a skater in a game this season.
• Hitting a max speed of 24.56 mph on Mar. 22/25 at NYR, Quinn Hughes registered the fastest max speed by any skater in 2024.25, and the fastest since Denis Gurianov hit 24.60 mph in a game during the 2021.22 season.
• With an assist on Dakota Joshua’s opening goal on Mar. 22/25 at NYR, Quinn Hughes reached the 400-point mark in his career, joining Alexander Elder as the only defenceman in franchise history to reach the milestone.
  • Hughes also recorded his 200th road point on the play and became the fourth-fastest defenceman in NHL history to record 200 career road points (212 games). Only Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, and Ray Bourque did it faster.
• Recording an assist on the game-tying goal on Mar. 20/25 at STL, Quinn Hughes reached the 50-assist mark for the fourth consecutive season, joining Henrik Sedin (seven consecutive seasons) as the only players in franchise history with a run of that length.
• With two assists on Mar. 18/25 vs WPG, Quinn Hughes tied Stan Smyl for the third-most multi-assist games in franchise history (79).
  • Hughes also passed Ray Bourque for the fourth-most multi-assist games in NHL history by a defenceman before the age of 25.
• Putting home the opening goal on both Mar. 15/25 vs CHI and Mar. 16/25 vs UTA, Quinn Hughes scored in back-to-back games for the eighth time in his career.
• Scoring his 12th even-strength goal of the season on Mar. 15/25 vs CHI, Quinn Hughes tied his own team record for most even-strength goals by a defenceman in a season (accomplished in 2023.24).

JUNIOR’S ON THE BOARD

• Scoring his first career goal on Apr. 5/25 vs ANA, D Elias Pettersson became the 497th different player to score a goal for the Canucks, and the second player from the team’s 2022 draft class, joining Jonathan Lekkerimäki.

“KIE-FER SHER-WOOD”

• Recording three assists on Mar. 28/25 at CBJ, Kiefer Sherwood set a new career-high for assists in a season (18).
  • Sherwood also tied his single-game high for most assists and points in the process.
• With three points (2-1-3) on Mar. 26/25 at NYI, Kiefer Sherwood tied his single-game high in points, hit three previous times, most recently on Dec. 16/24 vs COL.
• Recording 12 hits on Mar. 22/25 at NYR, Kiefer Sherwood set the NHL’s single-season hits record (384), passing Jeremy Lauzon’s 383 hits recorded during the 2023.24 season.
  • Sherwood’s 12 hits also matched a career-high, previously set on Oct. 22/25 at CHI.
• With 10 hits on Mar. 20/25 at STL, Kiefer Sherwood tied Jeremy Lauzon (383 in 2023.24) for the most hits in a single season since individual player hits began being tracked in 2005.06.
• Recording nine hits on Feb. 22/25 at VGK, Kiefer Sherwood became the fastest player in NHL history to record 300 hits in a season, doing so in only 52 games, surpassing the previous record set by Mark Borowiecki in 2016.17 (59 GP).

SHORTHANDED SNIPER

• Recording his seventh career shorthanded goal (his fifth with the Canucks) on Mar. 28/25 at CBJ, Tyler Myers passed Darnell Nurse and Kris Letang as the NHL’s active leader in shorthanded goals by a defenceman.
  • Myers also tied Mattias Ohlund for the second-most shorthanded goals by a defenceman in franchise history, trailing only Jyrki Lumme (6)

BOES-T IN CLASS

• Tying the game at three with 4:50 remaining in regulation on Mar. 22/25 at NYR, Brock Boeser passed Markus Naslund and Elias Pettersson for the most game-tying goals in the final five minutes of regulation in franchise history (9).
• With two goals on Mar. 20/25 at STL, Brock Boeser became the ninth player in franchise history to record 200 goals with the franchise.
  • Boeser became the third-fastest player to reach 200-career goals (541 games) when starting their career in Vancouver, behind only Pavel Bure (328 games played) and Trevor Linden (531 games played).
• Putting home his second of the game late in regulation on Mar. 20/25 at STL, Brock Boeser scored two or more goals in back-to-back games for the fourth time in his career (first time since Nov. 25-28, 2023).
• Scoring two goals on Mar. 18/25 vs WPG, Brock Boeser passed Thomas Gradin for ninth on the franchise’s all-time goals list.
  • With his second goal, Boeser hit the 20-goal plateau for the sixth time in his career, becoming the 11th player in franchise history with as many 20+ goal seasons.
• Recording an assist on Feb. 27/25 at ANA, Brock Boeser tied Bo Horvat for 12th on the Canucks’ all-time scoring list.
• Putting home his 197th career goal on Feb. 8/25 vs TOR, Brock Boeser tied Thomas Gradin for the ninth-most goals in franchise history.
• Scoring the game-winning goal on Feb. 8/25 vs TOR, Brock Boeser tied J.T. Miller for the 10th-most game-winning goals in franchise history (27).
• Putting home his 17th goal of the season on Feb. 6/25 vs COL, Brock Boeser also recorded the 70th power play goal of his career, passing Pavel Bure for seventh in franchise history.
• Scoring the Canucks’ first goal on Jan. 23/25 at EDM, Brock Boeser notched the 17th goal of his career against the Oilers, tied with the Los Angeles Kings for the most goals against a single franchise in his career.
• Getting on the board just 31 seconds into the first period on Jan. 11/25 at TOR, Brock Boeser tallied his fifth career opening-minute goal, tying Trevor Linden, Henrik Sedin, and Tony Tanti for the third most in franchise history.

PETTERSZN

• With two points (1-1-2) on Mar. 12/25 at CGY, Elias Pettersson recorded his 118th career multi-point game, the second-most amongst Swedish-born NHL players since his debut during the 2018.19 season (Mika Zibanejad, 129 games).
• Recording two points on Mar. 12/25 at CGY, Elias Pettersson has now recorded points in 10 straight contests against the Flames, matching the longest streak of his career against a single franchise (10 games vs LAK).
  • Pettersson also joined Nathan MacKinnon (COL) and Jason Robertson (DAL) as the only players with active 10+ game point streaks against Calgary.
• Tying the game with his 14th goal of the season on Mar. 12/25 at CGY, Elias Pettersson recorded his 450th career point, passing Todd Bertuzzi for ninth all-time in franchise history.
• Scoring his 13th goal of the season on Mar. 11/25 vs MTL, Elias Pettersson recorded his 449th career point, tying Todd Bertuzzi for ninth all-time in franchise history.

KEVIN BLANKINEN

• Leading the Canucks to victory on Mar. 7/25 vs MIN, Kevin Lankinen made a season-high 37 saves, his most saves in a game since Jan. 17/23 when he stopped 39/40 as a member of the Nashville Predators against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
• Winning his 20th game in just his 36th appearance in a Canucks uniform, Kevin Lankinen became the third-fastest goaltender in franchise history to reach the 20-win mark, behind Ryan Miller (29 GP) and Kay Whitmore (33 GP).

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

• Vilmer Alriksson assigned to Abbotsford from Brampton (OHL), Apr. 10
• Jonathan Lekkerimäki reassigned to Abbotsford, Apr. 8
• Max Sasson recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Apr. 5
• Artūrs Šilovs reassigned to Abbotsford, Mar. 29
• Max Sasson recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Mar. 28
• Thatcher Demko activated from Injured Reserve, Mar. 24
• Aatu Räty recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Mar. 23
• Aku Koskenvuo agrees to terms on a two-year, entry-level contract, Mar. 18
• Linus Karlsson recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Mar. 18
• Linus Karlsson agrees to terms on a one-year contract extension, Mar. 14
• Artūrs Šilovs recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Mar. 9
• Nikita Tolopilo reassigned to Abbotsford, Mar. 9
• Nikita Tolopilo recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Mar. 8
• Artūrs Šilovs reassigned to Abbotsford, Mar. 8
• Artūrs Šilovs recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Mar. 7
• Jonathan Lekkerimäki recalled from Abbotsford, Mar. 7
• Victor Mancini recalled from Abbotsford, Mar. 7
• Artūrs Šilovs reassigned to Abbotsford, Mar. 7
• Jonathan Lekkerimäki reassigned to Abbotsford, Mar. 7
• Victor Mancini reassigned to Abbotsford, Mar. 7

THE LAST TIME…

• The Canucks won when leading after 1P: Apr. 5/25 vs ANA
• The Canucks lost when leading after 1P: Mar. 30/25 at WPG
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when leading after 1P: Mar. 28/25 at CBJ
• The Canucks won when leading after 2P: Apr. 5/25 vs ANA
• The Canucks lost when leading after 2P: Jan. 21/25 vs BUF
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when leading after 2P: Mar. 28/25 at CBJ
• The Canucks won when trailing after 1P: Apr. 8/25 at DAL
• The Canucks lost when trailing after 1P: Apr. 6/25 vs VGK
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when trailing after 1P: Jan. 8/25 at WSH
• The Canucks won when trailing after 2P: Apr. 8/25 at DAL
• The Canucks lost when trailing after 2P: Apr. 2/25 vs SEA
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when trailing after 2P: Mar. 20/25 at STL
• The Canucks won when tied after 1P: Mar. 26/25 at NYI
• The Canucks lost when tied after 1P: Mar. 16/25 vs UTA
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when tied after 1P: Mar. 20/25 at STL
• The Canucks won when tied after 2P: Mar. 24/25 at NJD
• The Canucks lost when tied after 2P: Apr. 6/25 vs VGK
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when tied after 2P: Jan. 8/25 at WSH

2024.25 SEASON HIGHS AND LOWS

• Most Goals Scored, Game: 6, 6x, Latest Apr. 8/25 at DAL
• Most Goals Scored, Period: 5, 2x, Latest Apr. 8/25 at DAL, 3rd period
• Most Goals Allowed, Game: 7, Nov. 9/24 vs EDM
• Most Goals Allowed, Period: 4, 3x, Latest Mar. 22/25 at NYR, 3rd period
• Fewest Goals Scored, Game: 0, 4x Latest Apr. 2/25 vs SEA
• Fewest Goals Allowed, Game: 0, 5x, Latest Feb. 4/25 vs COL
• Most PPG Scored, Game: 2, 8x, Latest Apr. 8/25 at DAL
• Most PPG Allowed, Game: 3, Apr. 8/25 at DAL
• Most SHG Scored, Game: 1, 4x, Latest Mar. 28/25 at CBJ
• Most SHG Allowed, Game: 1, 7x, Latest Mar. 26/25 at NYI
• Most Shots, Game: 39, Mar. 22/25 at NYR
• Most Shots, Period: 21, Jan. 8/25 at WSH, 2nd period
• Most Shots, OT: 4, 4x, Mar. 28/25 at CBJ
• Fewest Shots, Game: 15, 2x, Latest Mar. 15/25 vs CHI
• Fewest Shots, Period: 2, 3x, Latest Apr. 6/25 vs VGK, 3rd period
• Fewest Shots, OT: 0, 4x, Latest Jan. 6/25 at MTL
• Most Shots Allowed, Game: 38, 2x, Latest Mar. 28/25 at CBJ
• Most Shots Allowed, Period: 20, Jan. 14/25 at WPG, 2nd period
• Most Shots Allowed, OT: 5, Jan. 8/25 at WSH
• Fewest Shots Allowed, Game: 12, Mar. 22/25 at NYR
• Fewest Shots Allowed, Period: 1, Mar. 22/25 at NYR, 1st period
• Fewest Shots Allowed, OT: 0, 3x, Latest Apr. 8/25 at DAL
• Most Hits, Game: 51, Jan. 3/25 vs NSH
• Fewest Hits, Game: 13, Oct. 9/24 vs CGY
• Most Blocked Shots, Game: 26, Nov. 26/24 at BOS
• Fewest Blocked Shots, Game: 7, Nov. 5/24 at ANA
• Largest Margin of Victory: 4 goals, 5x, Latest Apr. 5/25 vs ANA
• Largest Margin of Defeat: 6 goals, Oct. 30/24 vs NJD
• Longest Win Streak: 4 games, Oct. 17-26/24
• Longest Point Streak: 5 games, Oct. 17-28/24 (4-0-1)
• Longest Winless Streak: 4 games, Jan. 3-10/25 (0-2-2)
• Longest Pointless Streak: 2 games, 7x, Latest Mar. 30 – Apr. 2/25

VANCOUVER 2024.25 RECORD WHEN…

• Score 4+ Goals: 19-1-5
• Score 3 Goals or Less: 17-28-8
• Allow 4+ Goals: 2-19-8
• Allow 3 Goals or Less: 34-10-5
• Scoring First: 23-11-8
• Allowing First Goal: 13-18-5
• On 0 Days Rest: 2-8-0
• On 1 Day Rest: 22-15-10
• On 2 Days Rest: 9-4-1
• On 3+ Days Rest: 3-2-2
• Score a PPG: 24-8-8
• Give up a PPG: 12-12-6
• 25 or More Shots on Goal: 21-13-9
• Less than 25 shots: 15-16-4

THREE STARS – APRIL

• Hughes (5 pts)
• Sasson (5 pts)
• D E. Pettersson (5 pts)
• Lankinen (5 pts)
• Sherwood (5 pts)
• Suter (5 pts)

MARCH WINNER – Hronek, Pettersson, Hughes (15 pts)

FEBRUARY WINNER – Demko, D. E. Pettersson, DeBrusk, Chytil, O’Conner, Hronek, Pettersson, Garland (5 pts)

JANUARY WINNER – Hughes (20 pts)

DECEMBER WINNER – Hughes (20 pts)

NOVEMBER WINNER – DeBrusk (20 pts)

OCTOBER WINNER – Lankinen (25 pts)

*5 points are awarded for each Three Stars Selection