Vancouver Canucks Gameday Preview #74: The 32nd-Place Canucks Take On The First-Place Avalanche

Tonight will feature a battle between the NHL’s worst and the best, as the 32nd-place Vancouver Canucks (21–44–8) will take on the first-place Colorado Avalanche (49–14–10). Vancouver is coming off their sixth-consecutive loss, having dropped their Monday-night matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 4–2. Colorado, on the other hand, is coming off a massive 9–2 win against the Calgary Flames.

The biggest news about Vancouver’s opponent heading into tonight’s game is the fact that Cale Makar departed from Colorado’s last game due to an upper-body injury. While the Avalanche have already clinched a playoff spot, Makar’s absence is still something that will impact Colorado moving forward. For the Canucks, a Makar-less Avalanche team will be massive in suppressing Colorado’s offence, as the defenceman has registered three goals and 15 assists in 14 career games against Vancouver.

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One interesting stat that Vancouver ranks higher than Colorado in is their power play success rate, of which the Canucks are tied for 20th in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs (19.7%) and the Avalanche sits at 24th with 18.1%. With that being said, Colorado has scored on the man-advantage in six of their past seven games, including a four-game power play goal streak. The Canucks, on the other hand, have scored a power play goal in five of their last seven.

Players To Watch:

Brock Boeser

Through his past 10 games, Boeser has scored three goals and seven assists, going without a point in only three of these games. Boeser is also sandwiched between two franchise records, having just slid into ninth all-time in points as a Canuck while also being one power play goal away from entering the franchise’s top-five. The career-Canuck is also six points away from passing Pavel Bure for eighth all-time in the stat.

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Sam Malinski

With Makar expected to miss some time, Colorado’s blueline could look a little different when the Canucks face the Avalanche later tonight. One player who has found some offensive success on the Avalanche’s blueline this season is Malinski, who has scored five goals and 29 assists in 73 games played so far this season. Given Makar’s potential absence, Malinski could see a potential promotion from his spot on Colorado’s second pairing.

Vancouver Canucks (21–44–8): 

Points: 

Elias Pettersson: 15–31–46

Filip Hronek: 8–34–42

Brock Boeser: 18–21–39

Jake DeBrusk: 16–19–35

Evander Kane: 13–18–31

Goaltenders: 

Thatcher Demko: 8–10–1

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Kevin Lankinen: 8–26–5

Nikita Tolopilo: 5–7–2

Jiří Patera: 0–1–0

Colorado Avalanche (49–14–10): 

Points: 

Nathan MacKinnon: 49–71–120

Martin Nečas: 35–57–92

Cale Makar: 20–55–75

Brock Nelson: 33–28–61

Nazem Kadri: 16–34–50

Goaltenders: 

Scott Wedgewood: 27–5–6

MacKenzie Blackwood: 21–9–1

Trent Miner: 1–0–3

Game Information: 

Start time: 5:30 pm PT

Venue: Ball Arena

Television: Sportsnet

Radio: Sportsnet 650

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