What is the story about?
Just the facts
- When: Tonight, 10 PM
- Where: Rogers Arena – Vancouver, BC
- How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub
- Opposing perspective: Nucks Misconduct
Know your enemy
- 16-20-3, 35PTS, last in the Pacific Division
- Elias Pettersson: 9G-14A-23PTS; Conor Garland: 7G-15A-22PTS; Filip Hronek: 2G-20A-22PTS
- Thatcher Demko: 8-8-0, 2.72 GAA, .907 save percentage
Game notes
- After a strong outing in Edmonton to wrap up 2025, the Bruins begin a new year in Vancouver against a Canucks team that finds itself in the basement of the Pacific Division.
- As you likely remember, these two teams played around two weeks ago back in Boston, a 5-4 shootout win for the Canucks.
- Kevin Lankinen was great for the Canucks in that game, stopping 38 shots in regulation/OT plus all seven shootout attempts. Thatcher Demko has had the lion’s share of the work since then, with Lankinen making just one start since Dec. 20, a win on Monday night. Meanwhile, Demko has lost three starts in a row.
- Marco Rossi hasn’t set the world alight since arriving in the Quinn Hughes trade, recording just a goal and an assist in seven games.
- Ol’ pal Jake DeBrusk is tied for third on the team in goals with nine — eight of which have come on the power play, which isn’t exactly an ideal distribution.
- The Canucks have lost three of their last four, with the win coming Monday night against Seattle. That game ended in a shootout, as did the game at TD Garden.
- Vancouver isn’t exactly a stout team defensively, allowing 3.49 goals-against per game, the second-worst mark in the league. Their penalty kill (75.2%) is fourth-worst in the league.
- In looking at Vancouver’s scoring leaders, I was surprised to see that their highest scorer has just 23 points. That would be fifth-best on the Bruins, though it’s fair to point out that David Pastrnak (44PTS) and Morgan Geekie (41PTS) are the only two free and clear of everyone on Vancouver.
- The Canucks have been bad on home ice this season, posting a record of 4-12-1. If you’d like some highly advanced stats, that means 75% of Vancouver’s wins this season have come on the road. Not exactly rewarding their fans with high-caliber play.
- Given his performance in Edmonton and the decent amount of time off between games, I’d imagine Jeremy Swayman gets another start tonight.
See
ya tonight!
