The Vancouver Canucks play the New Jersey Devils on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT as part of their current road trip.
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The Vancouver Canucks will continue their road trip on Saturday afternoon with a 12:30 p.m. PT matchup against the New Jersey Devils.
Saturday’s game will be the first stop in another back-to-back weekend for Vancouver, with the Canucks set to be in New York for a Sunday game against the Rangers.
Elias Pettersson provided two points Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes and now has eight points (2g-6a) in the first five games of the season. Paul Cotter has 4g-2a-6p, while Filip Hronek has 0g-5a-5p through the early stretch.
Hronek leads the Canucks in ice time, averaging 25:28 per game. The team’s “top performers over the last five games” listed in the Canucks’ game preview also include Marco Rossi with 3g-1a-4p and Jonathan Lekkerimäki with 2g-2a-4p.
New Jersey enters Saturday’s contest with a short rest, not having played since Tuesday, when the Devils suffered a 5-3 loss to the Utah Mammoth. The schedule then turns quickly, with New Jersey playing on Monday and Tuesday.
Jake Allen has started two of the first three Devils games this season, posting a 1-1-0 record with a .875 save percentage and a 3.47 goals-against average. Luke Evangelista leads New Jersey in goals (2) and points (3) through their first few games.
Evangelista scored 12 goals and added 44 assists for 56 points in 81 games with the Nashville Predators last season. The Devils acquired him in early September for a conditional first-round pick and a second-round pick before he signed a five-year extension.
On defence, Luke Hughes is averaging 24:04 minutes per game, leading the Devils in ice time. The preview also highlights New Jersey’s top line of Anthony Mantha, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
That trio has produced strong possession and shot metrics through three games, controlling 65.2% of the Corsi, 69.2% of the shot share, and 66% of the expected goals.
For Vancouver, the preview centres on how the team is responding to a Thursday loss. Jake DeBrusk said after the game against the Hurricanes, “I think you let this one sink in. I think this is obviously the Stanley Cup champions. They play a really tight game, and that’s what’s expected if you want to win this league. They win their battles, they make their plays, things that we’re striving to be.”
DeBrusk added, “It’s kind of easy to say to reset, but I think we sit with this one and use it in the upcoming road swing because obviously we need to be a lot better, especially in front of our goaltenders.”
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