The Vancouver Canucks face the Montreal Canadiens with both teams looking to improve from rough starts to the season. The Canucks have a 4-6-3 record and are near the bottom of the Pacific Division while the Canadiens have a 6-6-1 record which is second-worst in the Atlantic Division. Both teams are looking to improve from slow starts to the season and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Canucks are off to a slow start to the season despite their offense stepping up and scoring 3.42 goals per game. Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat, and J.T. Miller have scored 25 goals and 21 assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the offense has also looked great. Andrei Kuzmenko, Ilya Mikheyev, and Conor Garland have combined for 14 goals and 13 assists while defenseman Quinn Hughes is adding 11 assists from the point to help open up the offense.
The offense has stepped up but the defense has been one of the worst in the NHL, allowing 4.00 goals per game. Luke Schenn and Quinn Hughes have led the top two pairings but the rest of the defense has struggled, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net at will. In addition, goaltender Thatcher Demko has struggled in the net with a .879 save percentage and a 3.90 goals-against average on 289 shots.