Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
The Vancouver Canucks face the Carolina Hurricanes with both teams on opposite ends of the standings this season. The Canucks have a 17-22-3 record and with four losses in a row are near the bottom of the Pacific Division while the Hurricanes have a 27-9-7 record and with back-to-back wins are in first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Canucks are looking to rebound in the Western Conference while the Hurricanes hope to remain near the top of the Eastern Conference and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Canucks are having a rough season despite their offense stepping up and scoring 3.41 goals per game. Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat have scored 47 goals and 49 assists to lead the top line but the rest of the offense has also stepped up. J.T. Miller, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Ilya Mikheyev have combined for 45 goals and 53 assists while defenseman Quinn Hughes is adding three goals and 33 assists from the point to open up the offense.
The offense has stepped up but the defense has been one of the worst in the NHL, allowing 3.95 goals per game. Quinn Hughes and Luke Schenn have combined for 3.1 defensive point shares but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net at will. In addition, goaltender Collin Delia has struggled with a .893 save percentage and a 3.54 goals-against average on 168 shots.