The Vancouver Canucks face the San Jose Sharks with both teams looking to improve from rough starts to the season. The Canucks have a 7-10-3 record while the Sharks have a 7-13-3 record and have lost back-to-back games. Both teams are looking to improve in the Pacific Division and the upcoming game should be a great one as a result.
The Canucks are having a rough season despite their offense stepping up and scoring 3.50 goals per game. Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat, and J.T. Miller have scored 36 goals and 29 assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the offense has also stepped up. Andrei Kuzmenko, Brock Boeser, and Ilya Mikheyev have combined for 15 goals and 25 assists while defenseman Quinn Hughes is adding 18 assists from the point to help open up the offense.
The offense has stepped up but the defense has let the Canucks down this season, allowing 3.90 goals per game. Quinn Hughes and Luke Schenn have combined for 1.7 defensive point shares and 43 blocked shots but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing open shots on the net at will. In addition, goaltender Thatcher Demko has struggled in the net with a .883 save percentage and a 3.87 goals-against average on 426 shots.