ST. LOUIS BLUES NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES
Scott Perunovich – Shoulder (Re-evaluated in 6 months, announced on Oct. 4)
Marco Scandella – Right Hip (Re-evaluated in 6 months, announced on Sep. 20)
2022-23 Total Man Games Lost: 115
Recent Transactions
December
18 – Recalled forward Logan Brown from the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
18 – Assigned forward Will Bitten to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
15 – Assigned forward Logan Brown to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) on a conditioning assignment
12 – Recalled forward Alexey Toropchenko from the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
BLUES VS. CANUCKS (Reg. Season)
-This will be the first of 3 matchups between the Blues and Canucks this season (Also: Feb. 23 & Mar. 28, both in STL)
-The Blues went 3-0-0 against Vancouver last season (2-0-0 away; 1-0-0 at home)
-The Blues are 5-1-1 in their last 7 games against the Canucks
-The Blues have won back-to-back games in Vancouver and are 7-2-2 in their last 11 trips to Vancouver
-The Blues have not allowed a power play goal to the Canucks in 5 straight matchups, going 14 for 14 (100%) on the penalty kill in those 5 games
-The Blues are 8-2-0 against the Pacific Division this season
-The Blues have won 3 straight games overall and are 3-0-1 in their last 4 games since Dec. 11 vs. Colorado
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
12/20 – at Seattle
12/23 – at Vegas
12/27 – vs. Toronto
12/29 – vs. Chicago
12/31 – vs. Minnesota
A LOOK AHEAD
-The Blues have 6 games remaining in December (3 at home; 3 away)
-The Blues will continue their season-long 10-day, 5-game road trip Monday at Vancouver (2-0-0 so far)
-The Blues will play their next 3 games, including Sunday at Vancouver, against the Western Conference, as well as 5 of their last 6 games to finish the calendar year
-The Blues will face 4 teams in their last 6 games who currently hold a playoff spot
BLUES COMEBACK AGAINST EDMONTON
-Thursday at Edmonton, the Blues came back to win despite being down 3-1 in the third period
-It was their 2nd multi-goal 3rd period comeback of the season
-Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 1st career shorthanded goal with just 20 seconds left in the game to tie it at 3-3
-Tarasenko’s goal to tie the game marked just the 4th time in franchise history the Blues have scored a shorthanded goal with under a minute left in regulation to tie the game
-Tarasenko’s goal also marked just the 13th time in NHL history a team scored a game-tying goal while shorthanded in the final 20 seconds
-The Blues account for 3 of the 13 instances, including the last 2 (Last: Nov. 3, 2021)
DEFENSEMEN CONTRIBUTING OFFENSE FOR BLUES
-The Blues defensemen have accounted for 13.0% of the Blues’ goals this season
-The Blues are 8-1-0 this season when a defenseman scores
-The Blues’ defense has combined for 12 goals this season
-The Blues’ defense has contributed 5 power play goals this season, which shares 2nd in the NHL (1. Ottawa, 6)
-They have also contributed 5 game-winning goals, which shares 1st in the NHL with Boston, Carolina, Columbus, Florida, Minnesota, and Winnipeg
-Torey Krug leads Blues d-men with 5 goals, which also shares 14th in the NHL among all defensemen (1. Karlsson, 12)
-Torey Krug’s 4 power play goals share 2nd on the Blues (1. Kyrou, 5) and share 2nd in the NHL among all defensemen (1. Chabot, 5)
-Justin Faulk’s 2 game-winning goals share the 7th most among all defensemen in the NHL (1. 6 players, 3)
BLUES CONSISTENT UNDER ARMSTRONG
-Since Doug Armstrong took over the reigns as the Blues General Manager in 2010-11, the Blues have posted a 536-308-100 record
-Their 536 wins since then rank 5th in the NHL (1. PIT, 560)
-The Blues have made the postseason 10 out of the 12 seasons since Armstrong became GM, 1 of 5 teams in the NHL to clinch 10 or more playoff berths since 2010-11 (PIT, 12/WSH, 11/BOS & NSH, 10)
-Armstrong is also just 1 of 2 GMs to clinch 10 or more playoff berths since 2010-11 (David Poile, 10) -Since 2010-11, the Blues rank 7th with 2.92 goals per game (1. VGK, 3.20) and rank 3rd in the NHL with 2.59 goals against per game (1. BOS, 2.45)
-The Blues also share the 3rd best penalty kill (82.7%) under Armstrong (1. BOS, 83.4%), and have the 6th best power play (20.7%) in the league (1. WSH, 21.5%)
BINNINGTON REACHES CENTURY MARK
-On Dec. 12 vs. Nashville, Binnington stopped all 25 shots he faced for his 100th career win and his 12th career shutout
-Binnington became the 6th goaltender in franchise history to record at least 100 wins with the club (Liut/Allen/Joseph/Fuhr/Elliott)
-Binnington recorded his 100th win in his 184th career game, becoming the 3rd fastest in franchise history to reach 100 wins with the team
-With his shutout in his 100th career win, Binnington also moved into a tie for 6th on the Blues all-time franchise list with 12 shutouts, 1 of just 7 goaltenders to record at least 12 shutouts with the Blues
-Since Nov. 10, Binnington has 8 wins, which shares 6th in the NHL (1. Jarry/Shesterkin, 10)
-In his last 3 starts, Binnington is 2-0-1, with a 1.93 GAA, a .928 SV%, and 1 shutout Fastest to 100 career wins with the Blues:
- Brian Elliott – 175 GP
- Jake Allen – 176 GP
- Jordan Binnington – 184 GP
BLUES STAY STRONG UNDER BERUBE
-Since taking over on Nov. 18, 2018, Berube has led the Blues to a 171-95-37 record (379 points)
-The Blues 379 points since Nov. 21, 2018 (Berube’s first game), rank 10th in the NHL (1. TBL, 417), while their 171 wins also rank 10th (1. TBL, 198)
-Their 3.23 goals per game share 7th in the NHL under Berube (1. TBL, 3.55)
-The Blues have posted a mark of 2.87 goals against per game under Berube, which ranks 10th in the NHL (1. BOS, 2.49)
-The Blues also have the 4th best power play in the NHL at 23.7% since Berube became head coach (1. EDM, 27.1%)
-On Dec. 11 vs. Colorado, Berube became the 4th Head Coach in Blues history to reach 300 games behind the bench (1. Quenneville, 593 / 2. Hitchcock, 413 / 3. B. Sutter, 320)
-Last season on Dec. 29 vs. EDM, Berube became the 7th different coach in NHL history to win 200 games and play in at least 1,000 career games
Wins as Coach / Games Played
Craig Berube – 246 / 1,054
Randy Carlyle – 475 / 1,055
Bob Pulford – 363 / 1,079
Craig MacTavish – 301 / 1,093
Red Kelly – 278 / 1,316
Brent Sutter – 215 / 1,111
Larry Robinson – 209 / 1,384
BUCHNEVICH STEPPING UP FOR BLUES
-Pavel Buchnevich ranks 2nd on the Blues with 10 goals (1. Kyrou, 13) and ranks 4th with 23 points (1. Kyrou/Thomas, 28)
-Buchnevich has a point in 5 consecutive games played (4g, 3a)
-Buchnevich also has 21 points in his last 16 games (9g, 12a), including 6 multi-point games in that span, after posting just 2 points (1g, 1a) in his first 6 games of the season
-Buchnevich has recorded at least 1 point in 13 of his last 16 games
-Buchnevich shares 2nd on the Blues this season with 4 power play goals (1. Kyrou, 5)
-Buchnevich recorded 4 points (2g, 2a) on Nov. 19 vs. Anaheim, the 2nd 4-point game of his career (also: Mar. 17, 2021 w/ NYR: 2g, 2a vs. PHI)
-Buchnevich set career-highs with 30 goals, 46 assists, and 76 points last season
BUCHNEVICH CLOSING IN ON CENTURY MARK WITH BLUES
-Pavel Buchnevich sits just 1 point shy of recording 100 points as a Blue
-Buchnevich has recorded 99 points (40g, 59a) in 95 games as a Blue
-If Buchnevich can reach 100 points in his next 5 games, he would become just the 8th player in Blues franchise history to record at least 100 points in their first 100 games or fewer with the team
-If he can reach 100 points in his next 2 games, he will be the 6th fastest in franchise history to reach 100 points with the team
BLUES TO REACH AT LEAST 100 POINTS IN 100 GAMES OR FEWER AS A BLUE
PLAYER SEASON SPAN START DATE CHECKPOINT DATE GP G A P
Craig Janney 1991-92 to 1992-93 2/8/1992 1/26/1993 75 17 86 103
Adam Oates 1989-90 10/5/1989 3/29/1990 79 23 78 101
Joe Mullen 1981-82 to 1982-83 10/6/1981 1/18/1983 89 41 59 100
Pierre Turgeon 1996-97 to 1997-98 10/30/1996 1/3/1998 91 31 69 100
Brett Hull 1987-88 to 1989-90 3/8/1988 10/5/1989 92 49 51 100
Peter Zezel 1988-89 to 1989-90 11/29/1988 1/27/1990 98 33 68 101
Red Berenson 1967-68 to 1968-69 11/29/1967 1/18/1969 98 43 57 100
THE TARASENK-SHOW
-Vladimir Tarasenko has 9 points in his last 11 games (5g, 4a)
-Tarasenko ranks 5th on the Blues with 22 points (1. Kyrou/Thomas, 28)
-Tarasenko also shares 3rd on the Blues with 9 goals (1. Kyrou, 13) and shares 3rd on the Blues with 7 even-strength goals (1. Acciari/Kyrou, 8)
-He also ranks 4th on the Blues with 15 even-strength points (7g, 8a) (1. Schenn/Thomas, 19)
-Tarasenko also ranks 5th on the Blues all-time franchise list in goals (261) and points (546)
BRAYDEN IS SCHENN-SATIONAL
-Brayden Schenn ranks 3rd on the Blues with 24 points this season (7g, 17a) (1. Kyrou/Thomas, 28)
-He also ranks 2nd on the Blues with 17 assists (1. Thomas, 21)
-Schenn has a 3-game point streak (1g, 3a) and has 7 points in his last 7 games (1g, 6a)
-Schenn shares 1st on the Blues with 19 even-strength points this season (6g, 13a) (Thomas)
-Schenn scored the overtime winner on Dec. 12 vs. Nashville, the 9th overtime goal of his career
-Schenn has 24 power play goals since the start of the 2019-20 season, which ranks 2nd among all Blues in that span (1. Perron, 26)
-Schenn dressed in his 800th career NHL game on Dec. 3 at Pittsburgh
-Schenn recorded his 300th point as a Blue on Friday at Calgary
KYROU FINDING HIS SCORING TOUCH
-Jordan Kyrou has a 3-game point streak (3g, 3a) and has back-to-back multi-point games (3g, 2a)
-Jordan Kyrou scored twice, including his first career overtime winner, on Nov. 26 at Florida
-Kyrou also assisted on Schenn’s overtime winner on Dec. 12 vs. Nashville
-Kyrou also posted a multi-goal game on Friday at Calgary, the 11th multi-goal game of his career
-Since Kyrou’s debut in 2018-19, he has the 3rd most multi-goal games among Blues (Perron, 14 / Tarasenko, 13)
-Kyrou leads the Blues with 13 goals and also leads the team with 5 power play goals
-Kyrou also shares the team lead with 28 points with Robert Thomas
-Kyrou also shares 1st on the Blues with 9 power play points (Thomas/Buchnevich)
-Kyrou now has 25 points (10g, 15a) in his last 21 games after recording just 3 points (3g) in his first 9 games of the season, and has also recorded at least 1 point in 16 of his last 21 games
-Kyrou posted a career-long 8-game point streak (5g, 8a), from Nov. 14-26, including a career-long 6 game assist streak from Nov. 16-25 (2g, 8a)
THOMAS SETTING THE PACE
-Robert Thomas leads the Blues with 21 assists and shares 1st with 28 points this season (Kyrou)
-Thomas has points in back-to-back games (1g, 2a) and has 9 points in his last 9 games (3g, 6a)
-In his last 19 games, Thomas has recorded 21 points (5g, 16a), recording at least 1 point in 15 of those 19 games
-He also leads the Blues with 8 power play assists and shares the lead on the Blues with 9 power play points (Buchnevich/Kyrou)
-Since Nov. 10, Thomas shares 11th in the NHL with 8 power play assists (1. Dahlin, 13)
THE CAPTAIN IS COMING ALIVE
-Ryan O’Reilly has 7 points in his last 11 games (4g, 3a)
-O’Reilly has recorded 14 points (8g, 6a) in his last 21 games after just recording 1 point (1g) in his first 10 games of the season
-O’Reilly shares 3rd on the Blues with 9 goals this season (1. Kyrou, 13)
VANCOUVER CANUCKS NOTES:
TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: Sportsnet 650
MATCH-UP INFO
• Tonight marks the first of three meetings between the Canucks and Blues this season: Dec. 19 (home), Feb. 23 (away), and Mar. 28 (away).
• The Canucks are 77-98-18-5 all-time against the Blues, including a 45-44-9-3 record at home.
• Vancouver is 1-3-1 in their last 5 games against St. Louis (4-4-2 in their last 10).
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads active Canucks skaters in career games played against the Blues with 37 and points with 15 (4- 11-15).
• Elias Pettersson has 12 points (4-8-12) in 9 career games against St. Louis.
• Conor Garland has 11 points (5-6-11) in 14 career games against St. Louis.
• J.T. Miller has nine points (4-5-9) in 13 career games against St. Louis.
• Spencer Martin has yet to face the Blues in his career.
QUICK NUMBERS
• Bo Horvat has nine goals and 14 points (9-5-13) in his last 14 games and is fourth in the NHL in goals (22) this season.
• Quinn Hughes has 26 points (0-26-26) this season and is fifth in the NHL in assists among defencemen (26 in 26 GP). He also is ranked seventh in the NHL in power play assists with 14.
• Andrei Kuzmenko has 15 points (6-9-15) in his last 13 games.
• Conor Garland has points in four of his last five games (2-2-4).
• Nils Höglander has four points (1-3-4) in his last five games including his first multi-point game of the season (Dec. 14 vs CGY).
• Elias Pettersson has 16 points (7-9-16) in his last 13 games and leads the team with the most points (34) and multi-point games this season at 11 (11-16-27 in those 11 games).
• Luke Schenn holds the NHL all-time record of most hits (2,974) by a defenceman.
LAST MEETING – MAR. 30/22: VAN 3 vs STL 4
Alex Chiasson opened the scoring just 31 seconds into the second period…Brad Richardson and Oliver Ekman-Larsson assisted on the play…Elias Pettersson restored Vancouver’s one-goal lead at 12:42 in the second period…Nic Petan recorded his first point as a Canuck with the lone assist…Pettersson scored again at 15:11 in the third period, assisted by Conor Garland and J.T. Miller…Luke Schenn led the Canucks in hits (5)…Travis Dermott led the team in blocks (3)…Thatcher Demko faced 24 shots.
2022.23 TEAM RANKS
VAN STL
Goals For/Game 3.37 (9th) 2.97 (23rd)
Goals Against/Game 3.87 (30th) 3.65 (27th)
Power Play % 26.9 (7th) 21.2 (20th)
Penalty Kill % 68.1 (31st) 68.5 (30th)
Penalty Min./Game 11:06 (26th) 6:52 (2nd)
*Rankings are accurate as of 10:00am PT on December 19
Vancouver Canucks: Media Notes
LAST GAME PLAYED – DEC. 17/22: VAN 1 vs WPG 5
Bo Horvat scored his 22nd goal of the season with 5:24 remaining in the third period…Quinn Hughes and Conor Garland picked up the assists on the power play goal…Luke Schenn recorded nine hits, his second-highest total of the season, while also leading the team with five shots on goal…Horvat won 15 of 21 faceoffs for a win percentage of 71.4%, his fourth-highest win percentage of the season…Spencer Martin stopped 22 shots.
LAST 5 vs ST. LOUIS
• Mar. 30/22: VAN 3 vs STL 4
• Mar. 28/22: VAN 1 @ STL 4
• Jan. 23/22: VAN 1 vs STL 3
• Jan. 27/20: VAN 3 vs STL 1
• Nov. 5/19: VAN 1 @ STL 2 (OT)
LET’S GET IT STARTED
Scoring two goals just 34 seconds apart on Dec. 14 at CGY, Bo Horvat and Conor Garland recorded the fifth fastest two goals to start a game in Canucks history at 1:48 in the first.
• Scoring his team-leading 22nd goal on Dec. 17 vs WPG, Bo Horvat is the fourth skater in Canucks history to score at least as many goals in the team’s first 30 games of the season, joining Tony Tanti (22 in ’83-’84), Pavel Bure (25 in ’92-93) and Alexander Mogilny (22 in ’95-’96).
• Horvat is one of eight players to have reached the 20-goal mark so far this season.
• Earlier this season, Horvat became the first player in franchise history to have five multi-goal games in the first 13 games.
MARTY MART AND THE WINNING BUNCH
Collecting his ninth victory of the season on Dec. 14 at CGY, Spencer Martin ranks third in Canucks history for most wins through the first 15 appearances behind Ryan Miller (12 in 2014.15) and Kirk McLean (10 in 1991.92).
BELIEVING IN BRUCE
With the team’s 7-6 OT victory on Dec. 5 vs MTL, the Canucks overcame a 4-0 deficit for only the third time in franchise history to secure a 4-goal comeback win (Jan. 16/73 vs TOR 6-4 W & Oct. 15/71 vs CAL 9-6 W). Coincidentally, Bruce Boudreau also earned his third career win in a game where his team trailed by four-plus goals (Dec. 23/08 w/ WSH & Mar. 31/14 w/ ANA).
• With the team’s 4-3 (SO) victory on Dec. 14 at CGY, Bruce Boudreau surpassed Hal Laycoe for sole possession of 12th place on the Canucks all-time coaches wins list at 45.
PERISTENT PETEY
Scoring one goal and tallying two assists on Dec. 5 vs MTL, Elias Pettersson registered 32 points in (12-20-32) 26 games played, becoming the first Canuck to reach this mark in 26 or fewer games played since Daniel and Henrik Sedin in 2010.11 (30 points in 24 GP). It also marked Pettersson’s 20th career 3+ point game, tying him with Stan Smyl (1978-1983) for fifth-most 3+ point games in a player’s first five NHL seasons in franchise history.
• Dec. 7 at San Jose was Pettersson’s team-leading 11th multi-point game (1-1-2) this season and 66th of his career.
• Scoring at 3-on-3 in overtime on Dec. 7 at SJS, Pettersson tallied his 13th goal of the season, all of which have come at even strength. He ranks tied for sixth among NHL skaters for most even strength goals this season (13).
PUTTING THE ‘SUDDEN’ IN SUDDEN DEATH
Elias Pettersson’s game-winning overtime goal on Dec. 5 vs MTL came just 13 seconds into OT, making it the fastest goal to start a regular season overtime period in Canucks history. The previous record was held by Dixon Ward who scored 15 seconds into OT on Nov. 29/93.
PRODUCTION LINE
With five combined points, including two multi-point efforts on Dec. 7 at SJS, Andrei Kuzmenko, Elias Pettersson, and Ilya Mikheyev have collectively tallied 38 points (18-20-38) in 11 games from Nov. 15 to Dec. 7. Between the trio, they have had 24 multi-point efforts this season including three games (Oct. 27 @ SEA, Nov. 27 @ SJS, Dec. 5 vs MTL) where all three skaters put up at least two points.
SCHENN’S GREATEST HITS
Recording six hits on Dec. 3 vs ARI, Luke Schenn claimed the NHL all-time record for most hits by a defenceman (2,948), surpassing Brooks Orpik (2,946), and is now ranked sixth all-time among all skaters. Schenn has collected the second-most hits in the NHL this season (125 in 29 GP). On Nov. 12 at TOR, Schenn matched a franchise record with 12 hits in a game and became the first player in NHL history to record at least three games with 12+ hits in his career.
*The NHL began tracking hits in 2005.06.
HUGHES’ HELPING HANDS
With two assists on Dec. 3 vs ARI, Quinn Hughes surpassed Doug Lidster for fourth most multi-assist games among defencemen in Canucks history at 35 games.
