The Vancouver Canucks begin their six-game road trip with a stop in the nation’s capital for a match with the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

This will be the first matchup of the season between the two Canadian clubs, but they will play again in less than a month when Ottawa comes to Rogers Arena on December 21st.

Ottawa fell 3-2 on Thursday night in a game against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Canucks have had three full days without a game for the first time since mid-October.

Outcomes have been in the Canucks’ favour in recent memory. They are on a four-game winning streak against the Sens and are 15-4-1 over their last 20 games.

The Canucks’ lineup will look different on the road as General Manager Patrik Allvin announced that Jonathan Lekkerimäki has been assigned to Abbotsford (AHL) and Max Sasson has been recalled.

“Called my dad. He’s probably my biggest fan…He started screaming, started crying. Pretty special phone call. It’s his first game too it feels like.”

Hear from Max Sasson on getting the call-up to play in his first NHL game. pic.twitter.com/WBGq0TsjvH

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 22, 2024

Sasson signed out of Western Michigan University following his 2022-23 season. He’s played in 79 AHL games since signing with the Canucks’ organization and has 23 goals and 30 assists in that time. Sasson is a centre who can play on either wing, and can contribute on both special teams’ units if head coach Rick Tocchet needs to fill a role.

Quick Hits on the Competition

• The Sens sit seventh in the Atlantic division with an 8-10-1 record. They are 5-4-1 on home ice.

• Scoring first is important for the Sens on home ice, they are 4-0-0 when scoring first at home and 7-1-0 on the year when they pot the first goal of the game.

• They are 4-0-0 when leading after two periods on home ice.

• Ottawa’s best period has been the first in the first quarter of the season. They have outscored their opponents 20-15 but have been outscored in the second and third periods.

• Tim Stützle leads the Sens with 23 points in 19 games. Seven of his eight goals have come at even strength.

• Brady Tkachuk leads with nine goals this season. He and Stützle are the two Senators who are over a point per game.

• Ottawa’s power play has been strong this season. They rank sixth in the NHL with a 27% conversion rate on the man-advantage.

• Linus Ullmark has started 11 of the Sens’ 19 games. He has a 4-6-1 record with an .887% save percentage and a 3.00 goals-against average.

• Three former Canucks played in most Sens games this season: Zack MacEwen, Travis Hamonic, and Adam Gaudette.

• Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot are the big minute eaters on the defence corps. Sanderson is averaging 24:22 per game and Chabot sits at 23:27.

• Claude Giroux is their best man in the faceoff dot – he has won 60.2% of his draws this year.

The Story: On the Road Again

We won’t be seeing the Canucks back at Rogers Arena until Friday, December 6th when they face the Columbus Blue Jackets, but the road has not been a problem for the Canucks so far this season.

The Canucks currently have a 6-1-0 record away from Rogers Arena and are a top-five road team for control of goals, expected goals and scoring chances.

They have outscored their opponents 20-11 in their seven road games this season. On the road, the club is 3-0-0 when scoring first and 4-0-0 when outshooting their opponents.

Quinn Hughes is the leading scorer on the road, picking up 10 points (2g-8a) in seven games.

Conor Garland has been on the ice for 11 goals for and just one goal against on the road this season (5GF-0GA at five-on-five).

Last season, the Canucks went 23-14-4 away from Rogers Arena and they are hoping to improve on that record this year. It’s been a good start so far and we will see if they can keep it up on Saturday.

Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games

Elias Pettersson: 3g-3a-6p
J.T. Miller: 1g-4a-5p
Erik Brännström: 2g-2a-4p
Quinn Hughes: 1g-3a-4p
Kiefer Sherwood: 2g-1a-3p

When and Where to Watch

Saturday’s game is a 4:00 p.m. start time and can be viewed on Hockey Night in Canada or you can listen along to the radio call with Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.