Their 2018 may have - but December as a whole provided a nice bounce back for the Vancouver Canucks.
After a dismal, injury-riddled 3-8-3 November had some fans turning their thoughts toward June鈥檚 NHL entry draft (in Vancouver), the Canucks went 8-5-1 in December, finishing 2018 with a level 19-19-4 record - and find themselves just two points out of the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
By the numbers
Team record: 19-19-4 (9-9-1 home, 10-10-3 away) 42 points (5th, Pacific Division, 18th overall); GF: 124 (14th overall); GA: 133 (26th overall); PP: 17.8% (20th overall); PK: 77.8% (21st overall)
On Dec. 1: 11-14-3 (5-5-1 home, 6-9-2 away) 25 points (6th, Pacific Division; 24th overall); GF: 81 (13th overall); GA: 100 (30th overall); PP: 18.9% (19th overall); PK: 76.2% (25th overall)
On Nov. 1: 8-6-0 (4-2-0 home, 4-4-0 away) 16 points (1st, Pacific Division; 7th overall); GF: 40 (9th overall); GA: 44 (27th overall); PP: 17.0% (20th overall); PK:83.3% (9th overall).
Leading scorers (as of Jan. 1):
Elias Pettersson (36 GP, 19-20-39), Bo Horvat (42 GP, 17-18-35), Brock Boeser (29 GP, 14-12-26), Nikolay Goldobin (41 GP, 5-18-23), Jake Virtanen (42 GP, 11-7-18). Goalies: Jacob Markstrom (29 GP, 16-10-3, 2.80 GAA, .910 save percentage), Anders Nilsson (12 GP, 3-8-1, 3.09 GAA, .895 save percentage).
NOTE: Nilsson . Let the Thatcher Demko watch begin.
On Dec. 1
Horvat (28 GP, 11-13-24), Pettersson (22 GP, 13-9-22), Goldobin (28 GP, 4-12-16), Boeser (15 GP; 6-7-13), Virtanen (28 GP, 8-4-12). Goalies: Markstrom (20 GP, 8-9-3, 3.31 GAA, .897 save percentage), Nilsson (7 GP, 3-4-0, 2.86 GAA, .902 save percentage).
On Nov. 1: Pettersson (8 GP, 7-3-10), Horvat (14 GP, 7-3-10), Virtanen (14 GP, 5-2-7), Boeser (12 GP, 2-5-7). Goalies: Markstrom (8 GP, 5-3-0, 2.96 GAA, .911 save percentage), Nilsson (6 GP, 3-3-0, 2.67 GAA, .912 save percentage).
Fun number
(Repeat winner!) Forward Tim Schaller has now played 29 games and has yet to record his first goal as a Canuck.
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鈥� Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks)
Elias Pettersson will represent Team Pacific in the 2019 All-Star Game! Petey becomes the youngest player and just the third Vancouver rookie named to the honour.
Player of the month
You could probably pencil in the nifty (17 points in 14 games) for this award each month for years to come. He was named the league鈥檚 rookie of the month for December and will appear in the league鈥檚 all-star game. But the nod for a December to remember this time goes to Markstrom. The lanky Swedish backstop was a stellar 8-1-0 in December, with a microscopic 1.66 GAA and a tidy .943 save percentage. From splitting the crease with Nilsson early, Markstrom now has a firm grip on the No. 1 goaltending spot.
Best goal
Who else but Pettersson? He turned Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne inside out on a slick penalty-shot goal on Dec. 6.
Biggest surprise
Doubling up on his monthly awards, stellar December earns the honours here. If he continues to play at or near that level, the playoffs aren鈥檛 a pipe dream for Vancouver.
Biggest disappointment
With a nod to the departing Nilsson, Schaller is another repeat winner here. He wasn鈥檛 signed to be a 50-goal man, but not producing at all isn鈥檛 acceptable.
Best win
The Canuckstwice, but the 5-3 Dec. 6 win over the Predators was a highlight.
Worst loss
Finishing your year in New Jersey probably wasn鈥檛 high on any Canuck鈥檚 wish list. Falling 4-0 to the Devils on Dec. 31 made it even worse.
Best fight
Ben Hutton jumping in for Boeser against Cedric Paquette during a brouhaha against Tampa Bay was the best of the (two) Canuck fights in December.
Injury update
The Canucks are slowly getting healthy. Veteran centre Jay Beagle (fractured forearm) and winger Sven Baertschi (upper-body injury) have returned after lengthy stays on injured reserve. Centre Brandon Sutter (upper-body injury) is nearing a return.
On the farm
Vancouverwith its AHL club, the Utica Comets, ending speculation the Comets might end up in Abbotsford. On the ice, the Comets sport a 17-16-2-1 record and sit fourth in the league鈥檚 North Division. Veteran minor leaguer Reid Boucher (24 GP, 16-13-29) leads the Comets in scoring. Zack MacEwen (35 GP, 13-14-27) may well earn a callup to the big club this season. Top defence prospect Olli Juolevi was lost for the season after knee surgery. Demko (15 GP, 7-5-1, 2.63 GAA, .909 save percentage) has played well since returning from concussion issues.
Coming this month
The Canucks play nine times in January, opening on the road with games in Ottawa (Jan. 2), Montreal (Jan. 3) and Toronto (Jan. 5) before returning home for an extended homestand. Arizona (Jan. 10), Florida (Jan. 13), Edmonton (Jan. 16), Buffalo (Jan. 18), Detroit (Jan. 20) and Carolina (Jan. 23) all visit Vancouver this month - a month that will go a long way to determining if the Canucks are playoff-bound or again dreaming of draft lottery luck.
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Vancouver Island Free Daily editor Philip Wolf can be reached via email at philip.wolf@blackpress.ca or on Twitter
