Golden Knights get first look at Canucks rookie Elias Pettersson

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — With the sixth pick in the 2017 draft, the Golden Knights selected forward Cody Glass.

One choice earlier, Vancouver nabbed Swedish forward Elias Pettersson.

The Knights will get their first look at the Canucks’ rookie sensation Thursday when the teams square off at 7 p.m. at Rogers Arena.

“For a young kid, he’s got a lot of talent. He makes plays,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said Oct. 23 before their first matchup. “He’s a talented guy, he shoots the puck real well, but he also finds people on the backdoor very well. He’s a very talented young player.”

Pettersson, who missed Vancouver’s 3-2 shootout win over the Knights on Oct. 24 at T-Mobile Arena with a concussion, has a team-high 13 goals to go with eight assists in 21 games and is the early favorite for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

He is the eighth player since 1984-85 to score 13 or more goals through his first 20 career games, joining the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin, Eric Lindros and Teemu Selanne.

Pettersson was named rookie of the month in October despite missing two weeks with a concussion and became the youngest player in franchise history to record five points in a regular-season game in a 7-6 overtime victory against Colorado on Nov. 2.

Pettersson led the Swedish Hockey League in scoring last season and broke the league record for most points by a junior (under age 20) in the process.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 176-pound center drew praise from Wayne Gretzky recently on Vancouver radio and has been compared to former Detroit standout Pavel Datsyuk.

Numbers game

The Knights’ 8-3 victory over Chicago on Tuesday marked the second time in franchise history they’ve scored six or more goals in consecutive contests. The first occasion came Feb. 21 and 23 when they beat Calgary (7-3) and Vancouver (6-3).

The Knights are the fourth team this season to post consecutive outings with at least six goals, joining the Capitals (Oct. 3 and 4), Maple Leafs (Oct. 7 and 9), Penguins (Oct. 23 and 25) and Flames (Nov. 19 and 21), according to NHL public relations.

Also, it was the 10th time a team scored at least eight goals in a game this season.

Double down

Shea Theodore recorded the first multi-goal game of his career in the win at Chicago.

Last night was the first multi-goal game of Shea Theodore's career

He's also the first defenseman in @GoldenKnights history to score multiple goals in a game https://t.co/FVc1SqXKpE pic.twitter.com/2DCe9uQCum

— Hockey Reference (@hockey_ref) November 28, 2018

He’s the first defenseman in franchise history to score multiple goals in a game and leads the Knights’ blueliners with four goals and 15 points in 26 games.

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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.