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Scenes from morning skate: End of the line for Canucks in Edmonton
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Photo credit: © Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Apr 16, 2026, 14:55 EDT
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The Vancouver Canucks (25-48-8) conclude their 2025-26 season tonight when they visit the Edmonton Oilers (40-30-11) at Rogers Place. Puck drop is set for 6pm PT. The Canucks will try to close out the schedule with a fourth straight victory after wins over San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles. A win tonight will leave the Canucks with 60 points in a disastrous season.

What we saw

The Canucks will dress the same 18 skaters they’ve used for the past two games. That means young players like Ty Mueller and Kirill Kudryavtsev remain in uniform once again. Kudryavtsev has an assist in each of the two games he’s played on a late-season call up from Abbotsford. Kevin Lankinen will make a second straight start in goal. Going back to an 8-6 win in Colorado, Lankinen has won his past three starts.
All three of the games the Canucks have won on this current streak have required overtime or a shootout. On Tuesday, the Canucks defeated Los Angeles 4-3 in OT. Jake DeBrusk’s second of the night in overtime was his first game winner of the season. The veteran winger has nine goals in the past 12 games and has accounted for nine of the last 33 goals the Canucks have scored.
Defencemen Elias Pettersson and Zeev Buium had the other Vancouver goals on Tuesday. 
Heading into the final night of the season, the Canucks team scoring title is still up for grabs. Elias Pettersson enters the game with 51 points followed by Filip Hronek with 49 and Brock Boeser with 48.
The Canucks power play has produced five goals on nine opportunities (55.6%) over the past three games. 
The Canucks used 40 different players this season: 25 forwards, 11 defencemen and four goalies. Filip Hronek, Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor will be the only three Canucks players to appear in all 82 games this season.

The Opponent

The Oilers can still finish anywhere from second in the Pacific to the second Wild Card in the West. They enter the night one point ahead of both Anaheim and Los Angeles. The Oilers hold the tie breaker on both of those teams. A single point tonight will lock them into the second slot and give them home ice in the opening round of the playoffs. 
Edmonton has one win in its last five games (1-2-2) and has managed just a single goal in its last two outings. On Monday, the Oilers fell 2-1 in a shootout to Colorado and that followed a 1-0 loss in Los Angeles on Saturday. Connor McDavid scored his team-leading 48th goal of the season against the Avalanche. The Oilers captain also has 86 assists and a league-best 134 points on the season. He leads Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov by four points and will lay claim to his sixth Art Ross trophy. 
McDavid has more points on the power play (52) than any Canuck has all season. HIs 71 career points against Vancouver is his highest total against a single opponent.
Evan Bouchard is having a career season leading all NHL defencemen with 71 assists and 92 points. With 21 goals, he is one of six blueliners in the league to reach the 20-goal mark this season.
Leon Draisaitl is skating again after missing 13 games with a lower body injury. He won’t play tonight and no return date has been set, but Draisaitl is expected to be ready at some point in the first round of the playoffs. Zach Hyman returns to the Edmonton line-up tonight after missing five games with an undisclosed injury.
Connor Ingram gets the start in goal and looks to be the guy the Oilers will turn to when the post-season begins on the weekend. Ingram is 15-10-3 on the season with a 2.65 GAA and an .899 save percentage.

News and notes

The Canucks played their first road game of the season in Edmonton on October 11th and are now playing their final one there, too. The Oilers have taken two of the three head to head match-ups between these teams this season.
The referees for tonight’s game are Francis Charron and Stephen Hiff.
Don’t forget to join Rink Wide Vancouver for full postgame coverage after this game – and every game. The livestream starts moments after the final buzzer. Rink Wide is the place for full postgame analysis and discussion. Contribute to the live YouTube conversation with your thoughts on the game and support our charity partner – the BC Mental Health Foundation – with a Superchat.
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