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Scenes from morning skate: Höglander sits, Lankinen starts for Canucks vs. Ducks
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Photo credit: © Christopher Morris-Imagn Images
Tyson Cole
Mar 24, 2026, 15:55 EDT
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The Vancouver Canucks (21-40-8) welcome the Anaheim Ducks (39-27-4) to Rogers Arena tonight. Puck drop is set for 7 PM PT.
After dropping a lifeless contest on Saturday night to the St. Louis Blues, the Canucks will look to snap their two-game losing streak on a busy 15-game NHL slate.

What we saw

It was a very optional skate today, with most of the veterans taking the morning off. Max Sasson, Aatu Räty, Drew O’Connor, Linus Karlsson, Liam Öhgren, Curtis Douglas, Nils Höglander, Zeev Buium, Tom Willander, Elias Pettersson, Victor Mancini, PO Joseph, Kevin Lankinen and Nikita Tolopilo were on the ice this morning.
Kevin Lankinen was the first goaltender off the ice, and Adam Foote later confirmed he would get the start tonight. This will be Lankinen’s fourth consecutive start. After nabbing his first win since mid-January – a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers – Lankinen has dropped his last two starts, stopping 43 of the 51 shots he faced for a .853 save percentage.
Höglander and Joseph stayed out late after morning skate, indicating that they will be tonight’s scratches. Höglander will be a healthy scratch for the fourth time in the last seven games, and despite shedding his non-contact jersey a few days ago following an upper-body injury sustained on March 19, Joseph does not appear ready to go just yet.
With Höglander back out of the rotation, Sasson will draw back in on the left wing with Teddy Blueger and Linus Karlsson. So we can expect the same lines we saw from yesterday’s practice tonight against the Ducks:
Foote’s media availability was early today, so there wasn’t much to see on the ice today. So instead, I’ll tell you all a story of what I witnessed following yesterday’s practice.
As I wrote yesterday’s Scenes from Canucks practice in the Rogers Arena press box, I saw Canucks youngsters Zeev Buium, Tom Willander, and Elias Pettersson were the last three players on the ice. While they had a little shoot around, their main focus was not on their one-timers.
Instead, the three playfully worked on their fighting, and I naturally had to take a video of it. But before sharing it, I wanted to make sure all three players in the video were okay with me posting it, so I showed them all the footage after today’s morning skate.
They were howling laughing at the bird’s eye view of their battle, called teammates over to watch Buium’s takedown on Junior, and were just as eager for Canucks fans to see it as well. So, here you go, a little treat in this Tuesday edition of Scenes from morning skate:
As we near the end of what’s been a dreadful season, it’s awesome to see these kids are still having some fun.

The opponent

The Ducks come into Rogers Arena tonight off the back of a thrilling 6-5 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Chris Kreider, Jackson LaCombe, Beckett Sennecke, Mikael Granlund, and Troy Terry x2 were the goal scorers, with the latter scoring the game-winner 1:29 into overtime.
Lukas Dostal will get the start tonight. He got the loss in the 2-0 result after allowing just the one goal to Drew O’Connor halfway through the third period. Since the Olympic break, Dostal has started the fourth-most games (10) and has a 7-2-1 record in those appearances, despite having a 3.33 goals against average and a .877 save percentage.
Here is how the Ducks lined up for rushes at morning skate:
After serving as a healthy scratch for two games, Mason McTavish returned to the Ducks lineup two games ago against the Utah Mammoth. He has been buried in the Ducks’ lineup, playing just 10:22 and 12:28 minutes in his two games since returning. He picked up an assist on LaCombe’s power play goal against the Sabres.
Radko Gudas returns to the Ducks lineup tonight after serving his five-game suspension for his knee on Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews. In the five games without their captain, the Ducks went 3-1-1.
The Ducks have a trio of youngsters who are leading them offensively this season. Cutter Gauthier (22) leads the team in goals (36) and points (62). Leo Carlsson (21) is second in points (58), followed by rookie Beckett Sennecke (54). They are all lined up on separate lines tonight, which will be a challenge for the Canucks when trying to line-match against the triple threat.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Ducks sit in first in the Pacific Division standings with 82 points. They lead the Vegas Golden Knights (78) and the Edmonton Oilers (77), while having a game in hand on both clubs.

News and notes

The Ducks are one of four teams (the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators) that the Canucks have multiple wins over this season: a 5-4 victory in Anaheim at the end of November, and a 2-0 split shutout victory at the end of January in Rogers Arena. Lankinen and Tolopilo earned the split shutout as Lankinen made one save while Tolopilo was getting checked out by concussion spotters, but returned to the game. He stopped all 32 shots he faced.
Vancouver and Anaheim will battle one last time to wrap up a mid-April California road trip on Sunday, April 12, at 5 PM PT.

What we heard

Adam Foote on the challenge the Ducks present tonight: “You look at their D, they join the rush a lot. So we have to be disciplined on our F3, make sure we jump back above them. They really like to attack on the rush.”
Linus Karlsson on closing out the Canucks’ lengthy homestand strong: “I’m really happy with how the fans have been, supporting us the whole year. We need to give back to them. Like, we are where we are and they’re still here to support us. We have to try to give back to them. Hopefully we can do that tonight.”
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