Curtis Douglas was hard to miss as he stepped onto the ice for the first time with his new team this morning. When he met with the media following the skate, the 6’9” forward sounded like he was in the lineup and good to go tonight, although head coach Adam Foote wouldn’t fully commit to that decision. Foote said he’d wait to see the availability of Brock Boeser and Evander Kane. Boeser left morning skate after power play drills, while Kane did not take part in this morning’s on-ice session.

Kevin Lankinen makes his second straight start in goal after stopping 33 of 36 shots in a 3-2 overtime loss in Winnipeg on Saturday night. Linus Karlsson and Liam Öhgren scored the Vancouver goals against the Jets. Karlsson has 1+3=4 on a three-game point streak while Öhgren has 6+5=11 in his 32 games since joining the club from Minnesota in mid-December.

The line of Karlsson with Teddy Blueger and Max Sasson combined for three goals and nine points in the two games over the weekend. In his 14 games since returning from injury, Blueger has a share of the team lead in goals (5) and points (10).

Defenceman Zeev Buium has shed his full bubble for a half-visor. Buium suffered a facial injury in a January 25 game against Pittsburgh and has played and practiced with full facial protection ever since.

After starting the season 4-0 in games that went beyond regulation time, the Canucks have won just two of their last 10 games that required extra time. They have lost their last six contests decided in overtime. On the season, the Canucks are 2-6 in OT and 4-2 in shootouts. Kevin Lankinen is 0-5 in overtime decisions this season, yet 4-0 in shootouts.

Elias Pettersson has gone 17 games without a goal since scoring against the Senators in Ottawa on January 13. He has just 18 shots on goal during his drought. For context, Evander Kane leads the team over that span with 39 shots on goal.

The Opponent

The Senators arrive in Vancouver with one regulation loss in their last 11 hockey games (8-1-2). They pushed their point streak to six games (4-0-2) with a 7-4 victory in Seattle on Saturday night. Shane Pinto led the way with a goal and two assists while Tim Stutzle scored his team-leading 30th goal of the season, and newcomer Warren Foegele scored in his Sens debut. Linus Ullmark made 17 saves in the win.

Ottawa starts the day five points back of Boston in the race for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Sens hold a game in hand.

With eight goals and eight assists on a 12-game point streak, Stutzle leads the team with 67 points, followed by Drake Batherson with 55 points, and Dylan Cozens has 49. Batherson and Cozens have both scored 23 goals on the season, and Cozens has scored in four straight games for the first time in his career.

The Senators are second in the NHL in shot suppression, allowing just 24.5 shots per game. On Saturday, they outshot the Kraken 36-21. Ottawa has held 10 of its last 12 opponents to 23 shots or fewer.

Linus Ullmark gets the start in goal tonight. He has posted a 5-0-2 record with a 2.43 GAA and a .900 save percentage since returning from a personal leave of absence. On February 25, 2023, while with Boston, Ullmark scored an empty net goal against the Canucks at Rogers Arena.

One of the main reasons the Sens are below the playoff bar is the fact that they’ve got the worst team save percentage in the league this season at .869. That plays into the fact that the club sits 30th in the NHL on the penalty kill at 73.1%.

According to NHL Edge data, Sens defenceman Tyler Kleven has the hardest registered shot in the league this season, clocking a blast of 103.5 miles per hour in a January game against New Jersey.

News and notes

The Senators defeated the Canucks 2-1 in the nation’s capital on January 13. The Ottawa goals came 15 seconds apart late in the first period.

The referees for tonight’s game are Kyle Rehman and Corey Syvret.

What we heard

Curtis Douglas on being claimed off waivers by the Canucks on Friday: “It’s pretty special. I’m from Canada and I have family in Vancouver so it’s pretty cool to come back and see them and be in Canada again. I’m really excited. Guys have been awesome in helping me get acclimated and getting ready to go.”

Curtis Douglas on having more to give than just fighting: “Oh for sure. I’m really excited to be able to go out there and show that I can actually play and do more than just go out there and be mean. I’m just going to get out there and play simple and let the game come to me and be a good teammate.”

Jeff Paterson

@patersonjeff

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Curtis Douglas takes the ice for first time with #Canucks

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4:20 PM · Mar 9, 2026

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