The Vancouver Canucks (7-8) kick off a busy weekend when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets (7-6) on Hockey Fights Cancer night at Rogers Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 pm on Hockey Night in Canada.

It’s the first of two home games for the Canucks on consecutive nights, with the Colorado Avalanche rolling into town on Sunday.

What we saw

Jeff Paterson

@patersonjeff

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no surprise, Kevin Lankinen going through starter’s drills. Jiri Patera the other goalie on the ice at #Canucks morning skate

6:28 PM · Nov 8, 2025

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After a full practice Friday, the Canucks held an optional skate on Saturday morning. It featured 13 skaters along with goalies Kevin Lankinen and Jiri Patera. Among the skaters, Victor Mancini, Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Teddy Blueger all took part in non-contact jerseys.

The only line-up change from Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks will be on defence where Elias Pettersson will return from being a healthy scratch and will replace P-O Joseph. Based on Friday’s practice, the Canucks may have a couple of new looks up front with Brock Boeser skating on left wing with Aatu Räty and Kiefer Sherwood while Drew O’Connor moves to a line with Lukas Reichel and Jake DeBrusk.

The team has alternated losses and wins over its past seven games. Aatu Räty and Evander Kane scored late goals after the Hawks had jumped into a 4-0 lead. Kane has scored in back to back games and has his first three goals of the season over that span.

Kevin Lankinen stopped 23 of the 27 shots he faced. Lankinen will make consecutive starts for the first time this season. Thatcher Demko is dealing with a minor injury issue and will not be in uniform tonight, however he was spotted in the hall outside the Canucks locker room this morning after skating on his own. Jiri Patera, recalled from Abbotsford on Friday, will serve as Lankinen’s backup.

The Canucks have surrendered a league-high 16 power play goals against. Their PK on the season sits at 68.0%. The team killed off its first nine penalties of the season. Over the past 13 games, however, the penalty kill has sagged to 61%.

After opening the season with a 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames, the Canucks have dropped four of five on home ice including the last two. The win over the Flames remains the team’s lone regulation win at Rogers Arena this season.

Elias Pettersson has gone five games without a goal and has two assists over that time while Jake DeBrusk has a goal and no assists in his last six outings. Lukas Reichel is still looking for his first point after seven games as a Canuck.

Jeff Paterson

@patersonjeff

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Reichel and Raty doing some face-off work #Canucks

6:42 PM · Nov 8, 2025

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The Opponent

The Blue Jackets have been idle since a 5-1 loss in Calgary on Wednesday in the second game of a five game road trip. Kirill Marchenko scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season shorthanded in the first period. Jet Greaves made 21 saves in net. Veteran Sean Monahan left the game with an injury, but was a full participant in the team’s practice on Friday. Columbus lost despite outshooting Calgary 43-26.

Marchenko leads CBJ with six goals and 13 points and carries a six-game point streak into action tonight. Dmitri Voronkov and Zack Werenski share second in team scoring with 10 points apiece.

Jeff Svoboda

@JacketsInsider

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Full team morning skate for #CBJ in Vancouver. Same lines as yesterday. Wood-Monahan-Johnson Voronkov-Fantilli-Marchenko Sillinger-Coyle-Olivier Jenner-Del Bel Belluz-Chinakhov Werenski-Mateychuk Provorov-Severson Christiansen-Fabbro

7:32 PM · Nov 8, 2025

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The Jackets are a high-event team sitting second in the NHL in shots per game (32.8) while surrendering the most shots on a nightly basis (33.4).

Columbus has a league-high 11 goals from defencemen already this season. No other team has more than nine.

CBJ has alternated starting goalies through its first 13 games. With Greaves getting the nod in Calgary on Wednesday, Elvis Merzlikins is expected to get the call tonight.

Like the Canucks, the Jackets have struggled to kill penalties this season. CBJ enters the night with the 30th ranked PK in the league at 68.4%.

News and notes

The home team has won nine of the last 10 meetings between these teams including seven straight. Last season, the Canucks won 5-2 at Rogers Arena despite trailing 2-0 while the Jackets roared back from a 3-0 deficit to win 7-6 in a shootout at Nationwide Arena. The Canucks will be in Columbus on January 15th – the final game of a six-game road trip.

The referees for tonight’s game are Kendrick Nicholson and Jordan Samuels-Thomas.

What we heard

Adam Foote on how Quinn Hughes has to find a way to overcome the attention he gets from opponents: “Teams are marking him right now. They’re coming up in his face. He wants to win so bad he has to find a different way. Get it back down low. When they’re in his face high, they’re cheating high so he’s got so much confidence that he can beat that player in his face. But when it’s a constant and they’re over-aggressive on it, now let’s get it back low and let our teammates beat them pressing the high blueline. We should like that.”

Drew O’Connor on seeing some players getting close to returning from injury: “It’s nice. It’s a good boost when you get those guys out there. It kind of pushes everyone when you know guys are coming back and fighting for spots in the line-up, so I think it helps everyone.”

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