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Scenes from morning skate: Lankinen starts as Canucks wrap up road trip vs. league-leading Avalanche
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Photo credit: © Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Dec 2, 2025, 14:24 EST
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The Vancouver Canucks (10-13-3) wrap up a four-game road trip when they face the league-leading Colorado Avalanche (18-1-6) at Ball Arena in Denver. Game time is 6 pm PT.
Only seven teams have managed to take a point off the Avs this season. The Canucks are one of them as a result of a 5-4 overtime setback on November 9th. 

What we know

Kevin Lankinen is expected to make his second straight start in goal after a 2-1 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Evander Kane’s first 5-on-5 goal of the season accounted for Vancouver’s offence in that one. The Canucks went 0 for 3 on the power play and are 0 for 11 in the past two games. 
The Canucks will once again be without sparkplug Conor Garland, who skipped Saturday’s contest with an undisclosed injury. The feisty winger has been sent home from the road for further medical evaluation.
The Canucks are likely to go with the same forward group they used against the Kings. That means Jonathan Lekkerimäki will play a second straight game since being recalled from AHL Abbotsford. Lekkerimäki played 13:24 and registered a shot on goal in his first NHL game in five weeks. In practice on Monday, Lekkerimäki skated on right wing with Elias Pettersson and Evander Kane. 
After a red-hot start, Kiefer Sherwood has cooled and has gone six games without a goal. His last goal came against the Tampa Bay Lightning on November 16th. He still leads the Canucks with a dozen on the season, but had just three in November after roaring out of the gates with nine in October.
Quinn Hughes logged a season-high 30:13 in LA on Saturday. It’s the third time this season the captain has crested the 30-minute mark in a game. No one else in the league has done that more than once. Hughes was on the ice for 2:31 of the 3:58 of overtime. There could very well be one change on defence tonight with Elias Pettersson returning in place of P-O Joseph. 
As a team, the Canucks are 1-4-1 in their last six outings. The lone win in that stretch came in the road trip opener against the Anaheim Ducks last Wednesday. 

The Opponent

True to their name, the Avalanche are on a roll. After a 7-2 romp over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Colorado is 10-0-1 in its last 11 games and 13-0-3 since the team’s lone regulation loss of the season to the Boston Bruins on October 25th. The Avs had a 10-game win streak snapped with a 3-2 shootout loss against the Minnesota Wild on Black Friday.
Brock Nelson had two goals and two assists to lead the charge against the Habs. Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two helpers. He has a share of the league lead with 20 goals and leads all NHL scorers with 44 points. He has scored in three straight games and on Monday was named the NHL’s First Star for November.
MacKinnon, who missed practice on Monday due to illness, will play tonight and leads the club with 44 points. Martin Necas has 33, and Cale Makar tops all NHL defencemen with 32 points. Those three are all among the top 11 scorers in the league. Tonight, Colorado welcomes Valeri Nichushkin back to the lineup. He’s missed eight games with a lower-body injury.
While it won’t come as a surprise that Colorado is the highest-scoring team in the NHL, averaging 4.12 goals per game, it may catch some off guard to learn the Avs are also the best defensive team in the league, surrendering 2.08 goals per game. Colorado has a league-best +48 goal differential so far this season.
The Avs have allowed just four goals in their past five games. The Canucks are the last team to score four goals in a game against Colorado. That was three weeks ago.
Scott Wedgewood gets the start in goal tonight. He has a league-high 13 victories and is 13-1-3 on the season with a 2.08 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
The Avs are 10-0-2 on home ice this season, outscoring opponents 58-26. They have won eight straight in front of their home fans, all in regulation time.

News and notes

MacKinnon was in on all five goals in the Avs’ 5-4 OT win at Rogers Arena last month. Gavin Brindley scored the winner at 1:08 of overtime. The Canucks will meet the Avalanche one more time this season on April 1st in Denver, when Colorado will wear its Quebec Nordiques alternate jerseys.
The referees for tonight’s game are Mitch Dunning and Tom Chmielewski.
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. Join the live YouTube chat with your thoughts on the hockey game.
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