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Scenes from morning skate: Sherwood trade overshadows Canucks vs. Islanders
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Jan 19, 2026, 15:38 EST
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The Vancouver Canucks (16-27-5) host the New York Islanders (26-17-5) tonight at Rogers Arena. Game time is 7 pm PT.
It’s the team’s annual Hockey Talks night in support of mental health initiatives. 

What we saw

As the dust settled on the Kiefer Sherwood deal, the Canucks held an optional morning skate this morning. Kevin Lankinen will get the start in goal tonight with Jiri Patera backing him up after being recalled from Abbotsford yesterday. Lankinen, who battled a flu bug over the weekend, last played in a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Adam Foote said that he felt Teddy Blueger’s return to the lineup would likely have to wait at least one more game. Blueger centred the team’s third line at practice yesterday and is close to playing for the first time since an October 19th injury. However, it doesn’t seem the veteran centre will get the green light to go tonight.
That likely means former Islander Aatu Räty, who skated as an extra on Sunday, will stay in the lineup. 
The Canucks will make one change on defence as Victor Mancini was re-assigned to the minors on Sunday. He will likely be replaced on the blueline by Elias Pettersson, who was summoned from the farm in the same move. 
The team was shutout 6-0 by the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. They have scored just two goals in their last three games. Brock Boeser scored in Columbus, and centre Elias Pettersson found the back of the net against the Ottawa Senators. With Sherwood off the roster, Pettersson is now the Canucks team leader with 13 goals on the season. 
On top of seven straight outright losses and the fact that the club is winless in 10 (0-8-2), the Canucks have now dropped seven in a row on home ice (0-5-2) and have just one victory in their last 13 games at Rogers Arena (1-9-3). 

The Opponent

The Islanders arrive in town for the sixth game of a seven-game road trip. They fell 4-2 on Saturday afternoon to the Calgary Flames. J-G Pageau and Anders Lee scored the New York goals while rookie defenceman Matthew Schaefer assisted on both of them. David Rittich made 15 saves in goal. NHL shutout leader Ilya Sorokin will get the start in goal tonight. He picked up his league-leading fifth shutout in his last start, a 1-0 win in Edmonton on Thursday.
Lee’s goal was the 300th of his NHL career. He became the fifth player in franchise history to score 300 goals for the Isles.
Former Canuck Bo Horvat remains out of the New York lineup. He suffered a lower-body injury on January 1st and has missed the past seven games. Despite the missed time, Horvat still leads the team with 21 goals. Coquitlam’s Mat Barzal leads the Islanders with 38 points and picked up the 500th point of his career against the Oilers last week.
The Islanders are one of the top defensive teams in the league, allowing 2.69 goals per game. Only the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning allow goals at a lower rate on a per-game basis.

News and notes

The Canucks defeated the Islanders 4-1 at UBS Arena on December 19th. Kiefer Sherwood had a hat-trick after David Kämpf opened the scoring with his first in a Vancouver uniform. It was the last time the Canucks posted a regulation victory.
The referees for tonight’s game are Chris Lee and Alex Lepkowski. Lepkowski is a former fifth-round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2011 who played in the OHL, ECHL and AHL as well as at the USports level at Acadia University.
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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