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Scenes from morning skate: Tolopilo starts again as Canucks try to put a dent in Kings playoff hopes
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Photo credit: © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Apr 9, 2026, 14:58 EDT
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The Vancouver Canucks (22-47-8) open a three-game California road trip when they visit the Los Angeles Kings (32-26-19) at Crypto.com Arena. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm PT.
For the second time this season, the Canucks will play three games in four nights in California. On both trips, they started in Southern California, headed north to San Jose and then returned to Southern California.

What we saw

The Canucks held a morning skate in downtown LA and appear as though they’ll go with the same forward group they used in a 2-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. That means Evander Kane and Ty Mueller will be the extra bodies up front. The team is making one switch on defence with P-O Joseph returning to take the place of Victor Mancini.
Nikita Tolopilo will make a fourth straight start in goal. The big Belarusian stopped 26 of 28 Golden Knights shots on Tuesday. Tolopilo has dropped five straight decisions since his last victory against the Nashville Predators on March 12th.
Max Sasson had the lone Canucks goal against Vegas, opening the scoring midway through the second period. The goal came on one of just 11 shots on goal for the hockey club. With an assist on the Sasson goal, Teddy Blueger pushed his point streak to four games (2+3=5).
Elias Pettersson has gone 10 games without a goal and has scored in just one of the team’s last 31 games. He scored a pair of power play goals against the Florida Panthers on March 17th. His last 5-on-5 goal came on January 13th in Ottawa. Pettersson needs two points to reach 50 on the season.
As a team, the Canucks have dropped three straight and nine of their last 10 games. They will finish the schedule with four of their remaining five contests on the road.

The Opponent

In an NHL-record 32nd trip beyond regulation time this season, the Kings defeated Nashville 3-2 in a shootout on Monday night. Joel Armia and Scott Laughton scored the LA goals in regulation, while Adrian Kempe had the only goal of the shootout. The Kings have been to OT in four straight, six of eight and nine of their last 15 games. They have also won three of their last four games and have points in five of six, dating back to a 4-0 win in Vancouver on March 26th.
Artemi Panarin has provided the offensive boost expected of him when he was acquired just before the Olympic break. Panarin has eight goals and 23 points in 21 games as a King. Adrian Kempe leads the club with 32 goals on the season.
The Kings are just a single point behind Nashville in the race for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. LA holds a game in hand over the Predators. Remarkably, LA has just 19 regulation victories, which is ahead of only the Canucks. The Kings’ 13 home ice wins are also ahead of only Vancouver. The thing that has kept Los Angeles in the playoff mix is its league-high 19 points gained for overtime and shootout losses.
Two of LA’s remaining games are against the Canucks. The teams will meet again next Tuesday in the final game of the season at Rogers Arena. Los Angeles will play its home finale on Saturday against Edmonton. That game has the potential to be the final game on home ice in the decorated career of Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who is retiring following this season.
The 38-year-old will play his 1,517th career game tonight. That is 23rd all-time among NHL skaters and third among active players. On Wednesday, Kopitar was named the Kings’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Award for perseverance, dedication and sportsmanship.

News and notes

The Kings have defeated the Canucks in their two previous meetings this season. Hardly a surprise, their last game in LA required overtime on November 28th, with the Kings prevailing 2-1. So the Canucks have scored just one goal in their meetings with Los Angeles so far this season.
The referees for tonight’s game are Kelly Sutherland and Brandon Schraeder.
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