The Vancouver Canucks (16-26-5) open an eight-game homestand when they host the Edmonton Oilers (23-17-8) at Rogers Arena. Tonight’s game is part of Hockey Day in Canada and is set to begin at 7 pm PT.

The Canucks are trying to avoid their first double-digit winless skid in 28 years. The team has dropped six straight in regulation and is 0-7-2 in its last nine outings.

What we saw

Jeff Paterson

@patersonjeff

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#Canucks this morning Ohgren-EP40-Boeser Kane-Kampf-DeBrusk O’Connor-Raty-Garland Bains-Sasson-Karlsson MPett-Hronek Buium-Myers Willander-Mancini

6:33 PM · Jan 17, 2026

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After a day off following the team’s six-game road trip, the Canucks conducted a full morning skate at Rogers Arena. That included Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger, who have both shed their non-contact jerseys and are close to returning to game action, although it won’t happen tonight.

With Kevin Lankinen under the weather, Nikita Tolopilio gets the start in goal. He made 35 saves in his last outing, a 6-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens last Monday night. Lankinen will back up tonight, but due to his illness, the Canucks also had a practice goalie on the ice this morning.

Liam Öhgren will start tonight, where he finished Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on a line with Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser. Boeser snapped his 21-game goal drought with a second period power play goal against the Blue Jackets. It was his 10th goal of the season. Arshdeep Bains will remain in the lineup while Nils Höglander is a healthy scratch for a second straight contest.

The Canucks will once again roll out their three rookie defencemen with Zeev Buium paired with Tyler Myers, while Tom Willander and Victor Mancini will play together. Called up from Abbotsford a week ago, Mancini will play his first home game since October 26th – also against Edmonton.

Canucks penalty killing has become an issue again as the team has managed to successfully kill just nine of 18 shorthanded situations in January. The Canucks have surrendered the most PPG in the league and are 31st on the PK at 72.1%.

The Canucks have dropped six straight games on home ice (0-4-2) and are 1-8-3 in their last 12 at Rogers Arena. On the season, the team is 4-12-3 at home and has played the fewest games in the league on home ice. The Canucks will play 19 of their next 24 and 22 of their final 35 games in Vancouver.

The Opponent

The Oilers are here after a 1-0 shutout loss at home to the New York Islanders on Thursday night. Edmonton peppered Ilya Sorokin with 35 shots, but could not solve him. The loss snapped Connor McDavid’s 20-game point streak, during which he had 19 goals and 27 assists. It was the first time since December 2nd that McDavid did not collect a point. Like the Islanders game, that was also a 1-0 Oilers home loss to Minnesota.

McDavid, who turned 29 last Tuesday, leads the NHL with 82 points. Leon Draisaitl is tied for fourth in league scoring with 67 points; however, he has taken a leave of absence from the team to tend to a family illness in Germany and will not play tonight.

Jason Gregor

@JasonGregor

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Oilers release statement regarding Leon Draisaitl. He won’t play this weekend and will miss a few games.

7:07 PM · Jan 17, 2026

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Edmonton has one win in its last four games, but has collected points in three of those contests (1-1-2). Surprisingly, the Oilers have not won more than two consecutive games at any point this season.

The Oilers are third in overall offence and have the league’s best power play, clicking at 33.3%. It’s actually better on the road at 34.4%. Edmonton has scored a league-high 44 goals with the man advantage this season. Draisaitl leads the team with 11 power play goals while McDavid has nine.

This will be the first meeting between these teams since the Oilers acquired Tristan Jarry prior to Christmas. The Delta native is 3-0-1 in his four starts in Edmonton, posting a 3.28 GAA and an .878 save percentage. He missed four weeks with a lower-body injury before returning last week in a 4-3 OT loss to the Nashville Predators.

Burnaby native Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is set to appear in his 999th career NHL game tonight, with Game 1,000 set for tomorrow at home against the St. Louis Blues.

News and notes

The Canucks and Oilers have split their first two meetings of the season, with each team winning on home ice. Edmonton posted a 3-1 victory on October 11th, while the Canucks were 4-3 winners in overtime on October 26th. The teams will conclude their regular seasons with a final meeting in Game 82 for both teams in the Alberta capital on April 16th.

The referees for tonight’s game are Graham Skilliter and Tom Chmielewski.

What we heard

Adam Foote on injury updates on Kiefer Sherwood and Thatcher Demko: “It’s a big day for a couple of them seeing what is going to happen next.”

Adam Foote on his thoughts behind playing right-handed Tom Willander on the left side: “It’s a great question. We asked ourselves that this morning and before we did it. If we’re doing it, it shows how we value him and what his potential is. It’s always great to learn that. If you’re a defenceman and imagine one day playing for his country, if he can’t play his left side, there are other ways to look at it. If you’re a great defenceman in this league, like Fil (Hronek) can play his wrong side. You can flip. I played lacrosse and I liked playing on my wrong side when I played. There are little adjustments in the neutral zone. He’s got good enough hands on the blueline if the puck comes up. We’re going to watch it. Do we love it right now? No. Is it great for a player that someone values that in you. It’s a good thing.”

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