CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Scenes from morning skate: Canucks looking to snap winless skid and spoil Quinn Hughes’ homecoming
alt
Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Oct 25, 2026, 15:30 EDTUpdated: Oct 25, 2026, 15:15 EDT
The Vancouver Canucks (2-9-1) face former captain Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild (7-3-2) at Rogers Arena. Tonight’s game begins at 7 pm PT.
The Canucks are looking to put an end to their losing streak (0-8-1) before it reaches double digits.

What we saw

The Canucks are expected to make a handful of lineup changes in the wake of a sluggish performance in a 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. Liam Öhgren is likely to return to action after being a healthy scratch against the Wings. At Saturday’s practice at UBC, Arshdeep Bains appeared to be the extra forward. But this morning, Paul Cotter, who has one point in eight games after an explosive start to the season, stayed out after the group and could be on the outside looking in tonight. Cotter was one of six forwards, along with eight defencemen, to take to the ice for an optional skate. On defence, Guillaume Brisebois will play for the second time this season. He skated with Luke Schenn at practice while Jamie Oleksiak appeared to be an extra, along with Victor Mancini. Expect Leevi Meriläinen to get the start in goal after Kevin Lankinen allowed five goals on 31 shots on Thursday.
Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Lekkerimäki had the Vancouver goals against the Red Wings. Lekkerimäki has scored in back-to-back games and now has a share of the team lead with four goals on the season. He also has five assists, leaving him second on the team in scoring with nine points. All four of Pettersson’s goals have come on the power play.
After struggling to pick up points earlier in the season, Zeev Buium has collected assists in consecutive games.
The Canucks were held without a single shot in the second period on Thursday. Their 13 shots on the night were a season-low. The club has been held to 18 shots or fewer in four straight outings. As a team, the Canucks have scored 18 goals in their last nine games, scoring more than two goals in a game only once over that span (a 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday).

The Opponent

The Wild come to town after a 5-1 win over the Seattle Kraken last night. Kirill Kaprizov opened the scoring with his league-leading 12th goal of the season just 26 seconds into the game. Blake Coleman, Olli Maatta and Joel Eriksson-Ek scored in the second period for the Wild, who outshot the Kraken 16-1 in the middle frame. Coleman tacked on an empty-netter late in the third. Jesper Wallstedt made 23 saves for his seventh win of the season. Wallstedt has been the busiest goalie in the NHL this season, starting 11 of his team’s 12 games, but will get the night off tonight. Calvin Pickard will make his second start of the season. He hasn’t played since a 5-2 loss in Winnipeg on October 13th.
Quinn Hughes logged 22:49 last night and picked up an assist on the game’s first goal. Hughes has two goals and 12 assists in 12 games this season. The 27-year-old registered 432 points in 459 games over six and a half seasons with the Canucks. The 2024 Norris Trophy winner holds the franchise record for points in a season by a defenceman (92) and for career points by a blueliner. With his helper last night in Seattle, Hughes enters tonight’s game with 499 career points.
Matt Boldy had five shots on goal last night to increase his league-leading total to 56. He has 29 shots over his last five contests.
Kaprizov has 19 points and is tied for fifth in league scoring behind only Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and Nathan MacKinnon.
As a team, Minnesota is 5-2-1 in its last eight games. The Wild are 3-3-2 on the road so far this season.

News and notes

The Wild took the three-game season series from the Canucks last season, with the home team winning on each occasion. The teams will meet twice more this season, including another visit from Minnesota on November 21st.
The referees for tonight’s game are Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Trevor Hanson.

What we heard

Manny Malhotra on what he expects from his team as a response to Thursday’s loss to the Red Wings: “It’s more of an expectation of the work ethic that we bring to the game tonight. Obviously, not the effort that we wanted or expected or required last game. My expecatation is a major bounce back in that department.”
Zeev Buium on facing his former team tonight: “It’s fun to play against guys you know, especially a team you’ve been on before. It just makes the game that much more fun to play.”
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. Contribute to the live YouTube conversation with your thoughts on the game and support our charity partner – the BC Mental Health Foundation – with a Superchat.

PRESENTED BY JASON.MORTGAGE

A Better Mortgage Starts With the Right Question
What are you actually trying to accomplish? Most people don’t want a mortgage. They want a first home, a bigger one, a rental property, or breathing room on their debt. Jason starts with that question. A mortgage broker for more than 20 years and named one of Canada’s top 30 mortgage brokers by Canadian Mortgage Professional magazine, Jason works with Dominion Lending Centres A.I.M.I. Collective, serving clients across British Columbia and Alberta. His clients include first-time buyers, move-up families, self- employed business owners, investors and homeowners looking to refinance. He lays out the real options, makes a clear recommendation, and does the legwork so the right lender says yes.
Daily FaceoffPuckPedia