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Scenes from morning skate: Canucks roll with winning lineup against the Kraken
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Mar 14, 2026, 15:17 EDT
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The Vancouver Canucks (20-37-8) welcome the Seattle Kraken (29-26-9) to Rogers Arena tonight. The game starts at 7 pm PT and will be broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada.
Following a 4-3 shootout win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday, the Canucks have a chance to win consecutive home games for the first time all season.

What we saw

After a team day off on Friday, the Canucks conducted a full morning skate on Saturday. While there were no line rushes this morning, head coach Adam Foote confirmed he’s going with the same 18 skaters and goaltender that rallied to beat the Predators for the team’s 20th win of the season. That means Nikita Tolopilo starts in goal for a second straight game, while Nils Höglander will once again be a healthy scratch.
Tolopilo has won consecutive starts and is 5-5-2 on the season with a 3.21 GAA and a .896 save percentage. This will be the third time this season that the big Belarusian has started consecutive games for the Canucks. He did it in Anaheim and San Jose in November and then again against the Ducks and Maple Leafs in late January.
Brock Boeser, Marco Rossi and Filip Hronek scored for the Canucks on Thursday while Jake DeBrusk netted the shootout winner. Rossi had a goal and two assists while Boeser and Hronek each scored once and set up another. Hronek logged 29:03 – his third-highest ice time of the season. Meanwhile, rookie blueliner Tom Willander played a career-high 23:04.
The Canucks are carrying just 21 skaters on their roster at the moment. Foote said this morning that there is a plan to bring players up from Abbotsford before the end of the season, but the big-league team will push on for the time being with the players on the roster. Foote also said defenceman P-O Joseph, injured in a March 2nd game against Dallas, is skating on his own and nearing a return.
After beating the Predators in their primary blue jerseys, the Canucks go back to their black skate look tonight. The team is 3-10-2 in its alternate uniform.
Expected lineup:
Kane-Pettersson-O’Connor
Öhgren-Rossi-Boeser
Sasson-Blueger-Karlsson
Douglas-Räty-DeBrusk
E. Pettersson-Hronek
M. Pettersson-Willander
Buium-Mancini

The Opponent

The Kraken arrive in town on a four-game losing streak and with six setbacks in their last eight outings. They fell 5-1 on home ice to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night. Ryker Evans scored a second period short-handed goal to provide Seattle’s only offence on the night. Joey Daccord got the start and allowed three goals before being replaced by Philipp Grubauer after 20 minutes. Grubauer has been confirmed as tonight’s starter for the Kraken.
Seattle remains in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. The Kraken started the day two points back of the Los Angeles Kings in the battle for the second Wild Card position. The Kraken are one point behind the San Jose Sharks and tied with the Nashville Predators.
The Kraken flew into Vancouver early this morning after experiencing weather issues while the team charter sat on the tarmac on Friday afternoon. After a few hours of waiting, the decision was made to stay home in Seattle overnight and try again this morning.
Captain Jordan Eberle leads the club with 22 goals and 44 points. Matty Beniers and Chandler Stephenson are tied for second in team scoring with 40 points apiece. Beniers has reached 40 points for the second straight season and the third time in his four-year NHL career. Bobby McMann, acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline, will make his Kraken debut tonight after immigration issues held up his arrival in the Emerald City.
After tonight, Seattle will hustle home to host the Florida Panthers in a 5 pm start on Sunday night. 

News and notes

The Kraken have taken two of the first three meetings between the Pacific Northwest rivals this season. Seattle is 2-0-1 in the three games while the Canucks are 1-1-1. Seattle beat Vancouver 5-1 in the most recent match-up on February 28th at Climate Pledge Arena.
All-time, the Canucks and Kraken have split their 18 meetings, with each winning nine times. Vancouver is 9-7-2 while Seattle is 9-6-3.
The referees for tonight’s game are Carter Sandlak and Kyle Rehman.

What we heard

Adam Foote on trying to back up Thursday’s win with another tonight: “We’ve got to build on our last game. We played pretty much a complete game, connected. So we’ll try to get that going again tonight. You can feel the energy. You can see it in their game. You can see it in their practices and how they carry themselves. It’s good to see and it’s a good feeling.”
Tom Willander on a different feeling around the group on its 2-1-1 stretch since last Friday in Chicago: “I think there is a lot more jam in the group. I’m liking the vibe in the locker room right now. Guys are having fun. Showing up to the rink and to the games and that’s what you kind of need. I like that.”
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