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Scenes from practice: Kane back on Pettersson’s wing after missing game vs. Senators
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Mar 11, 2026, 17:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 11, 2026, 16:12 EDT
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The Vancouver Canucks practiced for a second straight day at Rogers Arena ahead of Thursday’s game against the Nashville Predators. A number of veterans who were given Tuesday off were back with the team on Wednesday.

What we saw

Evander Kane, who missed Monday night’s 2-0 loss to Ottawa with an upper body injury, was back on the ice along with Brock Boeser, Filip Hronek and Marcus Pettersson, who were given maintenance days on Tuesday.
The Canucks make a few subtle tweaks to their forward lines as they prepare to face the Predators.
Kane skated with Elias Pettersson and Drew O’Connor, while the middle six lines of Marco Rossi with Liam Öhgren and Brock Boeser, along with Teddy Blueger between Max Sasson and Linus Karlsson, stayed intact. Jake DeBrusk found himself on a line with Aatu Räty and newcomer Curtis Douglas, which left Nils Höglander as the team’s lone extra forward.
With just six defencemen on the active roster, there were no changes on the blueline. Filip Hronek was paired with Elias Pettersson, Marcus Pettersson formed a duo with Tom Willander, while Zeev Buium and Victor Mancini skated together.
The Canucks devoted a significant portion of the early stages of practice to a power play that failed to click on three opportunities against the Senators. More than that, the Canucks did not register a single shot on goal in 5:03 with the man-advantage on Monday night. The coaching staff was particularly disappointed with the team’s zone entries, so that seemed to be a point of emphasis as they ran through power play drills.
Filip Hronek remains on the point on the top unit with Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk and Marco Rossi as the forwards. Zeev Buium and Tom Willander were on the second unit along with Evander Kane, Linus Karlsson and Drew O’Connor.
DeBrusk remains the team’s runaway leader in power play goals with 11 on the season; however, he has not scored with the man advantage since a January 8th game against the Detroit Red Wings. Despite not having played for the team since mid-January, Kiefer Sherwood sits second in power play goals with six.
Thursday will be the second game of an eight-game homestand. Nashville is coming in off a 4-2 win in Seattle on Tuesday night.

What we heard

Adam Foote on the need to give Nikita Tolopilo a run of games at the NHL level down the stretch to aid with the organizational evaluation process of the netminder: “I don’t know if you need to see a run. We can see it with how we’re doing it. I hear what you’re saying, but he’s going to get enough games. We’re going to manage it with what we think is best for both of them (Tolopilio and Kevin Lankinen), whether it’s physically or mentally. I don’t know if he’ll get maybe as much as you’re suggesting, but it’s definitely something we’ve thought about.”
Adam Foote on whether Evander Kane’s 1,000th NHL game is on his coaching radar (Kane needs nine more games to reach the milestone): “I want to see him get that. Who knows what Evander is going to do moving forward? We haven’t talked about whether he wants to play after this, but I’m sure he does. You always want a player to reach those goals. It’s a great thing to have in your hat.”
Jake DeBrusk on rediscovering his power play scoring touch: “Obviously, for me in that net front bumper area, if shots aren’t coming, I’m not really doing anything in terms of producing. I have to be good on my recoveries and try to find guys and make plays. We had a couple of good looks against Chicago just a couple of games ago and got one there. So it’s not bad. But we have to have that killer instinct if we have a couple of tough break-ins, we have to have to get some shots on net and get recoveries that’s how you break down good penalty kills.”
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