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Canucks Game Day: Closing out a busy weekend with a visit from Vegas

Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

By Jeff Paterson

Oct 4, 2026, 15:30 EDTUpdated: Oct 4, 2026, 15:10 EDT

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The Vancouver Canucks (2-1) close out a busy weekend, looking for consecutive victories for the first time this season as they play host to the Vegas Golden Knights (1-1) at Rogers Arena. Game time is 6 pm PT.

The Canucks are coming off a 4-1 win over Calgary last night.

What we know

With the quick turnaround, the Canucks did not hold a morning skate. So their lineup for tonight’s game likely won’t be known until the team hits the ice for warmup. That means Jake DeBrusk, who missed last night’s game with an illness, remains questionable.

Kevin Lankinen is likely to get the start in goal. Lankinen was given the hook after allowing eight goals in his last outing on Thursday night. He has allowed a league-high 13 goals in 90:06 of game action. As a result, he carries an 8.66 GAA and a .789 save percentage early in the season.

The Canucks got third period goals from Liam Öhgren, defenceman Elias Pettersson, Drew O’Connor and Aatu Räty last night. They were the first goals of the season for all four players, giving the Canucks 12 different goal scorers through three games. It took 13 games last season for 12 different Canucks to find the back of the net.

Forward Elias Pettersson had eight hits for a second straight game and leads all NHL skaters with 16 hits – three more than any other player in the league to start the day. Pettersson also leads the league in faceoffs taken (72), faceoffs won (36), and faceoffs lost (36). He and Paul Cotter share the team lead with five points through three games. Tonight, Cotter will appear in the 300th game of his NHL career.

Filip Hronek led the Canucks in ice time last night, logging 28:52, including 10:03 of the third period. He had a career-high eight blocked shots and has an NHL-high 14 blocks so far this season.

After tonight, the Canucks embark on a six-game road trip starting on Thursday against the defending Stanley Cup champions in Carolina.

The Opponent

The Golden Knights arrive in town on the heels of a 4-3 home-ice loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. Vegas fell behind 4-0 before clawing its way back with third period goals from Shea Theodore, Tomas Hertl, and Braeden Bowman. Carter Hart surrendered four goals on 20 shots. He has started both Vegas games this season, going 1-1 with a 3.06 GAA and an .870 save percentage.

Jack Eichel assisted on the first two goals on Friday and has the team lead with a goal and four helpers through his first two games. Mitch Marner has 0+1=1 through two games.

This is the Golden Knights’ 10th season in the NHL. Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore and William Karlsson have been with the club since day one. The Knights have just one of their own draft picks on the roster (Trevor Connoly – 1st round 2024).

First-year head coach Ryan Craig is an Abbotsford native. He is the fifth head coach in VGK history. He spent the past three seasons as the head coach of the club’s AHL farm team in Henderson, NV.

News and notes

These teams will meet four times this season. Vegas swept the season series last year, going 3-0. The Golden Knights have won seven straight against the Canucks and eight of the last 10 meetings. The Canucks have just one regulation win in 13 all-time home-ice matchups against Vegas.

The referees for tonight’s game are Pierre Lambert and Brandon Blandina. Andrew Smith is listed as one of the linesmen; however, he left last night’s game with an apparent injury in the first period, leaving three officials to work the remainder of the game.

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