Team

Betting

CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA

Canucks Game Day: Dealing with the Devils in early Saturday start in New Jersey

Photo credit: © John Jones-Imagn Images

By Jeff Paterson

Oct 10, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 9, 2026, 19:13 EDT

Comments

The Vancouver Canucks (2-3) face the New Jersey Devils (1-2) in an early 12:30 pm PT faceoff at Prudential Center in Newark.

Both teams enter the contest having dropped back-to-back games.

What we know

With the mid-afternoon start on the East Coast, the Canucks did not hold a morning skate. As such, their lineup for today’s game won’t be known until closer to game time. Expect Leevi Meriläinen to make his second start of the season in goal while veterans Brendan Gallagher and Luke Schenn could very well draw back into the lineup. The Canucks face the Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, so Manny Malhotra has decisions to make heading into a back-to-back weekend.

Gallagher and Schenn were both healthy scratches for the first time this season as the Canucks fell 7-2 in Carolina on Thursday to open a six-game road trip. Jake DeBrusk scored both Vancouver goals – his first two goals of the season. Both goals came at 5-on-5, which is noteworthy since DeBrusk scored just three goals at 5-on-5 all of last season. Elias Pettersson set up both of his linemate’s goals, extending his season-opening point streak to five games and giving him a team-leading eight points on the season.

Leevi Meriläinen replaced Kevin Lankinen in the Canucks net for the third period, with the score 6-1 for the Hurricanes. Meriläinen has now made a pair of relief appearances to go along with his lone start since being claimed off waivers two weeks ago. In his three appearances so far, Meriläinen has allowed three goals on 51 shots, posting a 1.63 GAA and an impressive .941 save percentage in his limited minutes.

The Canucks were torched for three power play goals and a shorthanded marker in the loss in Carolina. The team’s penalty kill is at 57.9% in the early going this season, having surrendered eight PPG on 19 attempts.

Logan Stankhoven scored a natural hat trick against the Canucks on Thursday. Evan Bouchard had a hat trick against the Canucks on opening night in the team’s only other road game.

Paul Cotter, who leads the Canucks with four goals, spent the past two seasons with New Jersey. He netted a career-high 16 goals with the Devils in 2024-25.

The Opponent

The Devils have been idle since Tuesday’s 5-3 home loss to the Utah Mammoth. Luke Evangelista scored twice, and Jesper Boqvist had the other New Jersey marker. Jake Allen stopped 26 of the 31 shots he faced in goal.

As a team, the Devils have scored just six goals, and with his pair on Tuesday, Evangelista is the only skater on the roster with more than one so far this season. A big part of the offensive issues is that New Jersey is just 1-for-14 on the power play early on.

Jack Hughes has a goal and an assist through three games while Nico Hischier has yet to find the scoresheet. Jesper Bratt has two assists but has not found the back of the net yet.

Jake Allen has appeared in 499 career NHL games. The 36-year-old netminder is 226-202-45 in his career with 29 shutouts. Over his career, he has posted a 2.76 GAA and a .907 save percentage in stints with St. Louis, Montreal and New Jersey.

News and notes

These teams split their two games last season, with the road team winning on both occasions. The Canucks were 2-1 winners in New Jersey last December in the team’s first game following the Quinn Hughes trade. The Devils posted a 5-4 win at Rogers Arena in mid-January.

New Jersey will visit Vancouver on February 3rd in the Canucks’ final game before a 10-day All-Star break.

The referees for this afternoon’s game are Stephen Hiff and Francois St. Laurent.

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.

Sponsored by bet365