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Canucks Game Day: Hoping to put a Halloween scare into the Maple Leafs

Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

By Jeff Paterson

Oct 31, 2026, 12:07 EDT

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The Vancouver Canucks (3-11-1) close out the month of October by hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs (7-6-2) at Rogers Arena. The Halloween showdown starts at 4 pm PT.

The game will quite likely mark the Canucks debut of former Leaf Jacob Quillan, who was recalled from AHL Abbotsford on Friday afternoon.

What we know

With an early start, the Canucks did not conduct a morning skate, so it will be closer to game time before we know Manny Malhotra’s lineup plans. Filip Chytil was ruled out yesterday when he was placed on injured reserve. The oft-injured centre is being evaluated for a re-aggravation of a shoulder injury originally suffered in the preseason.

To fill Chytil’s spot at centre, the club summoned Quillan from the minors. Acquired for Aatu Räty earlier this month, the 24-year-old has five goals and seven points in five games since joining Abbotsford. In his career, the Dartmouth, NS native has played 24 NHL games, scoring once and adding a pair of assists. He will wear number 62, previously worn by Joe LaBate and Mario Bliznak.

The Canucks did not conduct line rushes at a brief practice on Friday, so the rest of Malhotra’s lineup for tonight remains in question. The Canucks are coming off a 3-2 loss in San Jose on Thursday. Drew O’Connor and Liam Öhgren scored the Vancouver goals. For O’Connor, it was his second goal of the season and first since October 3rd, while Öhgren has now scored in back-to-back games. Elias Pettersson had an assist on Thursday, extending his point streak to six games (2+5=7).

Leevi Meriläinen has started three straight and six of Vancouver’s last eight games. He is 1-4-1 in that stretch with a 3.86 GAA and an .886 save percentage. As a team, the Canucks have one win in their last 12 outings (1-10-1) and are 1-5 on home ice this season.

Once upon a time, Luke Schenn, who turns 37 on Monday, was the Maple Leafs’ fifth overall pick in the 2008 Draft. He is seventh from that draft class in games played (1,131), behind Drew Doughty, Steven Stamkos, Erik Karlsson, John Carlson, Jordan Eberle and Tyler Myers.

The Opponent

The Maple Leafs have been off since a 5-4 loss in Seattle on Wednesday night. The first overall pick in June’s draft, Gavin McKenna, scored twice and added an assist while Auston Matthews had one goal and two helpers. Jack Roslovic scored Toronto’s other goal. The Leafs have dropped their past two games in Seattle and, before that, in Calgary. Prior to that, however, they had won four in a row.

Matthews now has 10 goals and 23 points and sits fourth in league scoring. William Nylander is second on the club with nine goals. McKenna makes his first NHL visit to Vancouver and leads all rookies with five goals and 11 points.

The Leafs roster features seven former Canucks, including Chris Tanev and Dakota Joshua, who are both expected to return to the lineup after injury. The other former Canucks are Troy Stecher, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Teddy Blueger, Zack MacEwen and Cole McWard. However, McWard may be reassigned to open a roster spot to activate Tanev prior to game time.

The injury bug has taken an early-season bite out of the Leafs, who will be missing John Tavares, Kirill Marchenko and Max Domi tonight.

While Toronto’s lineup has plenty of firepower, the Leafs have struggled to prevent goals. Only the Canucks and Seattle Kraken have surrendered more so far this season. With Sergei Bobrovsky struggling to find his game, Anthony Stolarz will get the start in goal today. He is 4-1 on the season with a 2.79 GAA and a .907 save percentage. Stolarz has faced the Canucks twice in his career – both in Vancouver – once with Philadelphia and the other with Florida. However, he has seen just a total of 28 minutes of work. He played 20 minutes of relief duty for the Panthers in one game and got the hook after eight minutes for the Flyers in the other.

News and notes

The Leafs took both ends of the season series last season, winning 5-0 in Toronto and 3-2 in a shootout in Vancouver. The Canucks will visit the Leafs on March 13th.

The Canucks have allowed a league-high 18 power play goals, while the Leafs have surrendered just four.

The referees for this afternoon’s game are Graham Skilliter and Carter Sandlak.

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.

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