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Canucks Game Day: Lankinen starts in preseason finale against Kraken

Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images

By Jeff Paterson

Sep 26, 2026, 15:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 26, 2026, 14:18 EDT

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The Vancouver Canucks (0-3) close out their four-game exhibition schedule this afternoon when they face the Seattle Kraken (3-0) at Rogers Arena. The game begins at 4 pm PT.

It’s the last chance for evaluation, as all NHL teams must submit their 23-man season opening rosters on Monday.

What we know

With the early puck drop, the Canucks did not hold a morning skate. The club is expected to use the same lines from Friday’s open practice. That means Jonathan Lekkerimäki will get a look on right wing with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk. Marco Rossi will centre Liam Öhgren and Brock Boeser. Max Sasson slides to the middle on a line with Drew O’Connor and Linus Karlsson, while Paul Cotter will skate at centre between Arshdeep Bains and Brendan Gallagher.

On defence, look for Zeev Buium to play with Filip Hronek, Jamie Oleksiak to partner with Tom Willander, and Elias Pettersson to skate alongside Luke Schenn.

Based on Friday’s practice, Aatu Räty, Victor Mancini and Guillaume Brisebois will be the extra skaters. Räty, considered a veteran with more than 100 NHL games on his resumé, has appeared in two preseason games already and as such is not eligible to play tonight despite the team’s lack of natural centres.

The plan is for Kevin Lankinen to go the distance in goal against the Kraken. He was both busy and sharp in his first outing of the preseason, stopping 28 of 31 shots in a 3-1 loss in Calgary on Tuesday.

The Canucks fell 2-1 at home to Edmonton in their last outing on Thursday. The club has scored just four goals through three preseason contests, and Arshdeep Bains has two of those goals. Linus Karlsson had the team’s lone marker against the Oilers. The Canucks have scored twice on the power play in the preseason and twice at 5-on-5.

With the addition of goalie Leevi Meriläinen on Friday, the Canucks have 27 players in camp. The club revealed on Friday that Thatcher Demko (hip) and Filip Chytil (shoulder) will start the season on the injured list.

The Opponent

The Kraken are looking to run the table on a perfect preseason after beating the Canucks last Saturday and then taking a pair of games against the Calgary Flames.

Joey D’Accord is expected to get the start in goal tonight. The veteran has seen just 40 minutes of preseason action so far. He played the first two periods against the Canucks in the exhibition opener last Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena.

Forward Mackie Samoskevich will not play tonight. The team has ruled him out with an upper body injury and listed him as day to day.

The Kraken have 27 players on their roster as they work through their final decisions. Among the group, former Canuck Curtis Douglas who is still battling for a spot in the opening night line-up.

News and notes

The Kraken beat the Canucks 4-2 in Seattle last Saturday in the preseason opener for both teams.The teams will meet for the first time in the regular season on November 19th in the Emerald City.

Tonight’s game will be televised on Sportsnet with John Shorthouse and Dave Tomlinson on the call.

What we heard

Manny Malhotra on what he wants to see from Jonathan Lekkerimaki in a top six role: “For us, we’ve talked about it all camp long. Obviously, everybody talks about his offensive potential and that’s one element of his game. But more so, the things we’ve been working with him on are those transferable skills of just being heavier on puck battles and coming up with puck battles and applying pressure up ice and not just waiting for that one shot opportunity. So for him, it’s about getting to places quicker, coming up with pucks and the willingness to get to netfront and not just using his shot on the perimeter.”

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