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Canucks Game Day: Looking to avoid season sweep at hands of Celebrini and the Sharks
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Apr 11, 2026, 16:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 11, 2026, 15:56 EDT
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The Vancouver Canucks (22-48-8) start their final set of back-to-back games of the season when they face the San Jose Sharks (37-34-7) at SAP Center. The game starts at 7 pm and will be featured as the late offering on Hockey Night in Canada.
The Canucks are out to snap a four-game losing skid after a 4-1 setback in Los Angeles on Thursday night.

What we know

The Canucks skated at the Shark Tank this morning, but there was very little information made available about tonight’s lineup. A photo on the Canucks social channels showed Kevin Lankinen back on the ice with his teammates for the first time in more than a week. The club has since confirmed that the veteran netminder will make his first start since an 8-6 win in Colorado on April 1.
On Thursday, Adam Foote said that Ty Mueller would get back into the lineup tonight after sitting out the past two games. The young centre has appeared in two games since his recall from Abbotsford, playing limited minutes in both. The club recalled defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev from the minors this morning. He dressed in a 5-4 Abbotsford win in Calgary last night. He is unlikely to suit up for the big league team tonight. It’s unclear if the Canucks will make any changes on defence. Victor Mancini was the odd man out in the team’s 4-1 loss in Los Angeles on Thursday. Marcus Pettersson scored the Canucks lone goal in his 600th NHL game. As a group, the Canucks have scored just two goals in their last two games. Max Sasson, with a goal against Vegas on Tuesday, is the only forward to score in the past two outings.
The club has dropped four straight and 10 of its last 11. The Canucks are sitting with 52 points in the standings. That’s the same total San Jose finished with when the Sharks wound up 32nd and last in the league a season ago.
The Canucks head into tonight’s game with 198 goals scored and 299 goals allowed on the season.
After the morning skate, the Canucks presented Hockey Night in Canada host Scott Oake with a jersey. Oake announced recently that he will retire following the playoffs. Tonight, he will host After Hours for the final time following the game.

The Opponent

The Sharks are coming off back-to-back losses to Edmonton and Anaheim and have dropped three of their last four games at the wrong time of the season. They start the day four points back of Los Angeles in the race for the final playoff spot in the West, with Nashville and Winnipeg between them and the Kings. They are still alive in the Wild Card chase, but likely need to win out and get some help.
On Wednesday, the Sharks lost 5-2 at home to the Oilers. The following night, they were dumped 6-1 by the Ducks in Orange County. Shakir Makhamadullin scored the lone San Jose goal against Anaheim while Yaroslav Askarov surrendered six goals on 30 shots. Askarov will be back between the pipes tonight.
Macklin Celebrini did not participate in the Sharks’ optional morning skate but will play tonight. He was held off the scoresheet by Anaheim. The 19-year-old sits fourth in NHL scoring with 108 points. Incredibly, he holds a 52-point edge on Will Smith for the team lead in scoring. The North Vancouver native has two goals and eight points in three games against the Canucks this season.
Kiefer Sherwood has six goals, 10 points and a team-high 115 hits in 24 games since being acquired by San Jose on January 19. Sherwood matched his career-high and tied the Sharks franchise record with 12 hits in Anaheim on Thursday night.
Another former Canuck, Vincent Desharnais, mans the right side on the Sharks’ top defensive pairing. Last week, he logged a career-high 24:11 in a game against Chicago.
The Sharks finish their schedule with a three-game road trip to Nashville, Chicago and Winnipeg.

News and notes

The Sharks are shooting for the season sweep of the Canucks, having won the previous meetings 3-2 on home ice (November 28), 7-3 (December 27), and 5-2 (January 27) in Vancouver.
The referees for tonight’s game are Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Brian Pochmara.
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