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Canucks Game Day: Looking to bounce back against the Blues in an early Saturday start

Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images

By Jeff Paterson

Mar 21, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 21, 2026, 12:38 EDT

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The Vancouver Canucks (21-39-8) host the St. Louis Blues (27-30-11) in a 4pm PT start at Rogers Arena.

Given the late afternoon puck drop, it’s the team’s annual Next Gen game where youth serves in a number of game-presentation roles in the arena.

What we saw

With the earlier than usual start, the Canucks did not hold a morning skate. So it will be closer to game time before we know today’s line-up. Head coach Adam Foote is expected to meet with the media around 2:30pm. There is a strong chance the Canucks will go back to Nikita Tolopilo in goal. He has not played since allowing five goals on 33 shots in a 5-1 loss to Seattle last Saturday night.

P-O Joseph and Curtis Douglas could both draw back into the line-up. A 6-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday certainly opens the door for Adam Foote to make a couple of changes to his skater group. Joseph has missed eight games with an upper body injury while Douglas has been a healthy scratch for the past two contests. Veteran blueliner Filip Hronek was afforded a maintenance day and was excused from Friday practice, but he will play this afternoon.

Liam Öhgren and Linus Karlsson scored the Vancouver goals on Thursday. Karlsson netted his 13th goal and reached the 30-point mark in his first full NHL season. He leads the Canucks with 27 points at even strength this season.

Jeff Paterson

@patersonjeff

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#Canucks Linus Karlsson scored his 13th goal and registered his 30th point in 65 games last night. Among #NHL forwards logging fewer than 12 minutes a night, he is the runaway scoring leader

2:18 PM · Mar 20, 2026

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Marco Rossi set up both Canucks goals against the Lightning and now has 4+8=12 in his last eight games. He has nine points on a four-game point streak.

The Canucks will once again be wearing their black skate alternate jersey in this one. They will wear these uniforms one more time on April 7th against Vegas. The Canucks are 2-3 and have alternated losses and wins over the first five games of this eight-game homestand beating Nashville and Florida while falling to Ottawa, Seattle and Tampa Bay. The homestand concludes with visits from Anaheim on Tuesday and Los Angeles on Thursday.

With Calgary’s win over Florida on Friday night, the Canucks now trail the Flames by 13 points in the overall standings with 14 games remaining on the schedule.

The Opponent

The Blues are here following a 2-1 shootout loss in Calgary on Wednesday night. In a compressed schedule, somehow that was the lone game St. Louis has played since last Sunday. Dylan Holloway had the Blues goal against the Flames while Joel Hofer made 30 saves in net.

St. Louis is 6-1-2 in its last nine games and 7-2-2 in 11 games since the Olympic break. They have found ways to win despite moving veterans Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk at the trade deadline.

Robert Thomas leads the Blues with 16 goals and 45 points. Four teammates share second with 15 goals apiece – Holloway, Jordan Kyrou, Jimmy Snuggerud and Pavel Buchnevich.

As a team, the Blues are 30th in the league in offence ahead of only Calgary and Vancouver. Part of the problem is a power play that sits 28th in the NHL at 16.6%. The Blues have scored more than three goals in a game only once in their last 10 outings.

While Joel Hofer and Jordan Binnington have each started 34 games this season, Hofer has posted considerably better numbers in goal. He is 17-11-5 with a 2.65 GAA, a .909 save percentage and is second in the league with five shutouts. Binnington, meanwhile, is 10-19-6 with a 3.47 GAA and an .871 save percentage. Hofer is 5-0-2 in his last seven starts.

Former Canuck Pius Suter is one of ten St. Louis skaters in double digits in goals. He has 10+12=22 in his first season with the Blues after registering 25 goals and 46 points last season in Vancouver.

News and notes

The Canucks and Blues have split their first two games this season. St. Louis posted a 5-2 victory in Vancouver in the first week of the season while the Canucks recorded a 4-3 shootout win two weeks later in St. Louis. Incredibly, Kiefer Sherwood scored all five Vancouver goals against the Blues this season.

The referees for this afternoon’s game are Eric Furlatt and Jordan Samuels-Thomas.

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.