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Canucks Game Day: Looking to snap four-game skid in tough test vs. Wild
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Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Dec 6, 2025, 14:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 6, 2025, 12:30 EST
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The Vancouver Canucks (10-15-3) play for the second consecutive night when they host the Minnesota Wild (15-8-5) in a 7 pm PT face-off at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks are out to snap a season-high four-game winless skid (0-3-1) after a 4-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Friday night.

What we know

With the quick turnaround, the Canucks did not hold a morning skate. Adam Foote will conduct a media availability around 4:15 pm to confirm his lineup. He has a decision to make in goal after Kevin Lankinen allowed three goals on 17 shots last night. Lankinen is 0-4-1 in his last five starts. The Canucks could turn to Nikita Tolopilo, who delivered the team’s most recent victory (a 5-4 win against the Anaheim Ducks last week) and posted a 2-1 shootout win in an AHL start in Abbotsford on Wednesday. 
It’s possible the Canucks will get Evander Kane back after the veteran winger missed his first game of the season due to an illness. It’s unclear who would come out of the lineup if Kane is healthy enough to play. Arshdeep Bains’ first goal of the season, early in the third period, cut into Utah’s 2-0 lead. But that’s as close as the Canucks got on the night. Bains has a goal and an assist in his last two games, while Aatu Räty has assists on the last two goals the Canucks have scored. 
As a team, the Canucks fell to 1-6-1 in their last eight games overall as well as on home ice. They outshot Utah 32-18 but could only muster a single goal for the third straight game. The 18 shots against matched the team’s season low, also accomplished in its October 9th season opener against the Calgary Flames.
Many of the team’s veterans have gone cold at the same time. Kiefer Sherwood has gone eight games without a goal, while Jake DeBrusk has not scored in seven. Brock Boeser has one goal in 10, Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland each have one goal in six, and Quinn Hughes has gone four games without picking up a point and has just 1+1=2 in his last seven. A power play that is 0 for 15 in the last four games goes a long way to explain many of those struggles. That group of six skaters combined for 22 shots on goal and 39 attempts last night.
With the loss to the Mammoth, the Canucks dropped to 32nd and last in the NHL by both points (23) and points percentage (.411). They start the day seven points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for the second Wild Card spot in the West and eight points back of the Los Angeles Kings for third in the Pacific Division.
Tonight, Elias Pettersson will appear in his 500th NHL game. He has 193 goals and 479 points in his career, which puts him seventh in all-time franchise scoring. He also leads his 2017 NHL Draft class in scoring.

The Opponent

The Wild will be looking to bounce back from a 4-1 loss in Calgary on Thursday. That was the team’s first regulation loss since November 6th against the Carolina Hurricanes. Minnesota is 10-1-2 in its last 13 games. 
The Wild were 3-6-3 at the end of October, but starting with a 5-2 win over the Canucks on November 2nd, the team is 12-2-2 in its last 16 games. It has given up a league-low 28 goals over that span. 
Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild in scoring with 17 goals and 31 points, while Matt Boldy has 14 goals and 29 points. NHL hits leader Yakov Trenin scored his second goal of the season to provide Minnesota’s only offence against the Flames. 
Filip Gustavsson got the start in goal in Calgary on Thursday, which means rookie Jesper Wallstedt is likely to get the call tonight. The Wall of St. Paul, as he’s been labelled, is 8-0-2 this season with a 1.74 GAA and a scintillating .944 save percentage. He has four shutouts in his last six starts. Those four shutouts are two more than any other goalie in the league has so far this season. Wallstedt is also 7-0 in his last seven starts.
The Wild is sitting third in the Central Division behind the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars. Minnesota is tied with the St. Louis Blues for the fewest times shorthanded this season (66). By comparison, the Canucks have had to kill off 95 penalties.

News and notes

If Evander Kane plays tonight, the last two active Atlanta Thrashers remaining in the NHL will share the ice. He and Wild defenceman Zach Bogosian were teammates in Atlanta through 2011 before both moved with the franchise when it relocated to Winnipeg.
The Canucks and Wild will meet one more time this season in St. Paul on April 2nd. That will be the second game of a difficult back-to-back, with a game in Colorado the night before.
The referees for tonight’s game are Frederic L’Ecuyer 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. Join the live YouTube chat with your thoughts on the hockey game.
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