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Canucks Game Day: Pickard starts for Oilers as Vancouver seeks 2-0 start
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Photo credit: Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Oct 11, 2025, 15:02 EDT
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The Vancouver Canucks (1-0) play their first road game of the new National Hockey League season when they visit the Edmonton Oilers (0-0-1) at Rogers Place tonight.
It’s the late game on Hockey Night In Canada with an 8:10 pm local start time in the Alberta capital and a 7:10 pm puck drop Pacific time.

What we know

With no local media covering this one-off road trip, line-up information has not been confirmed. Thatcher Demko is likely to get a second straight start in goal after making 17 saves on opening night against Calgary. And based on Friday’s practice in Vancouver, the Canucks rolled with the same line combinations used in their 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames.
That means Elias Pettersson will centre Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser while Filip Chytil skates between Arshdeep Bains and Conor Garland. Rookie Braeden Cootes, from nearby Sherwood Park, AB, will play in his hometown for the first time in the NHL regular season. He will skate on a line with Evander Kane and Jonathan Lekkerimäki while Aatu Räty centres Drew O’Connor and Kiefer Sherwood.
There are expected to be no changes on defence for tonight.
Sherwood scored the team’s first goal of the season on Thursday, while Chytil led the Canucks with a pair of goals, including the game-winner. The two goals matched Chytil’s output in 15 games after being acquired by the Canucks last season. 
Quinn Hughes was held off the scoresheet by Calgary. So the captain remains on the hunt for his first point of the season, which will make him the highest-scoring defenceman in franchise history. Hughes is tied with Alex Edler with 409 points. 
The Canucks were 21-14-6 on the road last season. The 21 victories as the visitor were ninth-best in the NHL. The team won eight of its first nine road games last season.

The Opponent

The Oilers have been idle since squandering a 3-0 second period lead in a 4-3 shootout loss to Calgary in their season opener on Wednesday. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had the team’s first goal of the season and set up markers by Andrew Mangiapane and Leon Draisaitl. Connor McDavid had a pair of assists.  The Oilers went two for four on the power play.
On defence, Evan Bouchard logged an NHL season high so far of 28:42 of ice time registering five shots on goal on 10 attempts. 
Stuart Skinner allowed three goals on 22 shots in the team opener. He’ll give way to Calvin Pickard tonight as the Oilers give their backup his first start of the season.
After tonight, Edmonton heads east for a five game road trip. The Oilers will play seven of their next games away from home including an October 26th visit to Vancouver.

News and notes

On Wednesday night, the Oilers announced they had signed free agent centre Jack Roslovic to a one-year/$1.5M contract. He will not play tonight. Edmonton took last year’s season series winning two of three games including the only game on home ice. The teams will meet four times this season. The next time the Canucks will be back in Edmonton will be for Game 82 on April 16, 2026.
Kyle Rehman and Tom Chmielewski will be the referees. Chmielewski worked Thursday’s Canucks vs. Flames game.
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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