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Canucks Game Day: Demko returns to the net against McDavid, Draisaitl and the Oilers
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Oct 26, 2025, 15:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 26, 2025, 14:24 EDT
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The Vancouver Canucks (4-5) reach the 10-game mark of their season when they host the Edmonton Oilers (4-4-1) at Rogers Arena. 
It’s back-to-back games for both teams, with the Canucks coming off a 4-3 loss to Montreal, while Edmonton dropped a 3-2 decision in Seattle. 

What we know

The Canucks did a lot of things well, but ultimately dropped their third straight game on Saturday. They opened the scoring, built a 2-0 lead, cashed in on the power play and got a three point night from Elias Pettersson. However, they ended up allowing a pair of power play goals and dropped to 1-2 on home ice.
Pettersson had a goal and two helpers for his first multi-point night of the season. Jake DeBrusk and Conor Garland had the other Vancouver goals. With a goal and a helper, Garland reached the 300 point mark for his career – 204 of those points have come with the Canucks.
Newcomer Lukas Reichel logged 15:54 and registered a shot on goal in his Vancouver debut. However, he was on the ice for a pair of third period Montreal markers and won just two of 10 face-offs. 
Canucks penalty killing has become an early season concern. Without injured veterans Derek Forbort and Teddy Blueger, the PK has taken a hit. It has allowed nine goals on 34 opportunities and dropped to 22nd in the league at 73.5% through nine games.
Saturday was the first time this season the Canucks have lost when scoring at least three goals. They’re now 3-1 in those situations.
With games on consecutive nights, the Canucks will turn to Thatcher Demko in goal tonight. He’s 3-2 on the season with a 2.24 GAA and .927 save percentage. He stopped a season-high 34 shots in a 3-1 loss to the Oilers in Edmonton on October 11th.
As far as other line-up options go, Victor Mancini could draw back in after being recalled from Abbotsford on Saturday. The Canucks may have a question mark on defence with the recall of Kirill Kuryavtsev from the minors on Sunday. It’s unlikely the Canucks will make any changes up front. Nils Aman is the lone available healthy forward after the team returned Joe LaBate to Abbotsford earlier today.

The Opponent

The Oilers arrive in town after playing the late game on Hockey Night In Canada in Seattle last night where they fell 3-2 to the Kraken. Evan Bouchard scored his first goal of the season late in the second period while Darnell Nurse netted his first of the season with five minutes remaining in the third. Stuart Skinner stopped 20 of the 23 shots he faced. With the quick turnaround, Calvin Pickard is almost certain to be in goal tonight. 
Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet last night. Beyond that, he had 0 shot attempts for just the sixth time in his career and went two for 12 in the face-off circle.  The Oiler captain logged 24:43 on the night and 10:14 of third. It’s the fifth time in nine games he’s played more than 24 minutes. 
McDavid leads the Oilers with 11 points, but has just one goal on the season. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is second on the team with 10 points (5+5). Leon Draisaitl had a pair of assists last night and has nine points (5+4). 
Draisaitl is set to appear in his 800th NHL regular season game tonight. He has 404 goals and 965 points so far in his career. Against the Canucks, Draisaitl has amassed 60 of those points registering 27 goals and 33 assists. McDavid, meanwhile, has more points against the Canucks than any other opponent picking up 24+45=69 in 43 head to head match-ups. 
The Oilers have only managed to score more than three goals in a game once so far this season (Thursday’s 6-5 win over Montreal). Jack Roslovic has appeared in seven games since signing in Edmonton. He is still looking for his first goal and has one assist.
As a team, Edmonton is the least penalized franchise in the league this season. The Oilers average just 5.6 penalty minutes per game and along with Carolina and Detroit are the only teams without a major penalty so far.

News and notes

These teams will meet two more times this season. Edmonton returns to Vancouver on January 17th while the Canucks will be back in the Alberta capital for Game 82 of the regular season on April 16th.
The last time Edmonton was in Vancouver both Connor McDavid and Tyler Myers incurred three-game suspensions for their parts in a late game fracas.
The referees for tonight’s game are Wes McCauley and Trevor Hanson.
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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