There are highs and lows to every Vancouver Canucks season. More lows than highs over the last decade, but you still learn how to ride the waves. Sometimes the highs are impossibly fun, and before you know it, you’re wondering if you should change the name of your cat to Nikita Purrdorov. And sometimes the lows are incredibly depressing, like watching in real time as Jim Benning trades for Oliver Ekman-Larsson that even the worst fantasy hockey commissioner would have vetoed before sending out a stern e-mail about “the importance of maintaining league integrity.”
Through it all, you manage to hold on, because that’s what sports are; it’s about the journey, damn it. That’s what makes losing all the more important, you see. Because it makes the eventual winning all the more sweeter. Or so I assume based on the reaction of other fan bases when they actually get to win.
But what they don’t tell you is the bleakness that takes over when a team is stuck in the mushy middle; afloat in a sea of Granlunds, wondering how long until drinking your own pee becomes the only option for survival. Instead of anger or excitement, there is that word every sports team trying to sell tickets should fear: apathy.
And after Sunday night’s loss to the Calgary Flames, this might be the most apathetic the season has felt for Vancouver.
It’s not just the fact that the Canucks were playing in the impossibly large shadow of the success of the Whitecaps and Goldeneyes over the weekend.
It’s not just losing to the only team lower than them in the Pacific Division.
It’s also not just how the team markets itself, presenting every single aspect of the Canucks in the blandest way possible, as if doing everything in its power to avoid connecting to the city in any meaningful way was the end game here. It’s as if they entered “How can we present the team like mayonnaise?” into ChatGPT and ran with it. Hell, Thomas Müller in a couple of months has done better PR work than the Canucks have done in years, just by embracing the city and showing a side of humanity sorely lacking from the hockey club. You can’t tell me there isn’t a trickle-down effect from the top of the organization in how it views hockey, infecting everyone in its path.
It’s not even the way the team jumps at the first chance it gets to gouge its own fan base when the team has a tiny bit of success. Want to see the fastest human alive? Watch the Canucks make the playoffs and see ownership make the call to raise ticket prices immediately. Which, hey, business is business, and the Canucks are certainly not alone in this regard, but it just feels extra predatory from a team that hasn’t sustained a level of success for many, many years.
It’s the fact that all of the above items listed exist in a world in which the entire franchise’s future rests upon the shoulders of Quinn Hughes in every single way possible, and we still don’t know if he’s coming or going. And I truly don’t know how you can sell tickets in this environment other than praying that Canadians love hockey too much to quit on them.
If all you have to look forward to is a decision from your captain next season at some point, not even the snazziest team slogans are going to generate much excitement in this town.
“Hey, did you hear if Quinn Hughes is staying yet?”
“No idea, but this year the team slogan is “Shoot every puck like it’s your last! Wanna go in on season tickets??”
So aside from going on a PDO bender, it’s hard to imagine things getting better anytime soon. No offence to Lukas Reicel, John Beecher, or Alexandre Texier, but the needle doesn’t move much when these are the names in the mix for Vancouver. Sure, Filip Chytil returning would help the team, but asking a guy with concussion issues to be a sustainable part of the lineup feels like a reach. It once again feels very much like the “ok but seriously, what if everything went right?” game plan.
Ultimately, it just feels like this season will be about watching Quinn Hughes trying to do his best attempt at a modern take on Sisyphus, while we all wait to see where his next contract is signed.
Which feels a lot more like “the beatings will continue until morale improves” territory more than anything else.
Let’s jump into this.
Perhaps inspired by the words of Jeff Paterson and Daniel Wagner on CanucksArmy this week, Filip Hronek opened the scoring for the Canucks with a little bit of brilliance, if I may be so bold:
Sprung on a two-on-one by a Jake DeBrusk backhander, Hronek simply waited until every Calgary Flame committed to stopping the pass instead of the shot. I think my favourite part of the goal is Hronek just sort of watching Kevin Bahl slide out of frame before he calmly went top shelf where mom keeps the location of her Twitter account hidden.
I am excited to ask Hronek about this goal when he gives his next media interview, three years from now.
And if the depressing intro in which I told you that by the end of the night you’d feel nothing for this team didn’t get you stoked to keep reading, I can honestly say this was the high point of the game. Even the highlight reel goal from Quinn Hughes later in the game mostly felt sad because everyone knew there was no real point to it. It had a lot of “you didn’t have to do this, really” to the friend who brings over a nice seven-layer dip to a funeral, energy to it.
Most of the Canucks highlights were a) generated in some form by Quinn Hughes and b) occurred in the first period. You would think the fact that Calgary had played the night before would be in favour of the Canucks, but you would be sorely mistaken. In fact, as the game wore on, the Canucks generated fewer and fewer scoring chances.
First period? Flames and Canucks tied at five high-danger chances apiece.
Second period? Flames had three. Canucks zero.
Third period, with the game on the line? Flames had two; the Canucks managed a single high-danger shot.
If you’ve ever screamed at your TV because you couldn’t run in camp in Red Dead Redemption 2, then you have a pretty solid understanding of what it was like watching this game.
That being said, we have to post the Quinn Hughes clips for posterity, so here he is sending in a tactical nuke of a pass to Max Sasson, who promptly missed the net:
From a “that’s pretty bad ass” level of skill, it is extremely fun to watch Quinn Hughes slow the game down until he can locate a guy with a perfect breakaway pass.
From a “Quinn Hughes and Josh Allen probably call each other late at night and commiserate about their jobs, don’t they.” level of pondering, it’s kind of sad.
Kevin Lankinen did not have an amazing night of hockey. Not that I think him being locked in would have done much, mind you. If a dude bursts through the door with 19 bullet holes in his chest, you don’t often comment that he might be feeling better if he’d only been shot 11 times.
That being said, here is Lankinen making a save back when the game felt winnable, stoning Kevin Bahl and eating some flesh for his troubles:
Not only did Bahl get denied on his shot, but he also took a penalty. And on top of that, he got to watch Quinn Hughes try to go end-to-end with the puck before setting up Jake DeBrusk for the scoring chance. This is the kind of play that happens to me in beer league hockey and often leaves me gazing into the mirror, asking myself what I’m doing with my life.
Luckily for Bahl, he can actually play hockey at a high level, so he probably blamed bees or something.
I will give the Flames credit for being good visitors, as they made sure to let everyone know this game wasn’t going to be close for too long.
The first goal from the Flames came near the middle of the opening frame, and this might shock you: the Canucks got caught chasing the puck and blowing coverage:
“Chasing the puck and blowing coverage,” aka the name of your high school band, has been a prominent feature of these Vancouver Canucks this season. And I will say the biggest tip of the hat to Rick Tocchet, for whatever issues you might have had with him, I do think it says something that almost every defenceman has played worse under Adam Foote. Again, maybe they need time to adjust to the system, or maybe they simply do not have the skills needed for Foote’s system, but all we know is that it has been ridiculously easy for opponents to get the Canucks swarming the puck and leaving guys open as a result.
Which is what happens here, as Double Mac loses a battle for the puck along the boards, while at the same time Linus Karlsson is cheating the zone a bit for an offensive rush. To Karlsson’s credit, he turns around right away and jumps on the puck, but the problem is that Max Sasson also decides he should be invited to the puck party, so he drops his keys in the bowl as well.
With three Canucks up high, Calgary swings the puck across the point, allowing Rasmus Andersson to jump up into the rush. Quinn Hughes then releases Morgan Frost for reasons (Bees? Or he thought Tyler Myers was going to cover and didn’t realize Tyler already had a guy? Or bees?), so both Double Mac and Hughes rush Rasmus, allowing Morgan Frost to be all alone for the tip in front.
Which, hey man, a lot of goals against involve plays breaking down, that’s kind of the nature of the beast. But when you’re a bottom-five team and your defensive coverage is tanking, and you continuously see goals happen on blown coverage, it’s fair to say there are issues somewhere in the system.
I have some good news for you. The Flames’ second goal? It wasn’t because the Canucks blew coverage and chased the puck for 30 seconds.
No, the good news, nay, the moral victory on the Flames’ second goal, was because it was a bad bounce for Vancouver:
Yes, we have officially entered Moral Victory season.
Did you just fall down the stairs and hurt your back? No, no, my friend. You fell down the stairs, and somehow your phone didn’t break. That’s how we’re viewing this moral victory.
Now, Aatu Räty has been quietly having himself a “this guy might be an NHL regular” kind of season so far, so you can only do so much when trying to come up with jokes at his expense on this goal. The kid tried to make a good play by knocking down the puck, and then Michael Backlund gets a shot on the redirected puck, which allows Connor Zary to bash in the rebound.
If you want to criticize something on the goal, it’s clearly Tom Willander and Aatu Räty not being strong enough on their checks, as they basically allow Zary and Backlund to walk in and get a stick on the puck. Willander in particular has lost a lot of crease battles during his call-up, so that is clearly an area he will have to work on as he adds more muscle and adjusts to the NHL game. This is where the big boys and Kevin Nash play, after all.
Also, if you don’t shore that up, it’s what leads to the head coach screaming really loudly during practices.
Maybe “compete is in our nature” was the secret to all of this? Maybe without that slogan, the Canucks have lost the will to battle it out??
One of the best, most exciting aspects of Tom Willander’s game is watching him activate on the rush. And when he gets a shift or two with Quinn Hughes, it’s fun to see him get caught up in it:
Willander is smart enough to see Quinn Hughes wheeling and dealing, so he skates down low to give a passing lane to the captain, which Hughes gladly takes him up on. Willander then tries to feed the puck in front for a bang-bang play to David Kämpf, which doesn’t work, but here is the best part: Willander skates back hard and ends up generating a takeaway when he throws a body check on a back check.
He doesn’t get lazy; he doesn’t sit back and watch to see if his team will get the puck back. He hurries his ass up and gets back into position and is able to get the puck back as a result of it.
And since Quinn Hughes is Quinn Hughes, he draws a penalty a few shifts later and once again goes full Josh Allen, scanning the field and praying Keon Coleman Jake DeBrusk can get open:
Jake doesn’t score in his Tim Horton’s office, but that was probably the third-best scoring chance on the night? That has to count for something, right?
And just in case you thought it was a fluke, here is Quinn Hughes once again long bombing a pass to Jake DeBrusk to start the second period:
I feel like Jake is starting to understand the “get kind of open and Quinn will find you” strategy he can rely on in games.
It’s true. Nobody thought it was possible, but we now have definitive proof that Evander Kane can back-check when he wants to:
Blake Coleman’s fingerprints were all over this game for Calgary, and I know this mostly because I kept muttering “that Coleman guy again? In this economy?” for the majority of the game. And on this play, he hits the stick lift button and gets around Marcus Pettersson (that used to mean something, damn it), only to run into Evander Kane shutting his sh!t down. It’s a fantastic play from Evander Kane, and surely he would do nothing to squander that goodwill later in the game.
Moving on, we haven’t seen Quinn Hughes in a while, so here he is avoiding detection and completing his Hitman mission flawlessly:
I don’t even know what NHL players think when they try to run down Hughes and get evaded that easily. I can only assume you mutter to yourself, “well sh!t, that just happened,” and pine for the days when standard definition TV hid most of this.
The Flames would get their third goal off of a well-meaning Tom Willander, holding on for dear life to Joel Farabee and praying that today is the day he wins a net front battle:
Bit of luck, bit of skill for Kevin Bahl as he knows what he’s doing, sending the puck in behind the pad of the lesser Kevin like that.
As for Willander, Farabee sets a low centre of gravity and outright wins the battle, setting up shop in the crease, and just creating general chaos for Bahl to shoot into, as Willander just sort of leans over top of him and wonders why he won’t go away.
Tyler Myers would have cross-checked Farabee and then given him a Stone Cold Stunner. I’m not saying that’s the right play; I am just confirming your suspicions about what Chaos Giraffe would have done.
Kane makes a decent play earlier, and wipes that out by flapping his gums and getting an unsportsmanlike penalty after a Calgary goal.
Tell me again why we picked up that knob? #Canucks
— SlyM@slym.bsky.social (@SlyM) November 24, 2025
You know what they say when you’re down 3-1, make sure you sh!t talk the other team so much that you get an unsportsmanlike penalty on the play:
I will say there is a time and a place for things like this, and I don’t think a team near the bottom of the standings should be doing too much talking. Even in games the Canucks are winning handily, we’ve seen Evander Kane “scoreboard” the other team, and it’s like my dude, nobody looks good on this team right now. Don’t be that guy on Xbox chirping into his mic all night when he’s got a 3/19 KD ratio.
I ran the numbers and watched the videos, and I believe I have found the Canucks best scoring chance of the second period, via the hands of one motivated by local media, Fil Hronek:
If that doesn’t sell tickets, I don’t know what will.
I am itching to watch the Canucks game but I am at work… how are we looking gang #canucks
— lara(@481KOO) November 24, 2025
If you asked Blake Coleman, he would tell you it was 4-1 after this play:
That fool, the game wouldn’t be 4-1 until much later.
I bet Coleman thought he made it 5-1 on this play?
Ha ha, you dummy, it wouldn’t be 5-1 until the third period. What a fool.
The Flames would then make it 4-1 on a rebound off of an Andersson shot near the end of the second period:
Sharangovich scores, which feels like it was made considerably easier by the fact that nobody was covering him? In fact, two Flames had set up shop in front of Lankinen, and the Canucks, at best, seemed only kind of put out by it? Like, I am sure they knew the Flames were near their goalie, I just don’t think they particularly cared to do anything about it.
Which again doesn’t really lend itself to a strong defensive strategy.
Yay, time for third period “highlights”. Anytime I use the word “fun”, it’s going to mean “brutal”, but in order to try and keep the positive vibes going, we will say the word “fun”.
So first up, we have the Canucks opening the third period by generating a Marcus Pettersson point shot:
That was a “fun” scoring chance for a “fun” team that really needed to score some goals.
Next, we had Quinn Hughes once again locating someone down the ice with a Hail Mary pass, and in this case, it was Drew O’Connor:
The play ended with a “fun” scoring chance from Jake DeBrusk, who basically tried to bank the puck in behind the net after the point shot from Elias Pettersson just went wide.
And thus ends the third period highlights, aside from a Quinn Hughes moment coming up.
“Fun.”
Blake Coleman finally got to celebrate for real as he managed to crack the code on the Canucks power play:
Yes, feeding the puck to Quinn Hughes whenever possible is something other teams have picked up on, as Brock Boeser’s return pass to Quinn Hughes is stolen easily by Coleman, ending in a “fun” breakaway. The Canucks power play has looked faster and more dynamic this season, so I will give them credit for that, but this is once again another situation in which the Canucks shot themselves in the foot with sloppy play.
Ah yes, the fueled by spite goal, I know it well:
Who amongst us hasn’t been so angry, so pissed off, that they went out and did something all by themselves to show the world who’s boss?
Which is what Quinn Hughes does on this play. Why make the delightful long passes if nobody is going to score on them? Why dangle all the way down the ice if all you’re going to do is pass the puck off to someone who will miss the net? Why not just do it yourself?
It’s a wonderfully skillful goal, and continues the long resume for Quinn Hughes as an elite, generational talent that is probably worth a random in return were he to ever be traded.
The Canucks, inspired by the bravado and skill of their captain, promptly responded by letting Morgan Frost hit the post:
And then letting John Beecher skate right around DOC for the dangerous scoring chance:
This was not a good hockey game for Vancouver.
I can't blame Quinn Hughes for wanting out of this shitshow, this management group has completely bungled a golden opportunity to establish a dynasty. Breaks my heart.#Canucks
— Julius Freezer(@JuliusFreezer) November 24, 2025
I will say that even down 5-2, with under three minutes to go, Quinn Hughes was doing everything in his power to score, and even drew a penalty late in the game:
Which again, this is very much “no, no, seriously, you did NOT have to do that” energy, but it’s who he is, the dude wants to win, and we can all respect that.
The problem is this team once again fell into the “hey let’s just send the puck to Quinn Hughes and let him deal with it,” which the Flames easily read, and almost scored as a result of it:
Hey, it could have been worse. It could have been 6-2.
I think my main takeaway from this game, to take us full circle back to the intro, is just the lack of response from the fans. No booing. No anger. No jersey tossing. Nothing.
And hey, maybe it’s just a relic of the weekend. Maybe all the other feel good stories made this game easy to take.
But after watching this team stuck in a time loop of never being good enough but never quite bad enough for a legitimate rebuild for so many years now, it wouldn’t surprise me if this was the start of a long stretch of apathy from the fan base unless major changes are made.
It just remains to be seen whose hand forces it.
Best called it
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Welcome back to Blackfish: Our weekly Vancouver Canucks prospect report.
Abbotsford’s struggles continue to test the depth chart as they drop a pair of games, but the play of their young defenders remains a genuine bright spot. Over the Western League, Braeden Cootes made the Teddy Bears rain. Meanwhile, Wilson Björck scored a beautiful goal in overtime and serves as our player highlight this week.
Let’s dive right in.
Abbotsford Canucks
Oh boy. The Abbotsford Canucks hit the quarter mark of their season on Saturday night, playing their 18th game and adding another loss to extend their latest skid to four straight. Through those 18 games, they’ve managed just three wins, two of which came during opening weekend back in mid-October. To say times are tough may be an understatement, and that sentiment is stretching clean across both tiers of Canucks hockey right now.
If you’re hunting for silver linings, we might be diving into draft-eligible chatter far earlier than expected this season. And that’s music to the ears of prospect enthusiasts.
On a more serious note, the one genuine bright spot in Abbotsford remains the play of rookie defender Sawyer Mynio. He began the year as a sheltered third-pairing option, but injuries and call-ups vaulted him into low-to-mid-20s usage just weeks into his inaugural year. Even with recent reinforcements in Kirill Kudryavtsev and Victor Mancini returning to the farm, Mynio is still holding down the fort as the team’s go-to option on both the top power play unit and the penalty kill.
Mynio picked up three assists over the weekend and now sits second on the team with nine points (two goals, seven assists). That total also puts him in a tie for second among all AHL rookie defencemen. He’s being trusted in every situation and continues to shine as a small glimmer of light in an otherwise dark season.
As mentioned, Kudryavtsev is back down, and while Mynio has taken the reins as the top dog, the Russian defender has quietly continued to do his thing. He scored his first of the season over the weekend — part of a two-point outing in San Jose — and looked poised throughout.
It’s not easy to walk away looking positive in Abbotsford games these days, but the two young blue-liners are nowhere near the source of the team’s struggles.
Up front, there were encouraging signs as well.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki, still working through what is very likely a conditioning stint, collected his second goal of the season and finished with a two-point effort.
He fired five shots on target and once again stood out as one of the most dangerous Canucks on the ice. The club spent too much time in the penalty box over the two-game set, cutting into his minutes slightly, but he remains one of the few pieces of genuine excitement in an otherwise stale offensive corps.
With Nils Aman out nursing an injury, Ty Mueller stepped up to centre the Swedish sharpshooter — and he’s heating up. Mueller added another goal and assist over the weekend, giving him five points in his last five games. Unsurprisingly, those points are likely the direct link to a boost in play lately. His board work, puck patience, and overall presence all seem to have taken a step forward.
Vilmer Alriksson chipped in offensively too, scoring a goal while also collecting two separate 10-minute misconducts. As noted in the last few instalments, he’s been used heavily as a net-front presence and has earned top-six minutes for a decent stretch of time now.
With his big frame, he’s generated a steady diet of chances from the bumper spot and finally buried one. Now sitting second on the team with 33 penalty minutes, he’s showing real snarl — and honestly, we love it.
In goal, Nikita Tolopilo returned to the crease and started both games of the back-to-back. He played well — making 31 and 28 saves respectively — but didn’t get the offensive support needed to push either game over the line. Given how this season is trending, it might be time to judge Abbotsford’s goalies more on their difficult saves than their stat lines, because those numbers are destined to look rough behind a team carrying a league-worst minus-45 goal differential.
He’s back up in Vancouver and will join the team on their upcoming California road trip.
CHL
The Vancouver Canucks’ 2025 first-rounder, Braeden Cootes, may need to be rebranded as the Teddy Bear Whisperer. Seattle held its annual Teddy Bear Toss night over the weekend. To the delight of Canucks fans, it was Cootes who pulled the trigger to unleash the wave of Teddys. Driving confidently into the middle of the ice, he spun and snapped a shot on goal — one the netminder would certainly want back — and the bears rained down.
Braeden Cootes (#Canucks) makes the teddy bears rainpic.twitter.com/KOTS1QaY3f
— Dave Hall (@davehall1289) November 23, 2025
Just look at this mess…
That was one of two goals he scored on the weekend. The night prior, he won an offensive-zone faceoff cleanly back to the point, then quietly faded into space into the slot as the puck worked its way down the wall. When the pass came, he was loaded up and ready, hammering a one-timer home: textbook centre support, perfect timing, and another tick on the scoresheet.
Cootes wrapped the weekend with two goals, nine shots, and a plus-3 across two games. He’s now tied for fourth in Thunderbirds scoring with seven goals and 17 points in 12 games.
We’ll have a full breakdown of his overall game soon, so we’ll leave it there for now. But it’s hard not to like what he’s bringing as a centreman who seems to be everywhere, all the time.
Alexei Medvedev cooled off slightly this past week — if we can even call it that. He split his two starts, stopping 32 of 36 in a 5–2 loss (with an empty-netter against) before bouncing back with a tidy 21-save win.
If you prefer the glass-half-empty view, Medvedev hasn’t strung together back-to-back wins since early November. But with the glass-half-full lens, he hasn’t suffered back-to-back losses all season, either. Every time he drops a game, he’s answered with a win.
Over in Brampton, Gabriel Chiarot is charging up the Steelheads’ leaderboard thanks to a few more points that included a shorthanded goal. He now leads the club with 10 goals, sits second with 18 points, and is second with a plus-8, one of the few forwards on the roster with a plus rating.
And in Edmonton, Parker Alcos is fully back. After easing in on the third line following his return, he jumped right back onto the Oil Kings’ top unit and didn’t miss a beat. He added another plus-3 to his ledger and now sits at plus-16 on the season, putting him near the top of the WHL’s defensive leaderboard.
NCAA
There wasn’t much happening for Canucks prospects at the NCAA level this past week — except for Wilson Björck, who delivered one of the nicer overtime winners you’ll see this season.
After collecting the puck in his own end, he built speed through the neutral zone, got it back on the return pass, slipped around the defender with a quick inside move, and snapped a shot under the bar to end it. There’s nothing quite like the ping of a perfectly placed shot like that, right?
If you missed it, we ran a full breakdown on why Björck’s game has become so intriguing. It’s not because we’re projecting stardom. In fact, we aren’t even sure how far his ceiling goes just yet. But the intangibles and foundation he plays with are precisely the traits that can build a dependable pro.
As we highlighted in that piece — and as his OT winner showcased — Björck keeps his head up at all times. That might sound obvious, but it’s not a universal skill. Whether carrying the puck or playing away from it, he’s constantly scanning, shoulder-checking, and identifying options early. It allows him to play fast without rushing, and to make plays on a dime because he’s already processed the ice before the puck arrives.
With the puck on his stick, he maintains pace without ever needing to look down, which gives him a natural advantage in transition and small-area situations.
The other cornerstone of his game is his motor. Björck plays with edge, refuses to quit on pucks, and brings a level of compete that jumps off the screen. Pair that with a strong hockey IQ, and you get a player whose details give him a real shot at developing into something.
There’s some skill there, too. Will it fully translate? Hard to say. But he has a good shot, he thinks quickly, and he’s got the hands to activate when he needs to. He works the half-wall on the power play for a reason. At minimum, he’s a fun player to track — and for a fifth-round pick, he’s shaping up to be an exciting long-term bet.
Rest of the world
Over in Switzerland, Basile Sansonnens continues to skate with Lausanne’s men’s team, where he’s averaging just over 10 minutes per night. The usage is limited, but within those minutes, he’s been quietly effective in a shutdown role and has handled the pace and physicality of the National League surprisingly well for a teenager.
At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Sansonnens already looks the part of a pro, and the strength he brings at just 19 years old stands out immediately. Despite the heavier competition, he’s held his own in board battles, stayed composed in front of his net, and shown the ability to make simple, reliable plays under pressure. The offence and puck control are still non-existent in his game, but his value comes from being hard to play against and his skating.
He remains a near-lock for Switzerland’s World Junior roster, where he should see top-four minutes and take on a primary shutdown role.
Until next time — stay tuned, stay curious, and stay on the prospect hunt.
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When last we talked, the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Calgary Flames in what many are calling the worst game of all time. It’s not just me saying it, Sports Illustrated is saying it as well.
No matter your take on the last game, however, I think we can all agree that, after the last few days, it’s very possible it was a turning point of sorts for the people running the team. Perhaps the dream of a perfect marriage between “if everything goes right” and “get in and see what happens” might be better suited for a TLC reality show, rather than the blueprint for an NHL franchise.
For your consideration, the events of the last few days have given way to:
- Gary Mason popping out of his cabin to talk Canucks hockey, which, in my opinion, is our version of a groundhog in terms of hinting that ownership has some thoughts about sports and life that may have shifted.
- You had Jim Rutherford giving an interview to The Province’s Patrick Johnston, where he dropped this quote on Quinn Hughes, stating, “I believe Quinn and his agent are aware of the direction we want to go. And they’re aware of the direction they want to go. Everybody wants to play on a winning team. But there’s different reasons why people make decisions.” which doesn’t answer as many questions as it creates.
- We had reports of the Canucks posting a message/note/memo/Discord notification/carrier pigeon to the GM group chat letting people know veterans are available.
- We had Rick Dhaliwal specifically mention Evander Kane as a name the team is looking to move in regards to the memo, which feels like where this was headed the day he arrived on the team, if we’re being honest.
- We also had Adam Foote discuss the roles of cashews, cigarettes, and Russians possibly play in NHL data collection, in what is quickly becoming the quote of the season.
- We also had Adam Foote explain away the season’s struggles, being due to injuries, simple as that. Which feels overly simplified, according to my Russian numbers.
- We had Michael Bublé respond to a CanucksArmy Instagram post to debate the role karma is playing in the Canucks current predicament, specifically in regards to fans’ comments about the team. So if you’re reading this right now, playing Michael’s Christmas album whilst you decorate, this could all be your fault.
- We also had Rick Dhaliwal mention that he has heard a potential Burnaby practice facility deal broke down, which leads to the obvious question: was the rink set to be at Bublé’s house?
- Frank Seravalli, who, safe to say, isn’t the most popular person in Canucks Nation, quickly approached the “worst person you know made a good point” territory by being the biggest voice in the room pushing back against the narrative that Quinn Hughes wants out, saying he’s hearing people closest to Quinn say he is committed 100% to the Canucks.
- Elliotte Friedman mentioned in passing in his latest article that he thinks the team even discussed Quinn Hughes’ attitude this season with their star defenceman, in terms of projecting the right energy as a captain. I think Quinn Hughes has a Resting Existential Crisis Face myself, but I do agree that his dealings with the media and his overall body language this year have felt like that of a frustrated person.
- Lachlan also got his first win in Warzone this week, just so we can have a bit of good news.
All of which is to say it’s felt like a whirlwind of information, allegations, and rumours coming down the pipeline in the wake of the loss to the Flames. Which brings us to Wednesday night, when the Canucks faced the team we all assumed would lead the Pacific Division heading into the end of November, the Anaheim Ducks, who used to be Mighty but are now just sort of regular.
And you know who shines when they’re mired in a slump, surrounded by noise, and coming off of the worst loss ever against the second-worst team in the league? Your Vancouver Canucks.
Yes, for those of us who know this team oh so very well, the Canucks 5-4 victory over the Ducks wasn’t surprising so much as it was a nice warm blanket, hugging you and letting you know that no matter how crazy this world gets, Vancouver will still do Vancouver things.
The victory was far from secure throughout most of the game, as the Anaheim Ducks play a style of hockey akin to huffing a bunch of glue, then jumping out of a helicopter while attempting to moonwalk into a perfect landing, but the Canucks held their own on this night. A large part of that was due to the play of goaltender Nikita Tolopilo, who was brought in when Kevin Lankinen was announced as having to take time away from the team for personal reasons.
And while I don’t think Tolopilo had any one moment on the night that would land him on the Quinn Hughes Insane Saves Index, the requirement needed in order to say your goalie stole a game, it’s clear he played a very large part in the win. The biggest moment in my mind for the young netminder was with under 10 minutes left in the third period, when he made a breakaway save that kept the game tied at three. Playing behind this Canucks defence is no easy task, and it just felt like Tolopilo was up for the challenge, as he fought his way to making 37 saves on 41 shots when all was said and done.
And while Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes only had one point apiece in the game, they were also instrumental in the victory, playing a brand of gritty hockey that can one day be used to force a trade to the New York Rangers and hopefully be named captain.
All in all, it was a good night for the Vancouver Canucks, even if it didn’t change the direction of the team all that much. Still, at this point, it was one of the most entertaining games of the season, which is something we might as well enjoy while we wait to see where this ship turns to next.
Let’s Mason McTavish dive into this.
Early opportunity for the #Canucks to pull ahead with a power play two minutes into the game.
— Izzy(@izzycheung37) November 27, 2025
The Ducks don’t like to play defence because they’d rather go end-to-end and score.
The Vancouver Canucks don’t like defence.
In many ways, it was a perfect marriage of chaos, as this game felt more like pond hockey than the normal NHL action, in which not covering the right guy on a play can get you traded by Rick Tocchet.
But unlike previous games, the Canucks managed the rare feat of matching a team goal for goal in the chase for victory. Now, as I sit here chewing on some cashews, I will say that the Ducks probably should have won this game, as they pushed the pace for the majority of the night. But as we talked about, kudos to Tolopilo, and kudos to the Canucks for finding ways to score.
And right away, the pond hockey was evident as Brock Boeser got a breakaway on a power play of all things, as once again Quinn Hughes did his QB routine of hanging back and finding a dude open for the tuddy:
Boeser then set up Elias Pettersson for a chance from the dots, but he was denied by Petr Mrázek, a man who doesn’t use consonants where my brain expects them to be:
But as this was pond hockey, and it involved Adam Foote’s weird Cops defensive system of screaming and running at the suspect all at once, the Ducks got prime chances of their own. They almost opened the scoring themself when the Canucks found themselves out of position in their own zone again:
As we’ve talked about before, every team makes mistakes, but it’s the volume of mistakes and the kind of mistakes Vancouver makes that are problematic. Take a drag of your cigarette and watch this play break down, as it all starts innocently enough when Alex Killorn skates to the point. At this point, everything is fine, there are no bees anywhere, everyone is calm, but then Conor Garland and Tyler Myers just wheel off and cover Jacob Trouba, because bees. To make matters worse, Chaos falls to the ice, and Garland just sort of drifts off Trouba to find someone else to cover, leaving the Ducks’ defenceman a clear lane to the net for a potential backdoor play.
Killorn then moves the puck down low, and eventually the Ducks find Ryan Strome all alone in front because, by now, the Canucks’ coverage has fallen apart.
Tolopilo makes the not-quite-insane save, but that was kind of indicative of the night Nikita had. He faced a lot of shots in high-danger areas, and while he was lucky the Ducks missed some of those chances, Tolopilo was also very good at making saves throughout the night whenever the Canucks’ coverage broke down.
I enjoy Linus Karlsson. I know he’ll never be an NHL superstar, but I just like the way he plays. I would trust the man with a pair of keys to my house to water my plants and feed my cats while I was away, is what I’m saying.
Adam Foote doesn’t trust him quite yet, as the fourth line only played around seven minutes, but when you make plays like this, you’re going to earn more ice time:
Linus closes down that gap quickly and initiates a board battle, and then manhandles his way into generating an odd-man rush, finishing off the play with a shot on net. That’s the kind of thing you can set your watch to.
On the other hand, I would not trust Tyler Myers with keys to my house. I feel like I would come home to a Hangover-type situation in which my main concern would be how the tiger got inside my bathroom:
I think this is also a very good example of the Canucks trying to do too much. Initially, you see Tyler Myers fly over to the defensively minded Elias Pettersson’s side of the ice, before clipping his skate, taking both men out.
And when you watch the replay, you can see that Elias Pettersson releases from the boards and goes to the middle of the ice, leaving Jansen Harkins a lane to skate by him. Now, maybe Elias Pettersson was going to circle back to the boards, and he was just harassing the puck carrier for a brief moment, but Tyler Myers PANICS when he sees this, so he flies over to the left side of the ice to cover. They clip skates, they both fall down, and now Jackson LaCombe ends up with a breakaway that isn’t quite insane enough to get on Quinn’s radar, but is still pretty dope.
These are the plays you watch and you wonder whether the players don’t understand the system, or don’t trust the system, or can’t execute the system, or whatever it may be. For all the tedious offensive issues Rick Tocchet had in his time coaching the Canucks, the early returns on Adam Foote’s system is one that struggles just as much producing five-on-five offence, but with far worse defensive numbers.
Some of my favourite saves in the NHL are the “oh shoot, did I just poop myself?” rebounds where the puck just dribbles between the goalie’s legs before they panic and reach down to see if something got through:
It wasn’t a technical masterpiece from the Canucks goaltender, but man alive, I found his compete level downright endearing.
Speaking of Linus Karlsson, he might not have had a lot of minutes, but he made them worth it when he scored the opening goal:
First up, even though Arshdeep Bains didn’t get an assist on this goal, he gets a philosophical assist on the play from me. His forecheck causes the deflection on the puck that sends it slowly into the air, which allows Max Sasson to feed the puck back to Arshdeep, who then skates the puck into the zone before cutting back and finding Marcus Pettersson with a slick spinning pass. MP3 fires the shot towards the net, Max tips the puck wide, and there is Linus Karlsson, watering your plants, feeding your cat in a timely manner, and potting in the rebound.
There were, by my cashew count, around 43 posts on the night, including this one early on:
Even with clanging the puck off the post, Nikita managed to track the puck and make the save, sprawling out to stop the rebound.
Again, not a classically beautiful game, but Tolopilo’s saves had personality that would earn him a second start from me.
Make it eight straight games that the Canucks power play has scored, and this time it was by none other than the former Vancouver Giants legend himself, Evander Kane:
Evander Kane takes a gazillion shots a game, but hasn’t had a lot of luck go his way this season, so I did warn/tell you all that some nights it was going to eventually work. And on this night, yep, Kane picked his spot and found the back of the net, in what I assume garnered a nod of appreciation from a certain Burnaby crooner.
Good faceoff win, good shot, good trade value.
Maybe management saying all their veterans were available was a threat and the team took it seriously. #Canucks
— Eden (@eden_nucks21) November 27, 2025
Up first, we witness a creature engaged in one of hockey’s most remarkable displays of instinct and intelligence. Here, during the perilous moments of a penalty kill, a lone skater glides into view.
As the Ducks group up for a coordinated strike, the Orca stalks the blue line. Elias Pettersson anticipates and predicts the next movement:
In this brief yet extraordinary display, we witness the spirit of the penalty killer; bravery not born of recklessness, but of unwavering commitment.
Next, we have two Orcas, sensing danger with the precision of seasoned predators, hurling themselves across the ice in perfect synchrony, as Drew O’Connor and Kiefer Sherwood lay out to block a pass:
And in this fleeting, breathless moment, we are reminded that in the world of hockey, survival depends not only on speed or strength, but on the willingness to cast oneself fearlessly into the path of danger for the good of the pack.
And finally, in the waning seconds of a defensive stand, a lone Orca prepares to perform a feat that defies instinct itself:
The Duck winds up for a fearsome shot, utilizing a projectile of hardened rubber that can reach speeds formidable enough to fell even the sturdiest of creatures. And yet, Garland does not flee.
Instead, he advances.
Time seems to pause. The arena inhales. And then, impact. The puck slams into his foot with a crack that echoes across the ice.
Only when the immediate threat has passed, when his teammates surge forward on the counterattack, does he retreat to the bench, his stride uneven, but his mission complete.
Evander Kane took a penalty at the end of the first period, because for every good thing Kane does, the balance must be maintained with a “oh man, come on dude” moment from Planet Ice.
This led to the Ducks remembering that they like to score goals, so they quickly got to work on the power play to start the second period:
And once again, we see that old friend, the swarm attack, go to work, as the Canucks use the Cotton-approved bold strategy of sending three guys on the penalty kill to overload one side of the ice. This leads to the Ducks easily finding Jackson LaCombe, with the assists going to LaBrush and LaHairClip.
Garland tried to answer back quickly, as he and Brock Boeser showed a lot of chemistry in terms of generating offensive looks on net, but they were denied by Mrazek on this attempt:
It was silly fun hockey, what can I say.
The Ducks were out-shooting the Canucks 2-1 at this point in the game, and a lot of their chances were a bit more calculated than Vancouver’s? As Jeff said, the Ducks had many shifts where they set up shop and moved the puck around until they could get a clear shooting lane, which would lead to shots and, in this case, a rebound right in the slot that they just put wide:
And Vancouver’s response was very much a holding-on-for-dear-life scenario, hoping they could counterattack the other team to death. They basically hid in the bathtub, and the minute the murderer entered the room, they’d run right by them, screaming obscenities and telling them they know where they work.
And since Anaheim really, really, REALLY believes in themselves, they would commit HARD on offence. Which would lead to Quinn Hughes countering with a breakaway:
Or would lead to Drew O’Connor getting a semi-breakaway:
You get the picture. Anaheim would get their looks on net, and held the edge in play, but at least Vancouver was generating some good looks on net in this game.
With the game stuck at 2-1, Conor Garland and Brock Boeser, showcasing the kind of chemistry normally reserved for Heated Rivalry, caught the Ducks being overaggressive once again in the offensive zone, which led to the goal of the night for Corolla:
You know how a goal is nice? When I have to put in multiple angles of the same goal in a new clip:
I don’t even need to break this one down aside from saying Conor Garland just gave them the full Corolla treatment. That’s the type of goal where if you’re the goalie, you seriously consider retirement after the game. “Maybe this life isn’t for me,” you say to yourself as you watch another grown man undress you on live TV, leaving your jockstrap hanging from the rafters.
All I’ll say is I recently watched a bunch of Pavel Bure goal clips, and this one would not be out of place on that list.
Also, that cut back and pass from Brock Boeser? Absolutely sublime.
Just a wonderful goal all around.
The Ducks are a fun team to watch; they just are. Even if, yeah, their belief in themselves leads to moments like this where Hughes strips them of the puck and sets up Evander Kane for an odd man rush, followed up by both Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk narrowly missing out on making it 4-1 Vancouver:
And yeah, sometimes the Ducks’ belief in themselves is as misguided as my attempts to nail my Duo Lingo lesson, confidently telling my phone that I can’t wait to eat at the baño. Who cares if it can lead to Conor Garland stripping Beckett Sennecke of the puck, generating another offensive rush for Vancouver?
I think I had a third clip to lean into regarding wildly overestimating your own abilities, but I have no idea where it went.
So instead, here’s Tyler Myers high-sticking a dude and then shoving him to the ice in disgust:
It was a fun night of hockey, what can I say.
The one thing about believing in yourself, however, is that sometimes it works. Which is why I don’t think anyone was too surprised when Anaheim started mounting their comeback.
The Ducks made it 3-2 on the power play when the Canucks once again found a way to blow coverage and give ample time and space to Anaheim:
There is no diamond formation, only pain.
You can count two times during this play where two Canuck players chase the same man.
The first is off the faceoff when Kiefer Sherwood and Quinn Hughes both try to close the gap on Olen Zellweger. Now, Quinn Hughes does manage to block the shot, but he has no idea where the puck bounces to, so he is effectively out of the play, spinning in spot as if his network just got disconnected in a power outage. Kiefer has also slid into the shadowlands at this point, as his attempt to block the shot leads him into the boards.
With the puck bouncing around the slot, Aatu Räty makes the most egregious error on the play by leaving the middle of the ice and skating towards the blue paint to double up on Tom Willander’s guy. This leaves Leo Carlsson all alone in the slot with the goalie down and out, and he makes no mistake about it.
And yes, being down a man naturally leads to more errors; that’s part of the pain/joy of the situation. But it also feels like the Canucks are just making too many mistakes, even giving the context of the situation. Too much panic, too many bad reads, it truly feels like the players are reacting on instinct, and that instinct is not serving them well.
Beckett Sennecke, a name I assumed was a character in a Taylor Sheridan TV show, would then find Mason McTavish for the finish on the two-on-one after Evander Kane was easily stripped of the puck by Jackson LaCombe behind the Ducks net:
That’s not all on Evander Kane, of course. When you lose the puck behind the opponent’s net, it takes more than just that to end in a goal mere seconds later. The play kind of dies because DP25 is playing too high in the zone. Sennecke releases behind him, and Elias either doesn’t realize it or doesn’t give it enough attention, and as a result, the Ducks get an odd-man rush goal out of it.
And while the entire team has played poorly defensively this season, Elias Pettersson has started to stand out more and more to me as the guy making the most mistakes. Don’t get me wrong, Tyler Myers and Marcus Pettersson have been a tire fire at times this season, but it just feels like Elias Pettersson’s reads and gap control have been incredibly shaky this past month.
It’s as if he’s missing Ralph Wiggum’s ability to be sitting on a bus and realize he’s in danger.
That being said, he is very young, and this is a tough environment to shine in at the best of times, but when everyone is healthy, I’m not sure I would have a spot for him in the lineup every game.
How bad is Anaheim defensively? They gave up a two-man breakaway on the power play:
I’m telling you, these Ducks have some West Coast Express vibes to their team. Defence? Who cares? Let’s just score goals. You get the sense they’re never out of a game, but they’re also never secure in victory, either. It’s stressful, fun hockey, and I love it.
The perfect metaphor for Quinn Hughes over the last year is in this play; he skates all over the ice, draws in four opposing players, finds a wide open man, and…:
Fil Hronek doesn’t even realize the empty net he had staring him right in the face. I cannot wait to ask him about this play 17 years from now during his next media availability.
And Hughes didn’t stop there, as he was firmly in his one-man army mode in the third period. Want to chase him out of the zone? Sorry, he’s going to dance across the blue line and keep the puck in:
This clip alone should upgrade his trade value by another draft pick or two. I get a puck across the blue line, and I phone my mother to let her know about my big win on the day. But here’s Quinn Hughes being harassed by two players, and he’s just spinning and stickhandling around them like they’re Michael Bublé in a celebrity game of hockey.
And then on the same shift, just when Anaheim is like “thank ****, we got the puck out, that little POS has to go for a line change now, right?”, Quinn Hughes just zips and steals the puck and sets up Jake DeBrusk for a great look on net:
Just filthy stuff from the Canucks captain in this third period.
Now it might not be insane enough to impress Quinn Hughes, but for my money, this save from Tolopilo was the biggest moment of the night for the Canucks:
Drew O’Connor loses the puck along the boards, gives up the breakaway, but Tolopilo not only makes the huge save, but he dives out to cover the rebound as well.
That’s what I’m talking about when I say I loved Nikita’s game Wednesday night. Dude was literally fighting to cover every single puck he could; he never gave up on a single play. You could almost hear Robert Downey Jr. yelling at him to survive.
Perhaps inspired by that primal save from their goaltender, Conor Garland almost caught the Ducks napping on the ocean when he snuck in and almost struck on a turnover in Anaheim’s zone:
If anything, the trade value for a lot of these players went slightly up from this game.
Vancouver would finally take control of the game with under five minutes to go, when a “thoughts and prayers” shot from Hronek would be tipped by Max Sasson before pinballing in off of Drew Helleson’s skate and into the net:
Bit of luck, but that’s what a giant save will do for you; it gives you a chance to earn your own luck.
Now, the Ducks scored with 6.8 seconds left, but out of respect to Tolopilo, we will only show the Canucks empty netter that happened earlier:
Elias Pettersson actually makes a baller play on this one by diving on Leo Carlsson like he was a human hand grenade, shielding his team from shrapnel, and having the wherewithal to hit the puck up to Drew O’Connor for the finishing touches.
Again, EP40 only had the one point on the night, but this guy was out there trying to throw big hits, killing penalties, generating offensive chances, and closing out the game. Hell, at one point he got a penalty for goalie interference because he ran Mrazek down when dragging the puck on net. When was the last time that happened?
Overall, yeah, it was a fun game. I don’t know if it means anything in the grand scheme of things, but at least it was entertaining.
Onto the next.
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It looks like the Vancouver Canucks may be making a change at centre ahead of Friday’s game against the San Jose Sharks.
At practice in Anaheim on Thursday afternoon, Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy reported that Lukas Reichel was slotted in as one of the team’s centres with Aatu Räty appearing as though he may be a healthy scratch against the Sharks.
Räty saw just one 12-second shift early in the third period of Vancouver’s 5-4 win in Anaheim on Wednesday. He watched the final 18:20 of the game from the bench. On the night, the 23-year-old Finn logged only 7:16 of ice time and did not register a shot on goal.
Part of the problem seems to be Räty’s play on Leo Carlsson’s goal late in the second period. Räty lost a defensive zone faceoff and then lost Carlsson in coverage as the Ducks centre was left untouched in the slot to deposit a backhand past Nikita Tolopilo.
Tolopilo saves the first one, but Leo Carlsson puts the rebound home
Sportsnet | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/P79VlGlsrN
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 27, 2025
On the season, Räty has just one goal and has gone nine games without scoring. With the arrival of David Kämpf recently, the Canucks have another option to take defensive zone faceoffs.
For Reichel, this represents another opportunity to make any kind of mark. He has been a healthy scratch for three straight games and has just one point (a secondary assist) in 13 games since being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks one month ago. It was perhaps thought the Reichel at centre experiment was over when the club recently signed Kämpf as a free agent. It remains a mystery why the Canucks won’t try Reichel on the wing.
Based on Murphy’s reporting, Sasson will slide into the third line centre spot between Drew O’Connor and Kiefer Sherwood, while Reichel will skate between Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson.
The Canucks are set to face the Sharks for a 1 pm PT puck drop on Black Friday.
The Vancouver Canucks (10-12-2) continue the California portion of their four-game road trip when they face the San Jose Sharks (11-10-3) at SAP Center. It’s a 1 pm PT start on Black Friday.
After a 5-4 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, the Canucks will be looking for consecutive victories for the first time since October 17th and 19th in Chicago and Washington. That was part of the team’s only three-game win streak of the season.
What we know
Based on Thursday’s practice, the Canucks may be making one switch for today’s game. It appears Lukas Reichel will replace Aatu Räty in the lineup. Max Sasson is likely to move into Räty’s spot between Drew O’Connor and Kiefer Sherwood.
The Canucks got goals from five different scorers on Wednesday. Linus Karlsson, Evander Kane, Conor Garland, Max Sasson and Drew O’Connor found the back of the net. O’Connor’s goal into an empty net gave Vancouver a 5-3 lead, but proved to be the game-winner after Anaheim scored a late goal to pull within one. Tom Willander and Filip Hronek each had a couple of assists.
Nikita Tolopilo stopped 37 of the 41 shots he saw in his season debut. Tolopilo is now 2-0 in his NHL career. As a team, the Canucks have surrendered a season-high 41 shots in each of their last two road games. With no morning skate, the Canucks have not named a starter for today’s game in San Jose, but it won’t be a surprise if Tolopilo is between the pipes again. The 25-year-old Belarusian made his NHL debut and picked up his first career win against the Sharks last April.
After struggling mightily on the penalty kill for much of the season, the team has successfully killed off 11 of its last 12 shorthanded situations over the past three games. That included going five for six in Anaheim on Wednesday.
Linus Karlsson has scored in four of his last eight games. All five of Max Sasson’s goals this season have come on the road. Evander Kane’s power play marker to give the Canucks a 2-0 first period lead snapped an eight-game goal drought. Kane has four goals on the season – two of them have come at 5-on-4 and the other two at 6-on-5.
The last two games between the Canucks and Sharks have gone to overtime, and both ended with Vancouver posting 2-1 victories. Drew O’Connor scored on a penalty shot the last time the Canucks were in the Shark Tank. Overall, Vancouver has won five straight head-to-head meetings and an incredible 16 of the last 17.
The Opponent
The Sharks are licking their wounds after being mauled 6-0 in Colorado on Wednesday night. It was the team’s third shutout loss of the season. Yaroslav Askarov got the start and allowed four goals on 19 shots in 24:51 of action before giving way to Alex Nedeljkovic, who gave up a goal on the first shot he faced just nine seconds after the goalie switch. Colorado outshot San Jose 42-26 for its 10th straight win. The Sharks are the last team to beat the Avs when they handed them a 3-2 shootout loss on November 1st.
Macklin Celebrini’s five-game point streak came to an end in Denver. Even though he and his team were blanked, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft had three shots on 11 attempts. Celebrini leads the Sharks and is tied with Connor McDavid for second in league scoring with 34 points. The North Vancouver product has a team-high 14 goals and leads the club with four on the power play. Will Smith is second on the Sharks with seven goals and 21 points.
As a team, the Sharks hold the dubious distinction of registering the fewest shots per game (24.3) and allowing the most shots per game (31.9). They started the season 0-4-2, but are 11-6-1 in their past 18 games. They are a respectable 7-4-3 on home ice.
A year ago on this date, San Jose was 7-13-5, so the Sharks are showing signs of progress. A win today would be their 12th of the season. They didn’t collect their 12th win last season until January 2nd.
The Sharks roster includes a trio of former Canucks: Tyler Toffoli, Adam Gaudette and Vincent Desharnais.
The #SJSharks are headed to Tyler Toffoli's house for Thanksgiving. Per Will Smith, there will be multiple turkeys and legendary turducken! Read more on @SharksHKYDigest.https://t.co/94doLYoSea
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) November 27, 2025
San Jose has one of the lowest-scoring defences in the NHL; however, veteran Dmitri Orlov has 13 of the 40 points from the team’s blueline. He has yet to score a goal this season, so all of his offensive contributions have come via assists. Boston’s Charlie McAvoy is the only player in the league with more points (14) without scoring a goal.
News and notes
This is the first of four meetings between these teams this season. The Sharks will be in Vancouver on December 27th and again on January 27th. The Canucks will return to the Bay Area on April 11th.
Today is the second matinee the Canucks have played this season. They beat Washington 4-3 in a 12:30 pm local time start in mid-October. They have another 12:30 pm face-off coming up on December 14th at New Jersey.
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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Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
Starting Lineup
Projected #Canucks lines vs. @SanJoseSharks
Kane. EP40. DeBrusk.
Boeser. Kämpf. Garland.
O’Connor. Sasson. Sherwood.
Bains. Reichel. Karlsson.
Hughes. Hronek.
EP25. Myers.
MP29. Willander.
Tolopilo
1pm on @Sportsnet650 https://t.co/J6DNM1E8Qt pic.twitter.com/m6ZkOagUYD
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) November 28, 2025
First Period
The Sharks were throwing everything they could towards Nikita Tolopilo in the opening minutes of the game. He didn’t have to make many otherwordly saves, but he did turn the Sharks’ chances aside, giving the Canucks a chance to find their legs. That’s exactly what happened, as after a couple of shifts with sustained pressure in the Sharks’ end, Brock Boeser pulled the trigger on a shot that beat Yaroslav Askarov blocker side.
CANUCKS GOAL
Brock Boeser rips one home from the slot to open the scoring in San Jose.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 28, 2025
1-0 Canucks
Quinn Hughes took the game’s first penalty, giving the Sharks a chance to go to work against the Canucks’ struggling penalty kill. They made good on that chance, as Will Smith took a shot that Tolopilo really had no chance to stop:
Will Smith ties the game up on the Sharks powerplay.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 28, 2025
1-1.
The game became a lot more scrambly as the first period progressed. There were broken plays all over the ice as neither team seemed capable to complete a pass. Before the end of the first, the Sharks got their second power play chance of the game after Arshdeep Bains took a high-sticking penalty.
Second Period
The Canucks killed off the remainder of the penalty to open the second period, and shortly after that, Tom Willander nearly had his first career goal. With an open net to shoot at, Willander whiffed on his shot attempt. Fortunately for the Canucks, Elias Pettersson made a phenomenal play when he batted down Tyler Toffoli’s clearing attempt and drove the net. After getting knocked down, Pettersson refused to give up on the play, banking the puck off of Askarov:
Elias Pettersson scores a beauty to put the Canucks up 2-1.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 28, 2025
2-1 Canucks.
Tolopilo kept making the saves he needed to make, and Askarov matched him at the other end. Brock Boeser had two great chances to score but couldn’t beat the Sharks’ goaltender:
Brock Boeser gets two chances in the slot but can’t find the back of the net.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 28, 2025
The Canucks got a power play attempt right after, and again, Askarov made himself the story, turning aside multiple grade-A Canucks chances.
The Sharks got the game’s next power play when Quinn Hughes was given two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. It was a penalty that Ray Ferraro said would never be called by a veteran official, and I — having played 1,258 fewer NHL games than Ferraro — would have to agree. Marcus Pettersson took a real penalty just moments later, giving the Sharks a good chunk of time to work on the 5-on-3 man advantage.
During that stretch, Elias Pettersson showed some confidence and creativity when he flipped the puck in the air, retrieved it himself (with a quick cross check on Macklin Celebrini mixed in between), and got a solid chance off on Askarov:
Elias Pettersson creates a scoring chance on the five-on-three penalty kill.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 28, 2025
William Eklund then tied this one up for San Jose:
William Eklund ties the game on the two-man advantage.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 28, 2025
The Sharks got their first lead of the night shortly after, as Adam Gaudette took a backhand shot that was determined to have gone past Nikita Tolopilo after a league-initiated review.
After the video review, it was determined that Adam Gaudette scored on this play, putting the Sharks up 3-2.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 28, 2025
3-2 Sharks.
The Canucks got another power play with 48 seconds left in the second.
Some takeaways from the second:
-Filip Hronek’s shift five minutes into the second where he calmly broke up two separate Sharks scoring chances perfectly embodied how solid he’s been for this team.
Third Period
The Canucks couldn’t convert on what remained of their power play opportunity, and losing the special teams battle was quickly becoming a theme in this game. The Canucks’ fifth power play came in abbreviated fashion, as the Canucks’ PP had 1:11 to work with at about the halfway point of the third as they tried to tie this game up. Askarov was the Sharks’ best penalty killer for most of this game, and that continued as the Canucks’ PP moved to 0-for-5 on the night.
With 4:23 remaining, still down by one, the Canucks got their sixth power play of the game. They struggled to get set up on this one, testing Askarov just once, and with 20 seconds left on it, Evander Kane took a slashing penalty to put them back at 4-on-4.
This became a moot point in a hurry, as Filip Hronek sold some Macklin Celebrini cross checks to get the Canucks back on the power play. Celebrini was assessed an additional two minute minor for unsportmanlike conduct. I can’t remember the last time I saw two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties called against players from both teams for directing their frustration at the officials.
This meant that if the Canucks could just tie it up, they’d have a power play heading into OT. With their net empty, the Canucks cycled the puck around in the San Jose end, and after one more beautiful glove save from Askarov, this one came to an end.
There were some extracurricular activities at the end, but this one ended with a 3-2 win for San Jose.
Some takeaways from the third:
-The Canucks’ 5v5 play was fine in this game. Nikita Tolopilo played well. Today’s game was one defined by special teams. The Sharks went 2-for-6 on the power play, while the Canucks went 0-for-6. Hard to win when that’s the case.
-Didn’t like Quinn Hughes’ body language at points during this game! More on that coming in The Stanchies, I’m sure.
-Brock Boeser with some beautiful work in the clinch and a smooth transition to side control.
-Awful, awful officiating today.
What’s your instant reaction to this game? Let us know in the comments section below!
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In a perfect world, I would never know an NHL official’s name. They would just sort of exist as paragons of justice, maintaining order and sending people into the box of sadness when the occasion called for it.
Yet after the San Jose Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Friday afternoon, the names of Garrett Rank and, to a lesser extent, Riley Brace are now well known to everyone who watched this game. It was the kind of game that only Kelly Sutherland, Scott Foster and Angel Hernandez could truly love, as a start-and-stop game mired what had looked to be an intriguing matinee matchup.
And this isn’t a story of “the refs stole the game!” for any particular team, as I would imagine both sides found the officiating, how do I say this politely…less than ideal? Not great? More akin to eating an expired ham sandwich and praying it doesn’t end in disaster?
The Canucks certainly had their share of power play chances, but ended up going zero for seven on the night, whereas the Sharks cashed in two of their six opportunities with the extra man. This just speaks to the fact that the officials weren’t singling out a single team; instead, they were just focused on being terrible in every aspect of calling the game.
It’s the kind of game where you just wish that once, just once, there was an ounce of accountability from the officials. And look, I know it’s a tough job. You don’t grow up with Ron MacLean screaming in your face about the sanctity of referees, how their lives are incredibly tough, and how they can do no wrong, without accepting that there are two sides to this debate.
But if ever there was a game where you’d love to just ask a couple of questions to the officials along the line of “sooooo, what were you thinking?”, it would probably be this one.
Alas, that isn’t the world we live in, so just let it be known, for posterity’s sake, I have officially registered my objection to how this game was called.
That being said, we still have a hockey game to talk about! We have Quinn Hughes’ body language updates, we have Macklin Celebrini attempting to murder a man updates, we have Will Smith ruining the game of hockey with his jersey number updates, and we have a potential goal of the year candidate from Elias Pettersson updates, so buckle up and let’s dive in.
P.S. Lukas Reichel played in this game. I have no clips of him actually doing anything, as he’s currently in a “photograph in Back to the Future where he’s slowly fading out of existence” timeline, but just note that he did, in fact, take Aatu Räty’s spot in the lineup for this game.
I had this fun thing planned where I was going to post clips of every time Macklin almost got a point, in the hopes he would never get one, so we could all have a good laugh about it, but he got an assist on the Sharks’ first goal, so this adventure ended pretty quickly.
That being said, there was at least one play early on where he did not register an assist, when he tried to feed Will Smith in front of the net after Marcus Pettersson slipped on some bees:
If you hear a retching dry heave at any point in this article, that’s due to me trying to suppress my vomit at a forward using the number two. Also, it’s best not to wonder why I am standing behind you whilst you’re reading this and under no circumstances should you turn around.
I just think the number two is clearly for defencemen. I shouldn’t see a player rocking the number two cutting up the ice for repeated odd man rushes and think to myself “oh man, who is this crazy offensively oriented d-man??” before realizing it’s Will Smith spitting in the face of hockey.
We used to be a society, that’s all I am saying.
Boeser scores after the Canucks get outplayed for the first 4:30 of the 1st. #Canucks
— Luke(@CLukeNicholsn) November 28, 2025
After watching the assortment of 19-21-year-olds on the Sharks run wind sprints around them for the first five minutes of the game, Vancouver actually ended up opening the scoring when Brock Boeser finished off another delightful play with Conor Garland:
The Heated Rivarly line strikes again, as Boeser and Garland have really seemed to feed off of each other the last couple of games. I don’t view Brock Boeser as a huge puck-handling guy; normally, he darts in and out of traffic to steal a puck, feeds a linemate, then gets into position to shoot, which makes sense for the 2018 NHL All-Star Accuracy contest winner.
But playing with Corolla, we’ve seen a bit more hanging onto the puck, a bit more skating and cutting back to find an open lane from Brock, and I am really digging it. I just enjoy the way these two players are working together on the ice, as it hasn’t been too many times in the last couple of years that I’ve gotten noticeably excited when a line jumps on the ice.
Also, with that goal, Brock Boeser passes Todd Bertuzzi in points as a Canuck, taking over the 10th spot all-time. Although he still has a ways to go before he ties Bertuzzi in plans for revenge that go horribly wrong.
Speaking of things that almost ruined the game, here is Will Smith of the San Jose Sharks tying the game up on the power play, on a cross-crease feed from Alex Wennberg:
I just sort of assume everyone in San Jose is a 21-year-old former first-rounder, so at least in this case, Wennberg is a 31-year-old former first-rounder.
The Sharks’ power play is like an apple, very crisp and…the seeds contain cyanide…so Will Smith is like a cyanide pill that eventually the Canucks chomp down on after they’ve been captured, and ok, this metaphor clearly got away from us.
The point is, the Sharks have a fun power play. Lots of skill, lots of bravado, lots of moments where you marvel at young people’s endless energy.
And while east/west passes tend to murder the Canucks at the best of times due to spotty coverage, this goal was kind of helped out by a lucky bounce off of Fil Hronek’s skate. I think the Canucks positioning on the penalty isn’t great, as they end the goal in a straight line, offering up limited coverage, but that bounce certainly didn’t help anything.
Like, we’re still in that odd world where pining for Derek Forbort and Teddy Blueger to come back isn’t the wrong way to be viewing life, but it’s also a position you feel like you should never be in?
Either way, I appreciate the stick toss from Nikita Tolopilo, as that really emphasizes what little chance he had on that goal. Try it the next time someone tosses you something just out of your reach. If you fling your phone/wallet/backpack at it as an object sails by you, your friends will fully understand the plight you were in.
I often wonder if playing the Sharks inspires Conor Garland or makes him a tiny bit sad that he isn’t playing for them. He had a solid outing on Friday, so I think he was excited for the game. I just don’t know if he was an orca on this play, or a shark, when he circled the water and attacked out of nowhere to steal the puck:
For my money, there is nobody at jumping up with the pick six interception style on the Canucks than Conor Garland, just due to how Corolla thinks the game at such a high level.
This #canucks game is boring and I’m realizing we as @canucks fans are actually addicted to chaos
— Canucks Polls (@canuckspolls) November 28, 2025
Not every game can be played against the Ducks, so even the perfectly acceptable games like the one against the Sharks did tend to fade a bit in comparison. But we still had Quinn Hughes doing Quinn Hughes things, as he attempted to play hero ball and dance around the ice and generate some shots on net:
I wouldn’t qualify that as a dangerous shot, nor do I think it had a high chance of going in, but sometimes in games like this, getting a thoughts and prayers shot on net is better than nothing.
I also like to think that Macklin Celebrini watches that and it just plants the seed for him to come home one day, you know? One day, it has to work in Vancouver’s favour, right? Joe Sakic dedicated his life to Colorado, and Paul Kariya wanted nothing to do with playing in Vancouver, but eventually it’s going to work out where a giant superstar signs with their home team Canucks..
Tolopilo didn’t have nearly as big a workload as he did against the Ducks, and while he certainly wasn’t the reason the Canucks lost this game, he also didn’t have to stand on his head throughout the night. Which part of me is like this guy is a Luongo-style goaltender (relax) in that he seems to thrive on a chaotic number of scoring chances, based purely on a two-game sample size from this season. I say open up the barn doors and go end to end all game, let Tolopilo figure it out (please note this strategy is being made while I lean back in my chair eating a sandwich).
Visually, though, there is just something I enjoy about this guy’s game. He’s a big dude who fights to make every save, and I just really like watching him play in net:
I feel like Jiri Patera would have slid into the second row on that play; he just can’t seem to say no to an aggressive push-off, but Tolopilo keeps control and makes sure he doesn’t slide too far out of position.
Amidst all the rumours and allegations about Canucks management sending out an alert on their Blackberry about veterans being made available for trade, it was thought/decided/proposed that Kiefer Sherwood would have the most value amongst them. Which makes sense, as he has shown a goal-scorer’s touch in Vancouver, plays a physical game, and enjoys jawing with opponents.
Here he shows a bit of all three as he chases down a puck, watches John Klingberg fall to the ice, gets a shot on net, then calmly discusses how bad Klingberg is at skating after the whistle goes:
He’s the prototypical “adding some skill and toughness to our lineup” addition for any playoff team that you could probably acquire at a reasonable cost, so it’s not surprising that he would be at the top of many lists.
It feels like any day now Willander will score his first NHL goal, as his ability to jump into the play has created some solid scoring chances this season.
And on this play, Willander sees Hughes dangling with the puck at the blue line, so he knows the puck is about as safe as it can possibly be in life, so he activates and rushes the net:
Him and Boeser play a brief game of “mine! mine!” with Quinn Hughes’ rebound, but ultimately are denied by Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov.
If ever there was a John Wick look into the camera from Elias Pettersson, it would be this goal:
I’ll give you time to wipe yourself down after watching that goal before we discuss it.
Things to note on this goal:
- That’s the kind of goal that gets you put under a sorting hat.
- That level of unique creativity is something we have missed from Elias Pettersson. He’s basically doing his dekes, bro. In a game against a kid who is already posting superstar highlights seemingly every other game in Macklin Celebrini, you might have wondered how Elias was going to do in this matchup, and the answer is right there for you.
- Tapping the puck to himself out of the air to beat former friend and now hated foe Tyler Toffoli would have been enough to make a highlight out of, but to add in the falling to the ice and hitting the step back fadeaway jumper? I honestly have a hard time seeing a more skilled goal being scored this year for Vancouver. I can already hear Michael Bublé giving his “you people all wanted him gone” speech in my head as we watch that, despite being fundamentally wrong.
- I assume Macklin will be excited to forever be part of Canucks lore as a player who was posterized by Elias Pettersson on the best Canucks goal of 2025.
And perhaps inspired by this outburst of offensive destruction, the Canucks pushed the pace and immediately got an odd-man rush from Drew O’Connor and Kiefer Sherwood on the next faceoff:
Askarov made the perfect poke check to break up the play, and it should be noted that I thought the Sharks goaltender was fantastic on the night, EP40 humiliation aside.
DOC would then get another rush attempt with the Sharks caught deep in the Canucks offensive zone, but was denied again by Askarov:
And defensively, Fil Hronek was doing his part to keep the lead for the Canucks, as he easily broke up an odd-man rush against in the second period as well:
I think every defenceman on the team has struggled in some form under the new Foote-led defensive system, aside from Fil Hronek. I don’t know what it is, but he seems to get it.
He’s like that friend dating that person nobody likes, and all you can do is mutter “I don’t know what they see in them” as you head home for the night, overanalyzing everything about them.
“Did you see the way they swarmed the garlic dip?? They left the nachos wide open. I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.”
The Heated Rivalry line almost made it 3-1 when David Kämpf won a puck battle in the corner and fed Boeser for a dangerous shot, which was then followed up by Garland getting the puck back to Boeser for yet another dangerous shot:
If Chytil can come back and play, I think he joins the Heated Rivalry line. That feels like a trio I want to see in action.
The Canucks power play on the night was not good. Even if it had been a night of quick puck movement and tons of shot volume, when you fail to convert seven times with the man advantage, you have done a poor job.
It just felt like the first unit was a bit sluggish on the night. Moving the puck a bit slow, nobody really skating to get open. I think the Canucks made life pretty easy on the Sharks in that regard.
In fact, the second unit might have been better on the night, as they had one extended sequence where Sherwood almost scored, and Evander Kane hit the post:
Ultimately, the Canucks lost this game because they couldn’t score on the power play, with the added bonus of poorly timed officiating decisions thrown into the mix.
EP40 great iq play…flicking the puck in the air killing the PK and almost scored#Canucks
— Comp (@Comp4SB) November 28, 2025
With the Canucks down a man after Quinn Hughes got a penalty for making the official feel bad about himself, Macklin put his team up two men after drawing a penalty on this foray to the net:
I have to assume Macklin knows EP40 made him look silly on the previous goal, so he’s out there skating fueled purely by spite, to showcase that he, too, can score pretty goals.
Being down two men to the Sharks is a rough spot for any team, but Elias Pettersson actually almost scored against them when he flipped a puck in the air, shoved a dude to the ice, and then tried to bang home the loose puck:
This outside-the-box thinking is the kind of thing I love from Ep40; this is what I want more of.
Can’t get into the zone? Take off your skate and huck it at the other guy’s head, see what happens. I dig it.
Alas, the Sharks would score when William Eklund would get a shot off from the Draisaitl Angle of Doom:
When you’re down two men, it’s hard to criticize a team too much for how they penalty kill. I will say Elias Pettersson and Tyler Myers are probably too high and too close together on this play; it just leaves a lot of room for the Sharks to find a guy open on the wings.
And that being said, that’s still a hell of a shot from Eklund, to the point I would give it an (E5) rating, which is a rare thing, let me tell you.
And while I fully agree that the Canucks had multiple chances to score on their own power plays, the decision to give Quinn Hughes an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the initial penalty really felt like a bit of a momentum changer. Again, I don’t think you can claim this cost them the game, but you can definitely say it played a part in how things played out.
Which is unfortunate because I think calling that unsportsmanlike is about as bush league as it gets. If you listen to the broadcast, you can hear Quinn expressing a dislike of a fudging hold not being called, but that’s about it. Nothing egregious was said; nothing crossed any lines. It was just your usual run-of-the-mill “make the call, ref” stuff you hear a hundred times a game.
But for whatever reason, the officials decided that, yeah, now is the time to randomly punish a player for daring to yell loudly in my direction. The officials wanted to be the heroes in this story.
It’s just, I shouldn’t be watching NHL officials and wondering if I saw them at the local beer league game the night before. The energy from the officials on the night was very much that of two guys who don’t get paid enough to show up in Langley for an 11 pm puck drop, and now they’re going to power-trip and take it out on you.
At the very least, it just brings “game management” back into the spotlight, because you know what? It truly did feel like the officials tried to “make it up to Vancouver” by calling a couple of soft penalties later in the game. And I can firmly state, everyone would rather the game be called as fairly as possible without having to watch officials apologize by way of handing out penalties and handing you a piece of paper with “Do u accept my apology? check yes or no” written on it.
I much prefer videos of Adam Gaudette delivering round house kicks to unsuspecting brides, instead of unsuspecting pucks into the gloves of goalies:
This was a bit of a weird one: Tolopilo made the save, then the broadcast went to a commercial break, only to return to the NHL officials huddled around the box, discussing whether the puck went in.
And yeah, when you watch the replay, you can see Tolopilo gloves the puck, and it’s in the webbing, which is inside the net. He actually catches the puck outside of the net, but he turns his wrist and brings it inside the zone of sadness, and boom, it’s 3-2 Sharks.
As we just went over, the Canucks would get several power play opportunities from the officials after going down 3-2, but the Canucks just didn’t do much with them. The power play was too static and too slow to generate much aside from your token Quinn Hughes, “There are no options here, god damn it, fine, here’s a shot on net” play:
I feel like half of the shots in the third period from Vancouver were on unscreened attempts that went right into the glove of Askarov.
The main talking point of the power plays, from my end at least, was a couple of moments where Quinn Hughes just didn’t look engaged with puck pursuit:
The first one is at the end of the period with not much time remaining, so that one you can kind of walk away from feeling too troubled by it. The second one, though, it just looks like Quinn isn’t jumping on the puck like he normally does, almost as if he’s given up on the play too soon. When you have a play on the ice where people start talking about JT Miller’s body language, you know it’s going to be a hot topic.
And honestly, this one is a bit of a tough one to talk about. To me, it’s both an important couple of highlights to talk about, but also, we have to be careful not to make too big a deal out of it?
It’s important because we have seen Quinn Hughes generally look unhappy as of late. And not just an existential crisis resting face unhappy; we’ve seen him be short in media scrums, and we’ve heard the rumours of being talked to about the importance of body language/how you present yourself, especially as the captain. We have reports of him being 100% committed to the Canucks, and then we have reports from Andy Strickland saying accept your fate Vancouver, he’s out of here. So it’s natural to wonder where his head is at in all of this when you see plays like this.
But it’s important to remember we don’t definitively know why he’s not jumping on the puck here. It could be a Thanksgiving hangover. He could be dealing with injuries. He could be frustrated. We just don’t know. We’ve seen Quinn Hughes duct tape his body together last year to keep playing, so I would never question his commitment to winning, and for all we know, the duct tape has begun again this year. We never truly know the extent of a player’s injuries until they retire and become a sports radio guest, where they tell you how they had their ligaments replaced with several strands of spaghetti for a season or two, which is why their play fell off. I honestly wonder if JT Miller was/is dealing with the effects of a longer-term injury, and if that plays a part in some of the more debated highlights we’ve seen from him as of late.
However, it is a play that will stand out, because yeah, Quinn Hughes is in such an unknown position with the team. We don’t know if players are injured, so all you can do is guess. And he has a cloud hanging over his head in the form of his next contract, something that most likely won’t clear up until he’s traded or re-signs with the Canucks.
All of which makes for another season of wondering if people are getting divorced again, and being told it’s ok because if it happens, you get to celebrate Christmas twice at least. And we know how well that went last season in terms of it affecting the mood around the team.
So yes, I do believe people have a right to be concerned, but I would just caution jumping to conclusions about some of it.
The third period was a lot of “park the bus” hockey in the sense that the Sharks clearly wanted to slow things down and grind out the victory.
But even with that, they did on occasion get a breakaway or two, such as this moment when Will Smith walked on stage and slapped a puck at Tolopilo:
I don’t know what it is, I just really enjoy watching this kid in net.
Macklin then almost got his third assist on the night when the Sharks bombed the puck down the ice, and Celebrini got to the puck first and found Toffoli in front of the net:
But Tolopilo denied him, and you know why? Because that’s just what this kid does.
Love Macklin Celebrini, but kid what the fuck was that. Super dangerous #Canucks
— Connor (paid my dues)(@cknnr17) November 28, 2025
And with the Canucks doing their best to scrounge together enough change to buy a goal, Macklin Celebrini randomly attempted to murder Max Sasson of all people:
I don’t know if he’s as frustrated with everyone about how to pronounce Sasson and finally just snapped, or perhaps Mikko Rantanen is inspiring a new generation of skilled players to throw wildly illegal hits, but that is a brutal attempt to injure someone from where I’m saying. As Ray Ferraro said on the broadcast, if Macklin lands that, that’s a five-minute major, easy.
To make matters worse, the in-arena DJ immediately played the Chicken Dance song on the next faceoff, which that song shouldn’t even be played in the best of times.
Want to see the Canucks on the power play with under four minutes to go?
Are you sure?
Don’t say I didn’t warn you:
Yeah, they struggled to even get into the zone. Turned back several times, and it resulted in two scoring chances, and eventually finished with the traditional third period penalty from Planet Ice.
The Canucks power play had scored in seven straight games before this one, but they just had no juice against the Sharks. Whether it was the failed entries, or it was the disconnect in the third period, the entire night just felt off. Too often it feels like the power play resorts to Quinn Hughes dancing around, looking off EP40, before shooting into traffic for a tip shot.
The refs decided to even things out to a degree to negate the penalty on Evander Kane, as they randomly handed out a cross-checking penalty AND a bonus unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on this play, to Macklin:
I feel like calling Macklin by his first name makes sense, as he will be a future Canuck one day. I think we’re on that familiar level.
Also, these penalties could not be more game management if the officials tried, as balancing out the unsportsmanlike calls on this play creates a generous amount of side eye from me. We know what you’re doing boys, it’s not going to work. You can’t just hand in the box score and go “See? It all evened out.” and pretend you did a good job on the night.
The Canucks were unable to generate much offence as the time wore down; however, the best chance was probably this shot from EP40:
Apparently, generating another goal in which people debate whether it more closely resembles Alex Ovechkin or Pavel Bure is too much to ask. Pfft.
The end of game took around five minutes as the officials had to discuss how best to assess Elias Pettersson a penalty for being hit repeatedly with cross-checks roughing:
Watch that clip. Show me one single moment where Elias Pettersson does anything even remotely close to roughing. Dude is literally getting chopped to the ice, and somehow the officials wanted to hand out penalties to both sides, so they just arbitrarily assigned one to EP40.
I don’t point this out as having any impact on the game (under two seconds left on the clock at this point), but just to point out how awful the officiating was on the night. It just felt made up on the spot, and more about what the refs wanted to call versus what they should be calling.
Luckily, the Canucks have some time off before the next game to rest up, and oh, nope, it’s tomorrow at 7 pm.
See you soon.
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Vancouver Canucks head coach Adam Foote announced a number of key lineup changes for the team’s Saturday night game against the Los Angeles Kings.
Per Canucks Insider, Foote shared that goaltender Kevin Lankinen is confirmed to start after a brief absence, while Aatu Räty, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, and Pierre-Olivier Joseph are set to dress. Forwards Lukas Reichel, and Conor Garland, as well as defenceman Elias Pettersson, were out of the lineup.
Lankinen’s return is good news for the team, which has seen a number of players carry the crease amidst injuries and absences. It was announced earlier this week that Lankinen would not travel with the team for their current road trip due to personal reasons, but it was later rumoured he would re-join the team on the road. Lankinen last played on November 23rd in a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames. He’s posted a 4-7-2 record across 13 appearances this season, posting a .880 save percentage and a 3.63 goals against average. Between his absense and Thatcher Demko remaining on the injured reserve, Nikita Tolopilo started both games this week, going 1-1 with a .892 save percentage and a 3.56 goals against average.
Meanwhile, Garland’s absence from the lineup is sure to stir up questions as the Canucks continue to explore shopping their veterans on the trade market, but the 29-year-old forward is simply out with an injury Saturday. In fact, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, no trades are imminently in the works for Vancouver, with the team perfectly content taking their time right now. In Garland’s place, Lekkerimäki is slotting back in after a stint in the AHL. The 21-year-old made four appearances with the Canucks in October, putting up one goal across that span.
Elliotte Friedman provides an update on the #Canucks
He says there are no trades that are imminent and that the Canucks are willing to take their time.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 30, 2025
Räty returns to the lineup Saturday after being scratched on Wednesday, replacing Reichel. The Finnish forward has a goal and five assists in 22 games this season, while Reichel has just one assist in 14 games since the Canucks acquired him in October.
On the blue line, Joseph will play his tenth game as a Canuck on Friday, coming in for D Pettersson. Joseph has one assist in nine games, averaging 12:14 TOI a night, while Pettersson has appeared in 24 games with Vancouver this season, posting two assists.
Puck drops between the Canucks and the Kings at 7 pm from Crypto.com Arena.
Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
Starting Lineup
There were plenty of notes with the Canucks’ lineup. Kevin Lankinen returned from personal leave, Jonathan Lekkerimäki slotted in for an injured Conor Garland, and Aatu Räty and PO Joseph replaced Lukas Reichel and Elias ‘Junior’ Pettersson, who will both serve as healthy scratches.
Projected #Canucks lines vs. @LAKings
Kane. EP40. DeBrusk.
Boeser. Kämpf. Sherwood.
O’Connor. Räty. Lekkerimäki.
Bains. Sasson. Karlsson.
Hughes. Hronek.
MP29. Myers.
Joseph. Willander.
7pm on @Sportsnet650 https://t.co/J6DNM1E8Qt pic.twitter.com/nps7k1If7c
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) November 30, 2025
First Period
We did not have to wait long for our first bit of action. Driving hard to the net along the goal line was Elias Pettersson, who attempted to tuck it far side on Anton Forsberg nearly 30 seconds into the game. The Canucks thought they had a goal. However, after further review, the puck was 99% over the goal line, but not 100%. No goal. That was about as close as you can get.
After the Canucks thought they had taken an early lead, the Los Angeles Kings beat Kevin Lankinen to open the scoring…or so they thought.
Two minutes later, the Kings enter the zone with what looks like a close play entering the zone on the opposite side of the puck carrier. The puck takes an odd bounce behind the net, and Pettersson could not corral the puck, allowing former Canuck Andrei Kuzmenko to pick up the loose puck and centre the pass to Trevor Moore in the slot, who fired it behind Lankinen.
However, the Canucks challenged the play for offside and were successful. No goal.
Andrei Kuzmenko finds Trevor Moore for the first goal of the game.
But it's called no goal after the Canucks challenged for an offside.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 30, 2025
Then, two minutes after that, the Canucks thought they had opened the scoring for the second time of the game, as Drew O’Connor carried the puck into the zone and found Quinn Hughes at the point. Hughes let go of a point shot that Aatu Räty deflected home! Huzzah! A goal!
PSYCHE! Another successful challenge for offside.
With just under four minutes left in the first, Anze Kopitar opened the scoring as Tyler Myers and Marcus Pettersson just… kept backing up…?:
Anže Kopitar opens the scoring.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 30, 2025
1-0 Kings.
Some takeaways from the first:
-Really liked a couple of the defensive plays from Tom Willander in the first, particularly at defending the rush and his gap control.
-After further review, that first period took years off my life.
-Some solid saves from Kevin Lankinen in the first.
-GO WHITECAPS!!!!!!
Second Period
Already 1-for-1 on the night, the Canucks’ penalty kill got another chance to work when Evander Kane took a hooking penalty. The Canucks killed it off, and upon the expiry of the penalty, Kane took a stretch pass from Drew O’Connor and made no mistake on his breakaway attempt:
Evander Kane is sprung in on a breakaway after exiting the penalty box and he makes no mistake!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 30, 2025
1-1.
The Canucks got the game’s next power play when Alex Turcotte put the grab on Marcus Pettersson. Working on their second opportunity of the game, the Canucks’ power play once again struggled and didn’t get many good looks. They didn’t have to wait long for their third, and this time, Jonathan Lekkerimäki got a look on the first unit. They looked much better this time, controlling the zone and getting multiple good looks off on Anton Forsberg.
The Kings got the game’s next power play, thanks to a high-sticking penalty from — you guessed it — Evander Kane. The Canucks killed this one off, as this game remained tied heading into the third.
Some takeaways from the second:
-LOVED to see Lekkerimäki get a chance on PP1. One of the best parts about being a “team in transition” is getting to see the kids play.
-How many minor penalties will Evander Kane finish the season with? He’ll certainly lead the Canucks, but where will he rank league-wide when all is said and done?
Third Period
This was becoming a tight-checking game at 5v5, which meant both teams would be itching to get a power play chance. LA was the next recipient of one of those chances, as Aatu Räty was called for tripping just over seven minutes into the third.
The Kings came close to taking the lead, as an Adrian Kempe point shot made its way through traffic and hit the post behind Lankinen. That was as close as they would come though, as this game returned to even strength.
If you thought the second period was low-event, then you may have flat out fallen asleep during the third. So many broken plays. So many errant passes. This one needed overtime.
Some takeaways from the third:
-Every time I see Andrei Kuzmenko, I think about the good times. I’m not suggesting he was the reason the team had good times, or that they should try to bring him back or anything like that. But he had plenty of great moments in this city and was one of the most exciting players in recent memory. Just reminds me of those times every time I see him in another team’s uniform.
-Another reminder that Filip Hronek has been phenomenal this season.
Overtime
NHL overtime is just so action-packed. There’s no point even trying to do written play-by-play, to be honest. There were a lot of 2-on-1s, and the Canucks tried to keep possession as best they could. Unfortunately, Adrian Kempe put an end to the Canucks’ hopes. I thought this could have been goalie interference, but the goal stood.
Adrian Kempe scores the OT winner for the Kings
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 30, 2025
2-1 final.
Over 30 minutes of ice time for Quinn Hughes.
What’s your instant reaction to this game? Let us know in the comments section below!
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(@nuckaround) 
(@deniedbydemko) 
you’ll get em next time 
(@AimeeeeYoung) 