The Vancouver Canucks kick off 2026 at Rogers Arena with the Seattle Kraken coming to town for their second matchup of the season.
These two teams met on Monday, and the Canucks were able to pick up a shootout victory with Liam Öhgren scoring the shootout winner while Kevin Lankinen stayed perfect in the post-overtime competition.
Friday’s game will be the first of a back-to-back for the Canucks, who will face the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. The Kraken are on the second night of a back-to-back, as they host the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
Drew O’Connor and Linus Karlsson continue to have a hot hand, and each has a pair of goals over their last three outings. O’Connor is up to 10 goals this season and is chasing his career high of 16, which he set in the 2023-24 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Karlsson has nine goals on the year and has already set a career high in goals. He has four goals in his last five games, and skated alongside Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson at Thursday’s practice.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Kraken have lost only one game in their previous five, before playing the Predators on Thursday night.
- Defenceman Vince Dunn is now up to 20 points (5g-15a) this season. He is averaging 22:34 of ice time per game and playing alongside Adam Larsson on the top pair.
- Joey Daccord is the expected starter on Thursday when the Kraken host the Preds. Philipp Grubauser is the other netminder for the Kraken, but Matt Murray skated with the team at Thursday’s morning skate.
- The Kraken’s power play ranks 11th in the league with a 20.7% conversion percentage. Chandler Stephenson leads the team with four power play goals.
- On the penalty kill, they rank 31st in the league with a 71.7% kill rate.
- The Kraken have scored first in 12 of their 18 road games this season and are 6-5-1 when they do so.
- They are 5-1-3 in one-goal games on the road.
The Story: Opportunities Arise
Head Coach Adam Foote spoke to the media on Thursday and said that Marco Rossi and Conor Garland will be out of the lineup and will be evaluated in a week.
With those two out of the lineup, we saw Max Sasson move up to the second line centre position with Evander Kane and Brock Boeser on his wings.
Karlsson also got a call-up in the lineup, as he skated with Pettersson and DeBrusk.
The head coach also mentioned that the team will need to call up a forward from the Abbotsford Canucks, who are 3-1-1 in their last five games.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Linus Karlsson: 4g-1a-5p
Drew O’Connor: 3g-1a-4p
Liam Öhgren: 1g-2a-3p
Conor Garland: 0g-3a-3p
Filip Hronek: 0g-3a-3p
When and Where to Watch
Friday’s game is at 7:30 p.m. PT, and you can watch the game on Sportsnet or listen to Brendan Batchelor’s radio call on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
