PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canucks

The Edmonton Oilers will face their rivals the Vancouver Canucks for the second time in five days on Thursday night at Rogers Place.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 7:00 MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 880 CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canucks

EDMONTON, AB – Here we go again.

After meeting this past Saturday on the West Coast, the Edmonton Oilers will host their Western Conference rivals in the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night at Rogers Place in the second game of their season-high six-game homestand.

The Blue & Orange are looking to get back in the win column after losing back-to-back games for the first time in 2025 following a 3-2 defeat to the league-leading Washington Capitals on Tuesday, but the loss wasn't due to any lack of effort.

The Oilers heavily out-chanced the Capitals, more than doubling them up in shots 32-14, but goaltender Logan Thompson – a notable snub from Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster along with Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner – made 30 saves to improve to 10-0-1 in his last 11 starts, building on his performance last week as the NHL's First Star of the Week.

Thompson also recorded an assist on the game-winning goal early in the third period from forward Pierre Luc-Dubois, who had a goal and an assist in the victory to help extend Washington's point streak to 11 games (8-0-3).

Forward Leon Draisaitl was his regular self, scoring his NHL-best 34^th goal of the season, along with an assist on Corey Perry's third-period tally that saw the veteran forward avoid a plate of nachos on the ice and score his eighth goal of the campaign. Perry’s goal was the 437th of his career, tying Pavel Bure and Rick Nash for the 76th-most in NHL history.

With a goal and an assist for Draisaitl on Tuesday, the German sits second in the NHL for points with 71 while owning a six-goal lead in the NHL's goalscoring race. Defenceman Darnell Nurse posted an assist to reach 20 points this season – his eighth consecutive campaign with 20 or more points.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid missed Tuesday's defeat serving the first of his three-game suspension for cross-checking Canucks forward Conor Garland late in Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Vancouver.

His absence from the lineup was felt particularly on the power play, as the Oilers failed to generate a whole lot over three opportunities with the man advantage – including on a six-on-four opportunity in the game's final minutes.

“You're missing the best player in the world. It's a little bit different look,” Zach Hyman said post-game on Tuesday. "I thought we had some looks, and we'll have two more games without him here, so a little bit more practice on it and we should be good."

McDavid laid out his thoughts to the media on Wednesday about his suspension, saying that he knows he made the wrong decision but called for more consistency across the board when it comes to calling penalties.

“I'm just trying to tie the game. I'm not really looking to engage with him,” McDavid said of the Garland incident. “Obviously, there's lots of holding and holding down. He holds my head down for a little bit and stuff like that, but I can't have that reaction. I know that. Everyone knows that.

"It’s not a reaction that I'm proud of or one that anyone wants to see out of me, and I understand that. That being said, there are lots of infractions going on there. Maybe the whole thing is avoided with a blow of the whistle or something like that. But again, I can't have that reaction.”

“I think every player across the league just wants to see the game called [consistently]," he added. "A penalty in the first is a penalty in the third. A penalty in October is a penalty in April. So, I think guys just want that standard and that consistency."

Despite defeating the Oilers on Saturday, the Canucks have struggled with their own consistency by losing seven of their last nine games. The Canucks lost 3-2 to the Sabres on Tuesday, who have the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

The Canucks haven't won consecutive games in regulation since late November.

“Consistency is a responsibility on the individual,” Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. “When you come to the rink, you have got to do the hard things and the right things consistently, and when everyone collectively does that, the team becomes consistent.”

Thanks to their strong start, the Canucks are still firmly in the playoff picture, sitting in the second Wild Card in the Western Conference.