The Vancouver Canucks (20-17-10) host the league-leading Washington Capitals (33-10-5) tonight at Rogers Arena. 
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2111" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="329"></div>
&nbsp;
The Canucks have dropped four of five games while the Caps roll into town on a six-game win streak.
<h1>What we saw</h1>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> this morning DeBrusk-Suter-Garland Heinen-Miller-Boeser Hoglander-Pettersson-Karlsson PDG-Blueger-Sasson Joshua
Hughes-Hronek D-Petey-Soucy Forbort-Desharnais Juulsen-Friedman Myers
&mdash; Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) <a href="https://twitter.com/patersonjeff/status/1883224185289474552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Vancouver Canucks will have new looks to their forward&#8217;s lines and will also have a pair of Elias Petterssons in their line-up for the first time. The rookie defenceman will make his NHL debut tonight on a pair with Carson Soucy on the right side. The 20-year-old Swede was called up on Wednesday and accompanied the team to Edmonton but did not dress against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
The Canucks are coming off a 6-2 loss in the Alberta Capital. Brock Boeser had a goal and an assist. Filip Hronek scored the other Canucks goal – his second of the season. After a subpar performance against the Oilers, Rick Tocchet held more of a practice than a morning skate today. Kiefer Sherwood, who left Thursday&#8217;s game in the second period with an undisclosed injury, was the only player on the roster not on the ice today. Sherwood was seen in the hall outside the Canucks locker room this morning, so he was around the rink. 
Dakota Joshua took part in the morning session in a regular jersey, indicating he is ready for contact. He&#8217;s been out of the line-up since January 3rd with a lower-body injury. He won&#8217;t play tonight but will likely return on the team&#8217;s upcoming three-game road trip. Noah Juulsen also skated with the group this morning. He has been out since a January 14th game in Winnipeg.
Kevin Lankinen, who missed Tuesday’s game with an illness but backed up Thatcher Demko in Edmonton, gets the start in goal tonight. He has not played since a 6-1 loss in Winnipeg on January 14th. His last victory was a 3-0 shutout win in Toronto two weeks ago tonight. Lankinen is 16-8-6 on the season, however he is 2-4-3 in his last nine appearances since mid-December. A total of 179 NHL goalies have allowed an Alex Ovechkin goal over his career. In two head-to-head match-ups so far, Lankinen is not on that list.
In four of the past five Canucks games, one of the teams has jumped into a 3-0 first period lead. The Canucks have done it once – against Edmonton last Saturday – but it’s happened to the Canucks on three occasions (in Winnipeg, against Los Angeles and in Edmonton).
The team’s past two wins have come on Saturday nights (3-0 in Toronto on January 11th and 3-2 over Edmonton a week ago). They will look for a third straight Saturday success story tonight. On the season, the Canucks are 7-2-2 in Saturday games.
The Canucks need a couple of their big guns to start firing again. JT Miller has gone eight games without a goal. Jake DeBrusk, the team’s leading goal scorer, has also gone eight without scoring and has one goal in his last 12 games. 
As a team, the Canucks have managed just 13 goals in the past eight contests. 
For the second time this season, the Canucks did not have a power play in Thursday’s game in Edmonton (also in Toronto). In their last two games, they have had just one opportunity to work on the man advantage and over their last seven games, they are two for 15 (13.3%) with the man advantage. Quinn Hughes had both goals in last Saturday’s win over the Oilers.
<h1>The opponent</h1>
The Capitals are back in action after a 3-0 win in Seattle on Thursday. The club has won six in a row, allowing four goals and posting three shutouts over that span. The team is 9-0-3 in its last 12 outings. Aliaksei Protas, Ethen Frank and Alex Ovechkin scored the Washington goals against the Kraken, while Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves in his return to game action for the first time in 10 days. Lindgren will get a second straight start tonight. He&#8217;s 11-8-2 on the season with a 2.53 GAA and a .905% save percentage.
The Caps have a league-best 71 points on the season and carry the best goal differential at +54. They are the second-highest scoring team in the league and the best defensive group in the NHL. Dylan Strome leads Washington with 46 points. He is one of six players on the team with 34 or more points. 
Ovechkin has a team-best 22 goals on the season. He is now 19 away from matching Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time goal scoring lead (894). In 13 career games in Vancouver, Ovechkin has recorded nine goals and 14 points.
Pierre-Luc Dubois scored both goals in a 2-1 Capitals overtime victory against the Canucks on January 8th in Washington. The Canucks established a team season-high with 21 shots in the second period of that game. By forcing that game to overtime, the Canucks are the only Pacific Division team to take a point off the Caps so far this season (7-0-1).
Tonight’s referees: Trevor Hanson &amp; Tom Chmielewski
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse &amp; Ray Ferraro
<h1>What we heard</h1>
Rick Tocchet on mixing his lines up in an effort to find an offensive spark: “When you’re in a situation where you are struggling, you have a group of guys that are really trying hard and they’re tight or whatever, and obviously a group we need some guys to get going. So we need both groups to get together here and make a little bit of a run. Sometimes you try some different things.”
Tocchet on Dakota Joshua skating with the group for first time since January 3rd: “Yeah, he’s close. Whether he plays next game or the game after that’s how close he is. That will be another guy that will be a positive for us when he gets back in.”
Elias Pettersson (the forward) on trying to find the fun in the game again: “Obviously, have fun. Good details. Be desperate, but in a good way. We’re only going to turn this around with the guys in here. I believe we can do it. We just need to work on a few things.”
Make sure to join the Rink Wide Vancouver postgame live stream immediately following tonight’s game. Rink Wide will provide a full breakdown and comprehensive coverage of the Canucks game. When the final buzzer sounds, be sure to log onto Rink Wide and join the YouTube live chat to discuss the game with other Canucks fans. Subscribe to the Rink Wide YouTube channel and never miss an episode.
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="RINK WIDE POST-GAME: Vancouver Canucks vs Washington Capitals | Game 48 - Jan. 25, 2025" width="1333" height="1000" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LOF6nN2YlV0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
Sponsored by bet365
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="329" data-promotion-id="19111" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>
&nbsp;

The Vancouver Canucks (20-17-10) host the league-leading Washington Capitals (33-10-5) tonight at Rogers Arena. 
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2111" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="329"></div>
&nbsp;

The Canucks have dropped four of five games while the Caps roll into town on a six-game win streak.
<h1>What we saw</h1>
https://twitter.com/patersonjeff/status/1883224185289474552

The Vancouver Canucks will have new looks to their forward's lines and will also have a pair of Elias Petterssons in their line-up for the first time. The rookie defenceman will make his NHL debut tonight on a pair with Carson Soucy on the right side. The 20-year-old Swede was called up on Wednesday and accompanied the team to Edmonton but did not dress against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.

The Canucks are coming off a 6-2 loss in the Alberta Capital. Brock Boeser had a goal and an assist. Filip Hronek scored the other Canucks goal – his second of the season. After a subpar performance against the Oilers, Rick Tocchet held more of a practice than a morning skate today. Kiefer Sherwood, who left Thursday's game in the second period with an undisclosed injury, was the only player on the roster not on the ice today. Sherwood was seen in the hall outside the Canucks locker room this morning, so he was around the rink. 

Dakota Joshua took part in the morning session in a regular jersey, indicating he is ready for contact. He's been out of the line-up since January 3rd with a lower-body injury. He won't play tonight but will likely return on the team's upcoming three-game road trip. Noah Juulsen also skated with the group this morning. He has been out since a January 14th game in Winnipeg.

Kevin Lankinen, who missed Tuesday’s game with an illness but backed up Thatcher Demko in Edmonton, gets the start in goal tonight. He has not played since a 6-1 loss in Winnipeg on January 14th. His last victory was a 3-0 shutout win in Toronto two weeks ago tonight. Lankinen is 16-8-6 on the season, however he is 2-4-3 in his last nine appearances since mid-December. A total of 179 NHL goalies have allowed an Alex Ovechkin goal over his career. In two head-to-head match-ups so far, Lankinen is not on that list.

In four of the past five Canucks games, one of the teams has jumped into a 3-0 first period lead. The Canucks have done it once – against Edmonton last Saturday – but it’s happened to the Canucks on three occasions (in Winnipeg, against Los Angeles and in Edmonton).

The team’s past two wins have come on Saturday nights (3-0 in Toronto on January 11th and 3-2 over Edmonton a week ago). They will look for a third straight Saturday success story tonight. On the season, the Canucks are 7-2-2 in Saturday games.

The Canucks need a couple of their big guns to start firing again. JT Miller has gone eight games without a goal. Jake DeBrusk, the team’s leading goal scorer, has also gone eight without scoring and has one goal in his last 12 games. 

As a team, the Canucks have managed just 13 goals in the past eight contests. 

For the second time this season, the Canucks did not have a power play in Thursday’s game in Edmonton (also in Toronto). In their last two games, they have had just one opportunity to work on the man advantage and over their last seven games, they are two for 15 (13.3%) with the man advantage. Quinn Hughes had both goals in last Saturday’s win over the Oilers.
<h1>The opponent</h1>
The Capitals are back in action after a 3-0 win in Seattle on Thursday. The club has won six in a row, allowing four goals and posting three shutouts over that span. The team is 9-0-3 in its last 12 outings. Aliaksei Protas, Ethen Frank and Alex Ovechkin scored the Washington goals against the Kraken, while Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves in his return to game action for the first time in 10 days. Lindgren will get a second straight start tonight. He's 11-8-2 on the season with a 2.53 GAA and a .905% save percentage.

The Caps have a league-best 71 points on the season and carry the best goal differential at +54. They are the second-highest scoring team in the league and the best defensive group in the NHL. Dylan Strome leads Washington with 46 points. He is one of six players on the team with 34 or more points. 

Ovechkin has a team-best 22 goals on the season. He is now 19 away from matching Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time goal scoring lead (894). In 13 career games in Vancouver, Ovechkin has recorded nine goals and 14 points.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored both goals in a 2-1 Capitals overtime victory against the Canucks on January 8th in Washington. The Canucks established a team season-high with 21 shots in the second period of that game. By forcing that game to overtime, the Canucks are the only Pacific Division team to take a point off the Caps so far this season (7-0-1).

Tonight’s referees: Trevor Hanson &amp; Tom Chmielewski

Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse &amp; Ray Ferraro
<h1>What we heard</h1>
Rick Tocchet on mixing his lines up in an effort to find an offensive spark: “When you’re in a situation where you are struggling, you have a group of guys that are really trying hard and they’re tight or whatever, and obviously a group we need some guys to get going. So we need both groups to get together here and make a little bit of a run. Sometimes you try some different things.”

Tocchet on Dakota Joshua skating with the group for first time since January 3rd: “Yeah, he’s close. Whether he plays next game or the game after that’s how close he is. That will be another guy that will be a positive for us when he gets back in.”

Elias Pettersson (the forward) on trying to find the fun in the game again: “Obviously, have fun. Good details. Be desperate, but in a good way. We’re only going to turn this around with the guys in here. I believe we can do it. We just need to work on a few things.”

Make sure to join the Rink Wide Vancouver postgame live stream immediately following tonight’s game. Rink Wide will provide a full breakdown and comprehensive coverage of the Canucks game. When the final buzzer sounds, be sure to log onto Rink Wide and join the YouTube live chat to discuss the game with other Canucks fans. Subscribe to the Rink Wide YouTube channel and never miss an episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOF6nN2YlV0

Sponsored by bet365
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="329" data-promotion-id="19111" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>
&nbsp;

Scenes from morning skate: Canucks dramatically shake up lines ahead of tilt vs. Capitals

NHL odds, betting preview (Jan 25): Capitals vs. Canucks predictions

Defenceman Elias Pettersson shoots the puck at the 2024 Young Stars Classic game between the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers

Recent articles from Jeff Paterson

Breaking News