Vancouver Canucks @ Toronto Maple Leafs
07:00 PM at Scotiabank Arena
Watch on: SN, CBC

The Leafs last game was away on January 8 against the Philadelphia Flyers, which Toronto won by a score of 2-1 in overtime. The Leafs have a record of 21-15-7 for a 0.570 Points %.

The Vancouver Canucks last played away on January 8 against the Detroit Red Wings. The Canucks lost by a score of 5-1 in regulation, and their current league record is 16-22-5 for a 0.430 Points %.

Them

The Canucks don't just have the Malaise like the Leafs did, they have Ultra-Malaise. Their commitment to the bit is stunning, and it must be frustrating for them that the Jets are actually worse after being actually good.

Last year the Canucks were at best a mediocre team with bad goaltending and some shooting prowess. They missed the playoffs, but in a way that should have seen them buckle down and shore up that net to prosper this year.

This did not occur. They have bad Corsi of 48%, and worse Expected Goals of 46%. They decline in quality at both ends of the ice, putting them in a class with The Kraken, the Sharks and Chicago as the most dismal teams. They allow the third worst xGA in the league.

Weirdly, their power play is very good, but scores under expected. They still score enough to be 11th in goals rate on the power play, and they get a better than average amount of time on the power play.

Their PK is average, and the goaltending neither adds not subtracts from it. Otherwise, their team Save % in all-situations is below average and ranks 25th in the NHL.

Thatcher Demko is good, Kevin Lankinen is not.

Lines

Last Game (2026-01-08) via Daily Faceoff

Nils Hoglander - Elias Pettersson - Brock Boeser
Jake DeBrusk - David Kampf - Kiefer Sherwood
Liam Ohgren - Max Sasson - Linus Karlsson
Drew O'Connor - Aatu Raty - Evander Kane

Marcus Pettersson - Tom Willander
Zeev Buium - Filip Hronek
Elias Nils Pettersson - Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko - likely starter
Kevin Lankinen

Us

William Nylander is indeed back in action tonight. The lines are rearranged, bumping Calle Järnkrok off as the extra man.

Jake McCabe is participating, and is a gametime decision, but he skated on the fourth pair today. Anthony Stolarz got in some practice today too, but don't read too much into him going on the road trip. He's close, but he's not ready to play yet.

Lines

Morning skate:

Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Max Domi
Matias Maccelli - John Tavares - William Nylander
Easton Cowan - Nicolas Roy - Nicholas Robertson
Bobby McMann - Scott Laughton - Steven Lorentz

Morgan Rielly - Brandon Carlo
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit - Philippe Myers

Joe Woll - starter
Dennis Hildeby

The Game

Vancouver cannot really be as bad as their record, but they defend particularly poorly, so get in there and score some goals, Leafs.

Game Coverage