The Canucks resumed their 2025-26 season with a 6-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks.
The Vancouver Canucks resumed their 2025–26 season by suffering a 6–3 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Linus Karlsson tallied his eighth goal of the season, Marco Rossi scored his first as a Canuck, and Drew O’Connor potted his ninth, tying him with Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk for second on Vancouver in goals. Thatcher Demko started tonight, stopping 31 of 35 shots faced.
Vancouver showed up to tonight’s game looking like they were still skating on their holiday legs, as they were unable to keep up with the Sharks, especially early on. With puck control faltering and passes not connecting, Vancouver’s inability to keep up with San Jose resulted in them giving up a 2–0 lead by the eight-minute mark of the first period. While they did seem to pick things up a little more as the game progressed, San Jose clearly found their footing faster.
Tonight was the first time Rossi, Zeev Buium, and Liam Öhgren played in Vancouver since being acquired by the Canucks as part of the Quinn Hughes trade. Fans got to see first-hand what the future of their blueline will look like with Buium on it, with the defenceman playing a team-high 22:24 minutes. While he did have a few good looks today, Buium was also on the receiving end of a negative play on the man-advantage after the puck came off his stick and allowed the Sharks a shorthanded breakaway chance. After this occurred, Filip Hronek took his spot on Vancouver’s first power play unit. It wasn’t Buium’s best game by any means, but serves as a reminder that the defenceman is still very young and will grow lots throughout his career.
Rossi was a big factor in tonight’s game in a few ways. Offensively, the center has not been the most noticeable since joining the Canucks, as prior to tonight he had only tallied one assist in the past five games. He had a bit of a rough go tonight, as San Jose’s third goal bounced off of him and into the net. However, he managed to redeem himself for the accident by getting the final touch on Vancouver’s second goal of the night, which also bounced around before ending up behind Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov. Rossi also logged the highest faceoff winning percentage of Vancouver’s natural centers with 64.3%.
The last time the Canucks and Sharks faced off, Vancouver went 0-for-8 on their power play. It only took them one power play to find the back of the net this time around, as it was Karlsson right from the back door who got the Canucks their first goal of the game while on the man-advantage. While they did end up getting a power play opportunity in the second period, that was quickly neutralized after Evander Kane took a hooking penalty only 12 seconds in. Vancouver finished the game with a goal in four power play opportunities tonight.
Luck played a big role in some of the goals scored tonight for both Vancouver and San Jose. The Sharks’ first goal came after the puck trickled past Demko and slid past the goal line after some chaos in the crease. Both San Jose’s third goal and Vancouver’s second goal came off the defending teams’ players after a bit of action near each team’s creases.
Tonight’s player of the game for the Canucks was undoubtedly Conor Garland, who factored into all three of the Canucks’ goals in a big way. He sent Karlsson the crisp pass to get Vancouver onto the board, was part of the group that lobbed the puck on net for their second tally, and joined O’Connor on the shorthanded break to bring their total up to three (though he didn’t get a point on this play). As well, the forward drew a penalty at a pivotal moment in the game, though the Canucks didn’t end up capitalizing on this chance. Garland historically plays well against the Sharks, as prior to tonight he had nine goals and 17 assists in 29 games against San Jose. As for the Sharks, Macklin Celebrini was noticeable all night on both sides of the ice.
Stats and Facts:
- Elias Pettersson skates in 500th career NHL game
- Thatcher Demko loses to the Sharks for the first time in NHL career
- Linus Karlsson scores his third goal in his past three games
- San Jose wins in Vancouver for the first time since February 11, 2019
- Conor Garland records two points to bring his career total up to 28 points in 30 games played against the Sharks
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
6:11 - SJS: Ryan Reaves (3) from Barclay Goodrow and Vincent Iorio
7:55 - SJS: John Klingberg (9) from Macklin Celebrini
10:04 - VAN: Linus Karlsson (8) from Conor Garland and Filip Hronek (PPG)
2nd Period:
12:38 - SJS: William Eklund (9)
3rd Period:
0:36 - VAN: Marco Rossi (5) from Filip Hronek and Conor Garland
4:47 - SJS: Igor Chernyshov (1) from Adam Gaudette and Dmitry Orlov (PPG)
10:43 - VAN: Drew O’Connor (9) (SHG)
16:20 - SJS: Macklin Celebrini (20) from Igor Chernyshov and William Eklund
16:55 - SJS: Collin Graf (11) from Alexander Wennberg and Mario Ferraro (ENG)
Up Next:
The Canucks head on the road for one game on Monday, taking on the Seattle Kraken in the first-half of a back-to-back. This is the first of three matchups against the Canucks and the Kraken this season. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT.
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