The Vancouver Canucks took to the Abbotsford Centre on Wednesday night to take on the Calgary Flames in some pre-season action, winning by a score of 3–1. While some of the night’s action bore a negative result, such as Nils Höglander exiting the game due to a lower body injury, most of it was a great showcase of the roster’s talent. Let’s take a look at three standouts from last night’s victory.
Victor Mancini
Mancini was a standout in the Canucks’ first pre-season game and continued his dominance during the second game. In his first game back at the Abbotsford Centre since winning the 2025 Calder Cup, the defenceman scored Vancouver’s 2–0 goal (the eventual game-winner) and logged minutes on both the power play and penalty kill once again. He was a commanding presence on the ice yet again, and will continue to make the Canucks’ decision hard when it comes to narrowing down players for their opening night D-core.
“I thought I played to my strengths pretty well today,” Mancini had said after Wednesday night’s game. “I thought I played my game. I know I consider myself a bit of a harsh grader, so there’s still a few things that I want back and I want to work on, but just go look at the video tonight or tomorrow and make adjustments.”
Filip Chytil
Chytil has stood out since training camp began. He played well in Vancouver’s first pre-season match, but really cemented himself as an offensive force in his team’s victory against the Flames. He found chemistry with Höglander and showed off his speed and danger on the rush. By the end of the second period, Chytil had four shots on net as well as a goal and an assist. The centre commented on his performance during Wednesday’s game, drawing on his notion of taking every day at a time.
“I think it was better than the last game, and it’s going in a good direction,” he said postgame. “I personally feel better than the first game.”
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Nikita Tolopilo
Tolopilo only played for 20 minutes on Wednesday, but that didn’t stop him from stealing the show. The goaltender, who played phenomenally on Sunday night, took the net during the third period after Thatcher Demko manned the crease for the first two. While Calgary didn’t put up as much offence throughout the game, Tolopilo had to be sharp in the third in order to secure the win for the Canucks. The highlight of his game was a goal-line stop that he made with 10 minutes left in the third period, something that is impressive to normal standards, but even more-so knowing that he came into the game cold.
“It’s never easy coming in. It sucks, quite frankly, physically, coming in cold,” Demko said of Tolopilo’s third period effort. “He did a good job, hit a penalty pretty quick there coming in, which is hard, so impressive by him.”
Vancouver’s next pre-season game will take place back at Rogers Arena on Friday, September 26, with the team facing the Seattle Kraken. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT.
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