Vancouver Canucks lines vs. Vegas Golden Knights (Oct. 4, 2026)
Through the first three games of the season, the Vancouver Canucks have scored 17 goals, tied for the league lead with the Edmonton Oilers.
11 of those goals have come in the third period, as the Canucks have put on a big push in the final 20 minutes. On Saturday night, the Canucks scored four goals in the third period against the Calgary Flames for the 4-1 win.
That’s impressive, but also incredibly frustrating for head coach Manny Malhotra.
“It was great to see the response in the third,” said Malhotra after Thursday’s loss to the Oilers. “Knowing that push is there perhaps makes it even a little bit more frustrating, knowing that we have to start that way.”
The Canucks want to be much better in the first period, and they’ll likely have to be against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.
“I don’t like the starts of these last two games — or the first game,” said Elias Pettersson. “We’ve got to start on time, play with the same hunger as we ended the last two games. That is on everyone, including myself; we’ve just got to start better.”
The Golden Knights should theoretically be a tougher opponent than either the Oilers, whose goaltending is a major question mark, or the Flames, who are expected to finish in the NHL basement alongside the Canucks.
Given that it’s also the second half of back-to-back games, this will be a real test of the Canucks’ resolve.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
Teams don’t often switch up their lines after a win, especially in a back-to-back situation with no practice or game day skate in between.
Still, there’s an open question of whether Jake DeBrusk will get back into the lineup, considering he wasn’t a healthy scratch, according to Malhotra. Instead, he was sick.
Perhaps he still is.
UPDATE: Indeed, DeBrusk is still ill and will miss another game.
Jake DeBrusk will miss second straight game tonight against Vegas with illness, per coach Manny Malhotra: “Jake hopefully will turn it around but he needs another day at least, so he's kind of day to day right now.”Â
Expected to travel with team Tuesday to start 6-game road trip
— Kevin Woodley (@KevinisInGoal) October 4, 2026
With that in mind, here are the Canucks’ projected lines:
Marco Rossi – Elias Pettersson – Linus Karlsson
Liam Öhgren – Paul Cotter – Brock Boeser
Arshdeep Bains – Max Sasson – Jonathan Lekkerimäki
Drew O’Connor – Aatu Räty – Brendan Gallagher
Zeev Buium – Filip Hronek
Jamie Oleksiak – Tom Willander
Elias Pettersson – Luke Schenn
Kevin Lankinen
Leevi Meriläinen
The one projected change to the lineup is in net, as the Canucks’ starting goaltender is expected to be Kevin Lankinen, after Leevi Meriläinen backstopped the Canucks to the win on Saturday.
Vegas Golden Knights projected lines
The Golden Knights are coming off a loss to the youthful Anaheim Ducks, so will be looking to bounce back.
That could means some changes to the lineup, as head coach Ryan Craig shook up the lines during the game against the Ducks, but he could also go back to his regular lines.
Here are the Golden Knights’ forward lines as they ended last game:
Brett Howden – Jack Eichel – Mark Stone
Ivan Barbashev – William Karlsson – Mitch Marner
Braeden Bowman – Tomas Hertl – Victor Olofsson
Trevor Connelly – Nic Dowd – Marc Gatcomb
Here are the Golden Knights’ projected lines if they go back to their previous lines:
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Mark Stone
Brett Howden – William Karlsson – Mitch Marner
Trevor Connelly – Tomas Hertl – Victor Olofsson
Braeden Bowman – Nic Dowd – Marc Gatcomb
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Parker Wotherspoon – Rasmus Andersson
Jeremy Lauzon – Noah Hanifin
Adin Hill
Carter Hart
The Golden Knights’ expected starting goaltender is Adin Hill, as Carter Hart has played the first two games and hasn’t been particularly good. Giving Hill the start against a (theoretically) weaker Canucks team makes sense.