The Edmonton Oilers aim to bounce back from a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken when they visit the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday at Rogers Arena. Vancouver will be without defenseman Quinn Hughes, who is day to day with a lower-body injury sustained in their 4-3 defeat to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
The Oilers dropped to 4-4-1 with their narrow loss to the Kraken on Saturday, outshooting Seattle 33-23 but conceding three goals on rushes. Defenseman Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard each scored their first goals of the season, with Bouchard's coming on the power play—Edmonton's third straight game with a man-advantage goal. Nurse, Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl (two assists), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (one assist) and Mattias Ekholm (four-game assist streak) all extended point streaks to at least three games.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch noted positives in the Oilers' process, including more scoring chances than in most games this season, particularly in the third period. However, he highlighted mistakes like bad pinches and forwards not recovering, leading to odd-man rushes. "We had more scoring chances than probably all but one game this year, especially in the third period," Knoblauch said. "I thought we had a lot of pressure, but we made some mistakes, giving up chances off the rush."
Nurse echoed the need to limit rush chances and emphasized hard work against Vancouver. "Every time we play Vancouver, it's a tough match," he said. "They're a team that comes out and plays hard. So for us, it's that connectedness... upping our work ethic and winning our battles."
The Canucks also fell 4-3 to the Canadiens on Saturday, with Hughes contributing two assists in 26:25 of ice time before his late-game injury. The defenseman has seven points (one goal, six assists) in nine games, averaging 26:38 per night. Coach Adam Foote confirmed Hughes is day to day. Victor Mancini will enter the lineup, and Kirill Kudryavtsev was recalled from Abbotsford of the AHL.
Thatcher Demko is expected to start for Vancouver, holding a 3-0-0 record in home games against Edmonton with a 1.78 goals-against average and .938 save percentage. Calvin Pickard will be in net for the Oilers, posting a 2-2-1 mark lifetime against the Canucks (2.19 GAA, .920 SV%). Draisaitl will play his 800th NHL game, ranking fifth among non-North American-born players with 963 points.