The Vancouver Canucks (18-13-10) have two games left of their five-game road trip and, as it stands, they are winless on it. Suffering three losses in a row, the Canucks return to Canada to visit their hosts, the Toronto Maple Leafs (27-14-2), at Scotiabank Arena at 4 p.m. on Saturday night. This will be the first of two meetings between these two teams this season, with Vancouver hosting the last on Feb. 8.
The Canucks will have another difficult task on Saturday night, especially now that the Maple Leafs have gotten Auston Matthews back healthy and in their lineup. A silver lining: the Canucks are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games against the Maple Leafs and 3-2-0 in their last five games against the Maple Leafs.
Brisebois and Höglander draw into the lineup, Sasson and Desharnais coming out Saturday vs. Leafs. #Canucks
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) January 11, 2025
Head coach Rick Tocchet made a few interesting lineup changes, replacing Vincent Desharnais with Guillaume Brisebois and rookie Max Sasson with struggling youngster Nils Hoglander. With the Canucks desperate for any type of offense, it's not the worst idea out there.
Canucks Game Lineup
Jonathan Lekkerimaki - J.T. Miller - Brock Boeser
Jake DeBrusk - Elias Pettersson - Conor Garland
Nils Hoglander - Pius Suter - Kiefer Sherwood
Danton Heinen - Teddy Blueger - Phil Di Giuseppe
Quinn Hughes - Tyler Myers
Carson Soucy - Noah Juulsen
Derek Forbort - Guillaume Brisebois
Kevin Lankinen will be the Canucks starting goalie on the second leg of this back-to-back against the Maple Leafs on Saturday night. After starting against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night, Thatcher Demko will serve as the backup goalie.
Maple Leafs Game Lineup
Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty - John Tavares - William Nylander
Bobby McMann - Max Domi - Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz - David Kampf - Connor Dewar
Morgan Rielly - Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Philippe Myers
Simon Benoit - Conor Timmins
Rookie Maple Leafs goalie Dennis Hildeby is confirmed to be the Maple Leafs starting goalie for Saturday night's game against the Canucks. Hildeby, 23, is a 6-foot-7 netminder with a 3-1-0 record in the NHL this season with a 3.23 GAA and a .892 save percentage. Hildeby earned his first NHL win for the Maple Leafs in an Oct. 10 win against the New Jersey Devils, making 21 saves on 23 shots.
How to watch the Canucks game
Saturday night's Canucks game will be streamed on CBC, Sportsnet Ontario, and Sportsnet Pacific. For fans unable to watch the Canucks game, Sportsnet 650 will be the radio broadcast available for your listening.