CANUCKS (22-47-8) at KINGS (32-26-19)

10:30 p.m. ET; FDSNW, SNP

The Final Five. Going through the motions. The Footey career saving motions. Not the coach anyone wanted - except former captain what's-his-name - his lasting FU to Nucks fans. Foote is a terrible coach that deserves another chance. In NY or NJ or Minni or Philly, anywhere but here.

This game will be the last time the Nucks face Kopi. Until next week. We can only speculate, but seems the cruel and twisted NHL Schedulers wanted LA to scuffle their way back into the playoffs by beating the Nucks - only to be eliminated by the tOil for the eleventeenth time. Makes for great TV.

Going to be a few seasons before the Nucks scuffle into the 2nd season - the billionaire's profiteering series. While Franny took the fun out of the team, he's also taking the profit out. Seems fair. Except for how miserable it feels.

In a week or so we'll find out if Franny has the guts to account for his mistake in begging JR to run the team aground. Spoiler alert: He doesn't.

Next week or month, we can hope some or all of the management team / coaches are fired unceremoniously. Or ceremoniously with the GoT walk of shame down Davies. That'd be fine too.

Game Day Chatter

Too bad we can't scratch Footey for the final five...

Based on morning skate, it looks like the #Canucks will be scratching Ty Mueller for the second straight game.

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— Adam Kierszenblat (@adamkblat.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 11:22 AM

As Kent reminded us about the Canucks. It can always get worse.

What being a #Canucks fan is like

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— Adam Kierszenblat (@adamkblat.bsky.social) April 8, 2026 at 4:53 PM

Game Day Lineups

Canucks projected lineup

Drew O’Connor -- Elias Pettersson -- Jake DeBrusk

Liam Ohgren -- Marco Rossi -- Brock Boeser

Max Sasson -- Teddy Blueger -- Linus Karlsson

Curtis Douglas -- Aatu Raty -- Nils Hoglander

Zeev Buium -- Filip Hronek

Marcus Pettersson -- Tom Willander

Elias Pettersson -- Victor Mancini

Nikita Tolopilo

Jiri Patera

Scratched: P.O. Joseph, Ty Mueller

Injured: Kevin Lankinen (upper body), Evander Kane (undisclosed), Filip Chytil (facial fracture), Thatcher Demko (hip surgery), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)

Kings projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe

Trevor Moore -- Quinton Byfield -- Alex Laferriere

Joel Armia -- Scott Laughton -- Jared Wright

Jeff Malott -- Samuel Helenius -- Taylor Ward

Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty

Joel Edmundson -- Brandt Clarke

Brian Dumoulin -- Cody Ceci

Anton Forsberg

Darcy Kuemper

Scratched: Mathieu Joseph, Jacob Moverare

Injured: Alex Turcotte (undisclosed), Andrei Kuzmenko (meniscus)

Status report

Lankinen traveled with the Canucks for the three-game California road trip but the goalie will miss his third straight game. … Byfield will play after missing practice Wednesday for maintenance.

Game Day Battle Hymn

Seven Days of Falling. That's all that's left of this failed season. A week today Nucks play their last game. Thankfully. Until then we can enjoy one of the best bass patterns in all of jazz. Well... not all... but still... we're in a rebuild. Gotta start at the bottom. Or even better... at the top.

F*uck the war mongering fascists and enjoy the game. As best you can.