After outscoring LA and losing, Canucks climb high into the Rockies to play the league's best team, hoping beyond hope the Avs are sick and tired of so much winning.

CANUCKS (10-13-3) at AVALANCHE (18-1-6)

Ball Arena, Denver, CO

6:00 pm PST; 9:00 pm EST

TV: ALT, Sportsnet

Radio: Sportsnet 650

You might be asking, "How many weird games must the Nucks play this season?"

The answer is... all of them. With a depleted roster, undocumented spontaneous league rules and rookies on the ice and behind the bench, perhaps this game could just be a normal loss.

The OT loss in LA wasn't normal - except weird is the new Nucks normal. 3 disallowed goals in the 1st period. Nucks score 1 goal that counted as Kane came out of the box. Kane in the box is normal, so there's that. While the Nucks got the game to OT and were almost on pace to get the game to Lanky's happy period, gravity and Pete's dull skates thwarted that attempt as LA scored while Lanky was interfered with. It was a nice touch the Sit Room reviewed the goal just so the Nucks could lose twice in the same game.

The last time the Nucks played the Avs, they took them to OT and lost 5-4 in the ROG. Those were the days... when the full impact of Faery fever was yet to be felt.

The good news is, Lankinen is good to go and we won't have to witness the Avs score 12 on Jiri. The other good news... [insert inspiring platitude here].

LINEUPS

From the nhl dot coms, it's the thing:

Canucks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Elias Pettersson -- Jonathan Lekkerimaki

Brock Boeser -- David Kampf -- Kiefer Sherwood

Drew O'Connor -- Max Sasson -- Jake DeBrusk

Arshdeep Bains -- Aatu Raty-- Linus Karlsson

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Marcus Pettersson -- Tyler Myers

Elias Pettersson -- Tom Willander

Kevin Lankinen

Jiri Patera

Scratched: P.O. Joseph, Lukas Reichel

Injured: Conor Garland (upper body), Thatcher Demko (lower body), Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Teddy Blueger (lower body), Nils Hoglander (lower body), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)

Avalanche projected lineup

Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Martin Necas

Gabriel Landeskog -- Brock Nelson -- Valeri Nichushkin

Ross Colton -- Jack Drury -- Victor Olofsson

Parker Kelly -- Zakhar Bardakov -- Joel Kiviranta

Devon Toews -- Cale Makar

Josh Manson -- Brent Burns

Samuel Girard -- Sam Malinski

Scott Wedgewood

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scratched: Ilya Solovyov

Injured: Gavin Brindley (lower body), Logan O’Connor (hip surgery)

Status report

Canucks goalie Nikita Tolopilo was designated non-roster on Monday for the birth of his child; Patera was recalled from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions. … Hoglander, a forward, skated in a noncontact jersey; Vancouver coach Adam Foote said Hoglander is “feeling good.” … The Avalanche held an optional morning skate. Nichushkin will play after missing eight games with a lower-body injury.

GAME DAY CHATTER

With Gnarland still out of the lineup we can hope the Faeries have sated their insatiable appetite until the new year.

Argh.. projected 1st line ... KANE EP40 LEKKERIMAKI Kane on the first line... pls make this stop - Foote is really out to lunch #Canucks

— islandgal (@islandgal.bsky.social) December 2, 2025 at 11:00 AM

Sometimes you just gotta read the headline to an article you wrote earlier in the season and laugh. #Canucks

[image or embed]

— Brayden Fengler (@braydenfengler.bsky.social) December 2, 2025 at 10:15 AM

Vancouver Canucks 5v5 on-ice xG results #Canucks #NHL

[image or embed]

— sohraub (@sohraub.bsky.social) December 2, 2025 at 9:29 AM

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

Only one place left to go...

Enjoy the game, everyone. Fuck Fascism! Go Canucks Go!