The 2025–26 NHL season is officially back in session, with the Vancouver Canucks returning from the break with a home-ice matchup against the Winnipeg Jets. Vancouver started off their 2026 Winter Olympic break with a 5–2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on February 4, while the Jets lost 5–1 to the Montréal Canadiens on the same day.
Winnipeg has two players on their roster who were part of the USA’s gold medal-winning effort — Kyle Connor and Connor Hellebuyck — though it’s still slightly unclear which of them will take part in today’s game. On the Canucks’ side, Filip Chytil remains out of the lineup due to a facial fracture sustained in practice, while previously injured players such as Brock Boeser, Nils Höglander, and Zeev Buium have all taken part in the team’s practices through the past few days. Their statuses for tonight’s game will be confirmed later on in the day.
Through the final 25 games of their 2025–26 season, many will be watching the Canucks not for their usual end-of-season playoff push, but to get a better gauge of what the future looks like moving forward. Younger players like Tom Willander, Zeev Buium, and Liam Öhgren will be some who likely get increased minutes as a result of this. With the NHL Trade Deadline coming up, this will also probably end up occurring due to the moves many want Vancouver to make.
Heading into the 2026 Winter Olympic break, the line of Öhgren, Conor Garland, and Teddy Blueger found success together. These three played particularly well compared to the rest of the teams’ performances in the final two games against Vegas and the Utah Mammoth, as they factored into every goal scored during this span of time. The trio were put together during Vancouver’s practices through the past couple of days and will likely skate together again tonight.
Players To Watch:
Conor Garland
Alongside Blueger and Öhgren before the break, it looked as though Garland had begun to find his form. The forward had three assists in Vancouver’s games against Utah and Vegas at that time, with those being his first points since a two-assist night against the San Jose Sharks on December 27. Garland’s name has emerged in trade reports as of late, making the next couple of games leading into the March 6th Trade Deadline all the more notable.
Kyle Connor
Fresh off winning a gold medal with Team USA, Connor will be returning to the Jets with energy that his American teammates may not have. The forward skated in only two games while at the Olympics, sitting out of his team’s final four matches. Heading into the break earlier in February, Connor had been riding a five-game point-streak that he can increase with a goal or an assist later tonight.
Vancouver Canucks (18–33–6):
Points:
Elias Pettersson: 13–21–34
Filip Hronek: 5–27–32
Jake DeBrusk: 13–15–28
Brock Boeser: 12–13–25
Evander Kane: 9–16–25
Goaltenders:
Thatcher Demko: 8–10–1
Kevin Lankinen: 7–19–4
Nikita Tolopilo: 3–3–1
Jiří Patera: 0–1–0
Winnipeg Jets (22–26–8):
Points:
Mark Scheifele: 27–41–68
Kyle Connor: 25–39–64
Gabriel Vilardi: 21–29–50
Josh Morrissey: 10–32–42
Alex Iafollo: 9–11–20
Goaltenders:
Connor Hellebuyck: 13–16–7
Eric Comrie: 9–9–1
Thomas Milic: 0–1–0
Game Information:
Start time: 7:00 pm PT
Venue: Rogers Arena
Television: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 650
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