Nathan MacKinnon – CanucksBanter

Graphic featuring the logos of the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks, with crossed hockey sticks and a puck on an ice rink.

By Andrew Phillip Chernoff | CanucksBanter

November 09, 2025

The Colorado Avalanche are set to visit the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena tonight, Sunday, November 9, 2025, at 07:00 PM PST.

This is a matchup of two teams playing on the second night of a back-to-back, which could impact the energy levels.

This contest pits an elite, high-momentum offensive engine against a structurally compromised defensive unit.

The Colorado Avalanche enter this contest holding decisive advantages in, roster depth, special teams execution, and the crucial goaltending matchup.

The Avalanche are expected to control the pace of the game, utilizing their depth and their power-play opportunities against the Canucks’ struggling penalty kill.

The Colorado Avalanche (9-1-5, 23 points) enters this matchup demonstrating systemic dominance, holding the league’s best record and the highest overall competitive ranking. Conversely, the Vancouver Canucks (8-8-0, 16 points) are grappling with pronounced defensive vulnerabilities and a critical goaltending crisis, compounded by the back-to-back (B2B) schedule for both clubs.

Team	Record	Recent (Last Game)	Key Players	Goaltending Situation
Colorado Avalanche	9-1-5 (23 Pts, NHL Best)	W 9-1 vs. Edmonton Oilers (on Saturday)	Nathan MacKinnon (League-leading points/goals), Cale Makar	Mackenzie Blackwood is the expected starter (second straight back-to-back start).
Vancouver Canucks	8-8-0 (16 Pts)	W 4-3 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (on Saturday)	Evander Kane, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes	Jiri Patera is the unconfirmed but likely starter as Thatcher Demko is getting maintenance rest.

Key Storylines

Avalanche Offensive Juggernaut: Colorado is coming off a massive 9-1 win and leads the league in points. The offense is firing on all cylinders, led by Nathan MacKinnon (on an 8-game point streak) and Cale Makar. They’re a high-scoring team (2nd in Goals For/Game) with top-tier defense (1st in Goals Against/Game) and penalty kill (4th).
Canucks’ Tough Task: Vancouver managed a much-needed win last night against Columbus but now faces arguably the toughest team in the league. They will need to bring their “A-game” to stop the Avalanche’s powerful offense, which is a major challenge, especially with a likely backup goalie starting.
Goaltending Edge: The Canucks are managing the workload of star goalie Thatcher Demko (who is not expected to play), likely giving the nod to either Kevin Lankinen or the recalled Jiri Patera. The Avalanche are also playing their backup, Mackenzie Blackwood, due to the back-to-back situation.
- Thatcher Demko, who previously engineered a 3-0 shutout against the Avalanche last season , will not be available.
- Demko is being held out of the lineup due to “preventative maintenance” or an undisclosed injury, having only participated in skating drills on Saturday morning but not dressing for the game.
- His absence entirely nullifies Vancouver’s single most important advantage—the capacity for a goaltender to single-handedly steal a game against superior competition.

Injury Notes

Avalanche: Key players out include Samuel Girard (upper body, day-to-day) and Joel Kiviranta (lower body, indefinitely). Logan O’Connor (hip) is nearing a return.
Canucks: Vancouver’s depth has been significantly compromised by multiple injuries affecting their middle-six forward core and defense.
- Key players currently out include Nils Höglander (Long-Term Injured Reserve due to an ankle injury sustained in the preseason), Filip Chytil (Injured Reserve due to concussion protocol), Jonathan Lekkerimäki (Injured Reserve, upper body), and Teddy Blueger (Injured Reserve, lower body).
- The absence of these players strains the team’s ability to maintain pace against high-tempo opponents and necessitates greater reliance on the top lines.

Avalanche Strengths and Key Players

The Avalanche have only one regulation loss this season and average nearly four goals per game (3.93). Cale Makar continues his hot streak with points in nine consecutive games, and Colorado’s depth has shown with multiple players contributing offensively in recent wins. Their defense is equally impressive, ranking at the top of the league, allowing just 2.40 goals per game, and holding the best penalty kill percentage at 90.5%.

Canucks Trends and Standouts

The Canucks, meanwhile, swept the season series against Colorado last year but have struggled recently, conceding four or more goals in three of their last four matches. Their penalty kill and defensive play have been among the weakest in the NHL—ranking 29th on the penalty kill and 25th in goals allowed per game. Conor Garland leads Vancouver in scoring this season with 12 points, followed by Elias Pettersson and Kiefer Sherwood.

Some Thoughts

The back-to-back games marginally relieve the certainty of a high-scoring game but does little to change Colorado’s fundamental competitive advantage.

The special teams matchup represents the most significant tactical vulnerability for the Vancouver Canucks in this contest. Vancouver’s Penalty Kill (PK%) is struggling severely, running at a highly concerning 69.81%. Vancouver’s Power Play (PP%) of 18.00% is statistically unacceptable for an NHL team hoping to make the 2026 NHL playoffs.

Team statistics comparison between the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks for the regular NHL season, showing key metrics such as power play percentage, penalty kill percentage, face-off percentage, goals for per game, and goals against per game.

Despite strong performances from the core forwards, the depth makes offensive production difficult. The projected lines for Vancouver feature notable movement, particularly in the top six, but the multiple injuries affecting their middle-six forward core have limited the Canucks ability to compete.

It is, what it is.

Vancouver played an outstanding game last night, considering the “cards they’ve been dealt”, and they hung on for an outstanding win to please the home crowd and the Canucks fan base.

With all the adversity the Canucks are facing on paper, let’s hope for a similar game against the Avalanche tonight and put our collective energies behind them to urge them on.

The game hasn’t been written yet, may the Canucks provide another glorious ending!

Until next time, hockey fans

Source: nhl.com

NEW YORK – Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner and Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the month of January.

FIRST STAR – NATHAN MacKINNON, C, COLORADO AVALANCHE

MacKinnon led the NHL with 12-14—26 and five game-winning goals (tied) in 12 contests to help the Avalanche (32-14-3, 67 points) maintain first place in the Central Division via a 9-3-0 January.
MacKinnon, who also was named “First Star” of December, became the second player in as many seasons to earn that distinction in consecutive months, following Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid in February and March 2023.
MacKinnon found the scoresheet in each of his 12 January appearances, extending his point streak to 13 games dating to Dec. 31 (12-16—28) – his second double-digit run of 2023-24 (also Nov. 20 – Dec. 27: 13-23—36 in 19 GP). He also stretched his season-opening home point streak to 25 contests (21-32—53), tied with Bobby Orr (19-31—50 in 1974-75 w/ BOS) for the second-longest such run in League history behind only Wayne Gretzky’s unblemished 1988-89 home campaign (33-70—103 in 40 GP w/ LAK).
MacKinnon’s January featured seven multi-point performances, capped by a stretch of three straight to close the month (Jan. 20-26: 7-4—11). That window included consecutive games with at least four points, highlighted by 4-1—5 Jan. 24 vs. WSH – his second career four-goal and seventh career five-point efforts.
The 28-year-old MacKinnon, who will be making his fifth career NHL All-Star Game appearance this weekend, ranks second in the League with 31-53—84 through 49 total contests this season. He also places among the top five in the NHL in assists (t-1st; 53), power-play assists (2nd; 25), power-play points (2nd; 32), shots on goal (2nd; 224), game-winning goals (t-3rd; 7) and goals (5th; 31).

SECOND STAR – STUART SKINNER, G, EDMONTON OILERS

Skinner won each of his January appearances, going 9-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and .953 save percentage to guide the Oilers (29-15-1, 59 points) to a perfect month as they extended their winning streak to 16 games dating to Dec. 21 – one shy of the longest such run in NHL history.
Skinner posted the ninth instance in League history of a goaltender winning at least nine contests in a single calendar month without recording a tie or loss of any kind, and the first since Mike Smith did so – also with Edmonton – in April 2022 (9-0-0). In the process, Skinner stretched his personal winning streak to 12 games dating to Dec. 22 (1.41 GAA, .950 SV%, 1 SO) – a length achieved by only nine other netminders in NHL history.
Skinner yielded two or fewer goals in each of his nine January starts, including six one-goal performances. He made at least 25 stops eight times, propelled by a 35-save performance to open the calendar year (Jan. 2 vs. PHI).
The 25-year-old Skinner, who owned an 11-9-1 record through his first 22 appearances of 2023-24 (3.04 GAA, .884 SV%, 1 SO), now boasts a 23-9-1 mark in 34 total outings (2.44 GAA, .910 SV%, 2 SO). That puts him in the top 10 this season in both wins (t-3rd) and goals-against average (6th; minimum: 16 GP).

THIRD STAR – ELIAS PETTERSSON, C, VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Pettersson, who will be playing in his fourth career NHL All-Star Game this weekend, shared the League lead in goals (14), game-winning goals (5) and overtime goals (2) across 13 contests (14-7—21) to lift the Canucks (33-11-5, 71 points) to a seven-point cushion atop the Pacific Division via a 10-1-2 January.
Pettersson became the fifth different Vancouver player to register at least 14 goals in a calendar month and the first since Alexandre Burrows in January 2010 (15-7—22 in 13 GP). He scored in nine of his 13 January appearances, highlighted by five multi-goal performances, and became the first player in NHL history to record the winning goal in four straight road games (Jan. 6-11: 7-5—12).
The 25-year-old Pettersson has played in 49 total contests this season, ranking among the League leaders in game-winning goals (t-1st; 9), points (8th; 64), power-play goals (t-8th; 10), goals (t-9th; 27), power-play points (t-9th; 25), shooting percentage (12th; 19.7% — minimum: 1 SOG/GP) and assists (t-13th; 37).

Source: nhl.com