Vancouver Canucks at Pittsburgh Penguins: game preview
VancouverCanucks2026-27: 2-2-0 · 4 pts · 2025-26: 25-49-8 · 58 pts · 32ndat
PittsburghPenguins2026-27: 2-1-0 · 4 pts · 2025-26: 41-25-16 · 98 pts · 10thForty points apart last season
Vancouver finished last season 32nd in the league on 58 points. Pittsburgh finished 10th on 98.
Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.
Meeting number 132
Across 131 completed games, Pittsburgh lead the head-to-head 78-47-6.
Last 5 meetings
See all: Last 5 meetings →The table on each 2025-26 meeting night
League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 21 Oct 2025, Vancouver were 11th in the league and Pittsburgh 7th. By 25 Jan 2026 it was 32nd and 8th.
Vancouver out-attempted Pittsburgh 137 to 121
Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.
Vancouver Canucks
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh have created the better chances, last 10 games
Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.
This season: 4 games for Vancouver, 3 for Pittsburgh. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.
Last 10 games: 10 games for Vancouver, 10 for Pittsburgh.
2025-26: 82 games for Vancouver, 82 for Pittsburgh.
Power play and penalty kill, season and series
This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.
All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings
Vancouver
Small samplePittsburgh
Small sampleSkaters to watch
Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.
Who has stopped this matchup
Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.
Expected starter after their game on 22 Jan: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.
Expected starter after their game on 21 Jan: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.
Vancouver crease
VAN · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 20 Jan
No appearances against Pittsburgh in the last meetings.
Pittsburgh crease
PIT · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 20 Jan
No appearances against Vancouver in the last meetings.
Scoring rates point to about 7.0 goals
No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.
Goals in the last 5 meetings
Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.
Scoring rates
Vancouver4.754.502.633.85
Pittsburgh5.002.673.573.27Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.
8 on the injury lists
Vancouver · injuries
Pittsburgh · injuries
Latest moves
See all: Latest moves →Placed G Nikita Tolopilo on waivers.
Claimed G Leevi Merilainen off waivers from Ottawa. Placed F Filip Chytil on injured reserve. Assigned F Braeden Cootes to Abbotsford (AHL).
Assigned Fs Ty Mueller, Riley Patterson, Ilya Safonov and Chase Wouters, Ds Kirill Kudryavtsev and Sawyer Mynio to Abbotsford (AHL). Loaned F Ben Berard and D Isaac Belliveau to Abbotsford. Waived for the purpose of assignment to Abbotsford F Trey Fix-Wolansky and Ds Cole Clayton and Jimmy Schuldt.
Activated C/RW Benjamin Kindel from injured reserve. Placed C/LW David Gustafsson on waivers.
Assigned F Rutger McGroarty to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
Reinstated C Blake Lizotte from injured reserve.
Vancouver · 2026 draft
See all: Vancouver · 2026 draft →Pittsburgh · 2026 draft
See all: Pittsburgh · 2026 draft →Saturday 23 January · the full slate
See all: Saturday 23 January · the full slate →
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