Result: Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 Vancouver Canucks
Vegas scored three in the second. Paul Cotter had put Vancouver ahead, then Mitch Marner, Victor Olofsson and Marc Gatcomb all scored inside the middle period. Jonathan Lekkerimäki pulled one back. Adin Hill made 18 saves.
Our pick: Vegas. Correct, and the under landed with five goals. The score prediction of 4-2 had the right winner and one goal too many.
The preview as published before the game follows.
Golden Knights vs Canucks is a meeting between a team that played in June and a team that finished last. Vegas lost the Stanley Cup Final to Carolina in six. Vancouver finished 32nd on 58 points with a goal difference of minus 100.
Vegas also won all three meetings last season.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Fixture | Vegas Golden Knights at Vancouver Canucks |
| Date | Sunday 4 October 2026 |
| Puck drop | 9:00pm ET · 8:00pm CT · 7:00pm MT · 6:00pm PT |
| Venue | Rogers Arena, Vancouver |
| 2025-26 head to head | Vegas won all three |
| 2025-26 finish | Vegas 13th (95 pts), Vancouver 32nd (58 pts) |
| Note | Vancouver’s third home game in four days, second of a back-to-back |
How to watch
| Region | Broadcast |
|---|---|
| Canada | Sportsnet Pacific |
| United States | SCRIPPS |
Broadcast listings change and regional blackouts can apply, so check your provider close to puck drop. Our how to watch the NHL in Canada page has the full national picture.
Golden Knights vs Canucks odds
The Canadian books had not posted a price for this game when we checked on 1 October. We will add the board once it lands. Live prices across the league are on our NHL odds page.
Vancouver isn’t the team it was, and Quinn Hughes is the reason
Hughes is a Minnesota Wild player now. He is the best defenceman the Canucks have had in a generation, and he put up 76 points in 74 games last season across two clubs.
Three more regulars left with him. Conor Garland, Kiefer Sherwood and Tyler Myers are elsewhere. Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium and Liam Ohgren, all previously with Minnesota, are Canucks, and Brendan Gallagher arrived after thirteen seasons in Montréal.
Brock Boeser finished at minus 48. Jake DeBrusk was minus 31, Elias Pettersson minus 30. Vancouver conceded 316 goals, 17 more than any other club.
Vancouver also changed coach. Adam Foote was dismissed in May.
How they compare
| 2025-26 | Vegas Golden Knights | Vancouver Canucks |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 39-26-17 | 25-49-8 |
| Points | 95 | 58 |
| Goals for per game | 3.22 | 2.56 |
| Goals against per game | 2.95 | 3.83 |
| Power play | 24.6% | 21.8% |
| Penalty kill | 81.4% | 71.5% |
Last season’s rates, which travel better from one year to the next than a record does.
The crease is the other problem
Thatcher Demko opens the season on injured reserve with a hip problem and has no timetable for a return. He had surgery in January and missed the second half of last season.
That leaves Kevin Lankinen, who went 11-27-5 with a 3.70 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage last season, and Leevi Meriläinen, claimed off waivers from Ottawa on 25 September. Meriläinen went 8-10-1 at .860 in 20 games for the Senators.
Vegas, by contrast, has Adin Hill and Carter Hart. Hart went 11-3-3 at 2.71 and .891 across 18 appearances. Hill played 27 at 3.04 and .871. One of them has a Cup Final run behind him from three months ago.
Vegas has Mitch Marner, and he had 80 points
The former Maple Leaf finished his first Vegas season on 24 goals and 80 points at plus 17. For a Canadian audience he is still the most familiar name on this roster, and he is now on one of the deepest teams in the league.
He is not even the leading scorer. Jack Eichel put up 90 points at plus 23. Mark Stone managed 73 in only 60 games at plus 26, the best rating on the team. Ivan Barbashev added 61 at plus 20 and Tomas Hertl 58.
Shea Theodore runs the blue line on 39 points at plus 19, with Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson alongside. William Karlsson signed a two-year contract on 30 September after a season cut to 14 games.
Vegas has almost no injuries going into this one. Lukas Cormier is on injured reserve until around 6 October and Raphael Lavoie is day to day.
Vegas won all three last season
| Date | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 4 February 2026 | Vegas 5-2 Vancouver | Vegas |
| 30 March 2026 | Vegas 4-2 Vancouver | Vegas |
| 7 April 2026 | Vegas 2-1 Vancouver | Vancouver |
Three wins, including the one in Vancouver in April. The margin narrowed each time, which is the only encouraging pattern in it for the home team.
Team news
| Player | Club | Status | Expected back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thatcher Demko | Vancouver | Injured reserve, hip | No timetable |
| Filip Chytil | Vancouver | Injured reserve, shoulder | 8 October |
| Mackenzie MacEachern | Vancouver | Injured reserve | 10 October |
| Lukas Cormier | Vegas | Injured reserve | 6 October |
| Raphael Lavoie | Vegas | Day to day | 2 October |
Vegas has the lighter list. Neither Cormier nor Lavoie played more than one game for the Golden Knights last season. Availability across the league is on our NHL injury report.
The schedule is no help to Vancouver either. The Canucks opened with a 6-5 overtime win in Edmonton on 29 September, lost their home opener 9-7 to the Oilers on 1 October and host Calgary on Saturday, so this is their third home game in four days and the second night of a back-to-back. Vegas hosts Anaheim on Friday and then has Saturday off.
Players to watch
Jack Eichel. Ninety points and plus 23 last season, and the best player on the ice.
Mitch Marner. Eighty points in his first Vegas season, and still the name Canadian viewers tune in for.
Elias Pettersson. Fifty-one points and minus 30 last season. Vancouver needs the version from two years ago.
Kevin Lankinen. A .875 save percentage last season behind a team that conceded 316, and pulled in Thursday’s 9-7 loss to Edmonton. With Calgary in town on Saturday, Sunday’s start could go to Leevi Meriläinen instead.
Score prediction
Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 Vancouver Canucks. Vegas won all three last season and is deeper at every position, while Vancouver is without its best defenceman for good and its best goaltender with no return date.
Golden Knights vs Canucks prediction
It’s hard to argue against the visitors here. Vegas finished 37 points higher, reached the Stanley Cup Final, swept last season’s series and arrives almost fully fit.
Vancouver has lost Quinn Hughes, three other regulars and its coach, and starts the season with a goaltender who won 11 games last year.
The one note of caution is the last meeting in Vancouver, a 2-1 Vegas win in April. Home ice hasn’t helped the Canucks much, though. They won nine home games all last season, and Edmonton scored nine at Rogers Arena on Thursday.
Our lean: Vegas, and the under if the total sits at 6.5 or higher. Two of the three meetings last season finished at six goals or fewer and Vancouver do not score enough to make it a shootout. We will firm the Golden Knights vs Canucks call up when the board posts.
Where these two sit against the other 30 is on our NHL power rankings.
Puck drop is 9:00pm ET on Sunday 4 October 2026 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, which is 6:00pm local time.
No. Hughes is a Minnesota Wild player. He is not on Vancouver’s roster for 2026-27.
Kevin Lankinen or Leevi Meriläinen. Thatcher Demko is on injured reserve with a hip problem and has no timetable for a return.
Vegas won all three meetings, 5-2 and 4-2 at home and 2-1 in Vancouver in April.
No. Vegas reached the 2026 Stanley Cup Final and lost it to Carolina in six games.
Vegas finished 13th on 95 points at plus 15. Vancouver finished 32nd and last on 58 points with a goal difference of minus 100, the worst in the league.
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