The San Jose Sharks take a trip to Canada today and the first stop on the team’s road trip before the Olympic break is Vancouver and a date with the Canucks.
One of the big stories out of Vancouver this morning is the news that goaltender Thatcher Demko will not return to play for the Canucks this season. Demko will have season-ending hip surgery. There’s no real reason to put it off, considering where Vancouver is in the standings. Securely notched at 32nd in the league, shelving a goaltender like Demko will only help the Canucks improve the team’s chances of securing a top pick in the NHL Entry Draft.
This is the third of four meetings between the two teams. The Sharks have won the two previous meetings, a 3-2 win on Nov. 28 and a 6-3 win on Dec. 27. They will meet again on April 11.
Newly acquired Kiefer Sherwood had been hoping to play against his former team, but it sounds like he will not be healthy enough to join in tonight’s game.
The Canucks top scorer now that Sherwood is gone is Elias Pettersson (the forward), who has 31 points in 44 games. He also shares the team lead in goals with 13. Jake DeBrusk also has 13 goals this season. In the net, look for Kevin Lankinen or rookie Nikita Tolopilo. Lankinen is 7-16-4 with a .884 save percentage. Tolopilo is 5-2-3 with a .881 save percentage.
San Jose Sharks lines tonight
According to Max Miller of the Sharks Hockey Digest, this is how the lines looked at practice this morning.
#SJSharks lines at morning skate:
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) January 27, 2026
Graf-Celebrini-Smith
Regenda-Wennberg-Toffoli
Eklund-Misa-Gaudette
Goodrow-Ostapchuk-Reaves
Skinner-Kurashev-Sherwood
Orlov-Klingberg
Ferraro-Liljegren
Dickinson-Desharnais
Mukhamadullin-Iorio
It looks like there will be no changes to the lineup. The Sharks will skate with the same team that beat the New York Rangers on Friday. The only change is in the net where Yaroslav Askarov will start.
Forwards
Collin Graf — Macklin Celebrini — Will Smith
Pavol Regenda — Alexander Wennberg — Tyler Toffoli
William Eklund — Michael Misa — Adam Gaudette
Barclay Goodrow — Zack Ostapchuk — Ryan Reaves
Defense
Dmitry Orlov — John Klingberg
Mario Ferraro — Timothy Liljegren
Sam Dickinson — Vincent Desharnais
Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic
Vancouver Canucks lines vs. San Jose Sharks
As for the Canucks, look for some missing pieces. In addition to Demko, the team will be without Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Derek Forbort and Brock Boeser. All of them are injured. Here’s what NHL.com reports the lines are expected to look like.
Forwards
Jake DeBrusk — Elias Pettersson — Linus Karlsson
Drew O’Connor — Filip Chytil — Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Liam Ohgren — Teddy Blueger — Conor Garland
Nils Hoglander — David Kampf — Evander Kane
Defense
Marcus Pettersson — Tom Willander
Elias Pettersson — Filip Hronek
P.O Joseph — Tyler Myers
Goaltenders
Kevin Lankinen
Nikita Tolopilo
How to watch San Jose Sharks at Vancouver Canucks Jan. 27, 2026
The puck drops at Rogers Arena at 7 p.m. PT.
Sharks fans can watch today’s game on NBCSCA or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Canucks fans can watch the game on Sportsnet Pacific or listen on Sportsnet 650.
Be sure to come back here at game time to talk with other Sharks fans about what’s happening on the ice and around the league.
