Karlsson Scores Twice In Canucks’ 7–4 Loss To The Utah Mammoth

The Vancouver Canucks celebrated two NHL game milestones tonight in their 7–4 loss to the Utah Mammoth. Prior to puck-drop, they honoured Evander Kane for his 1000th NHL game played on March 30 against the Vegas Golden Knights. On the ice, Linus Karlsson scored twice in his 100th NHL game, while Jake DeBrusk and Marco Rossi also found the back of the net.

Nikita Tolopilo started in net, stopping 17 of 23 shots faced. The biggest piece of news occurred prior to puck drop. While Tolopilo was named the starting goaltender ahead of tonight’s game and ultimately ended up playing, Jiří Patera was called up only a few minutes prior to Vancouver’s warm-up.

When both teams took to the ice for warm-ups, only Tolopilo came out. Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote later clarified why Kevin Lankinen was absent so close to puck-drop. “He woke up and didn’t feel right, didn’t feel good.

So we had to make that call this morning,” he said post-game, also clarifying that there is no current timeline on Lankinen’s absence. The 100-game man made the biggest impression of his teammates in tonight’s matchup. Karlsson found the back of the net early in the first, collecting the puck along the boards and bringing it into the slot to score his 14th of the season.