VANCOUVER — With sniper Leon Draisaitl out of the lineup, the Edmonton Oilers knew they’d need other players to step up.
Kasperi Kapanen and Jack Roslovic emphatically answered the call Saturday.
Each put up a pair of goals as the Oilers (24-17-8) blanked the struggling Canucks 6-0 in Vancouver.
“When you’re missing a key player, somebody really important to your team, it just seems like everyone, just their game steps up,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch.
“They’re galvanized and they play together and that’s tonight. I think about, throughout our lineup, how many guys really played one of their best games tonight.”
Edmonton announced earlier Saturday that Draisaitl had returned to Germany to attend to a family illness. It’s expected the 30-year-old star will return next week.
“Obviously, we’re missing Leon and definitely would like to have him here, and we’re thinking about him and his family (and) what’s going on right now,” Knoblauch said.
When Edmonton’s offence erupted with six goals in the second period, it was Kapanen and Roslovic leading the charge.
Roslovic broke a 0-0 deadlock 3:11 into the frame, chipping a shot toward the net from the bottom of the faceoff circle. The puck squirted through the legs of Canucks netminder Nikita Tolopilo and in.
Vancouver challenged the play for goalie interference, but the tally stood after video review, with officials saying Edmonton’s Curtis Lazar was pushed into Tolopilo by Canucks forward Max Sasson.
The goal marked Roslovic’s first point in eight games.
“We’ve really been trying hard,” the centre said of his line. “I think it’s not just tonight. It’s been the last handful of games that we’ve been really working at trying to get one to go in, and I think we’ve played really well.
“We saw a few go in tonight, so hopefully that gives us all a little more confidence.”
Midway through the second, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sliced a long pass up to Kapanen, who went one-on-one with Tolopilo and blasted a shot in off the post to give the Oilers a 3-0 lead.
It was Kapanen’s second goal of the season. He added a third just over three minutes later.
After missing 36 games with a lower-body injury, the Finnish winger has seven points in seven games since rejoining the team.
“I like where our team’s at right now. Everybody’s stepping up,” he said. “You know, we miss Leo, and we wish him the best, and to him and his family, obviously going through a lot right now, so obviously playing for him as well. So big win today.”
JARRY’S BIG NIGHT
Tristan Jarry stopped all 31 shots he faced to record his first shutout since being traded to Edmonton from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 12.
The performance was nothing new for Kapanen, who played alongside the goalie with the Penguins.
“I’ve seen it before in Pitt,” Kapanen said. “Guys (who) have played against him a bunch, we all know he’s a tremendous goalie. So he was incredible today, and a big reason why we won.
“He’s very calm, which I think makes the team calm.”
TOUGH DAYS
The Canucks (16-27-5) have now lost 10 games in a row (0-8-2) and sit at the bottom of the NHL standings.
It’s been a difficult stretch, admitted Brock Boeser.
“It’s not fun and it’s frustrating and it’s hard,” said the winger, who played his 600th regular-season game Saturday.
“You don’t want to be in this position, but I’m trying to be the best leader I can be for these young guys and try and to help out. But it takes the whole team. We need the whole team each and every game that we go into.”
Canucks head coach Adam Foote has been in the same position as a player and knows all too well how his team is feeling.
The only way forward, he said, is to keep pushing.
“There’s going to be another battle tomorrow,” he said. “And (we have to keep) practising and learning and growing from this. It stings, but it probably helps you grow the fastest.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2026.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
