The Red Wings attempted to keep the good times rolling against the struggling Vancouver Canucks on Thursday evening, with Detroit hosting Vancouver to open up a stretch of 4 games to be played over the course of 6 nights.
The Canucks still have the pieces necessary to win, but the atmosphere around their team’s been difficult; the Red Wings are no longer the kings of the Atlantic Division, but Detroit’s still doing quite well in the Eastern Conference standings.
On Thursday night at LCA, the Red Wings had a very mediocre 1st period, and a very mediocre 3rd period, but a spate of 2 2nd-period goals, and 25 saves from John Gibson, would propel Detroit to a 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
And this happened:
🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬 pic.twitter.com/8nMfG1qnJH
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
PREGAME: Kevin Lankinen and John Gibson led their respective teams out onto the ice…
Let’s goooo‼️ pic.twitter.com/r3IewvZb3Z
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 8, 2026
The Canucks waited until puck drop to post their lineup….
Lining up against the Red Wings.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 9, 2026
📺 Sportsnet Pacific
📻 Sportsnet 650 pic.twitter.com/almlzoo7GD
And here’s the Red Wings’ lineup:
Thursday night lineup 👇 pic.twitter.com/ra6DzWDjin
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 8, 2026
1ST PERIOD:
The teams dressed the following starters and lineups:

PENALTY: Simon Edvinsson may have saved a goal by tying up and tripping Jake DeBrusk, but he was penalized for hooking at 19 seconds of the 1st period, giving Detroit a very, very early PK>
Detroit killed the penalty, but the Wings were hemmed in big time against the Canucks early on, and Vancouver was out-shooting Detroit 7-2 at the halfway mark of the 1st period.
PENALTY: Marcus Pettersson tripped Dylan Larkin at center ice and was caught for tripping at 13:13 of the 1st.
The game remained a sleepy one for the Wings as the 1st period progressed, and the Wings’ power play was “out of sorts” and struggled.
Plainly, the Wings’ entire game was “out of sorts.”
PENALTY: Zeev Buium took a high-sticking penalty at 17:47, nicking Emmitt Finnie.
PENALTY: Then David Kampf tripped Alex DeBrincat at 17:56.
GOAL: Late in the 5-on-3, Patrick Kane took a pass from Lucas Raymond and ripped a heavy shot through Kevin Lankinen at 19:30 of the 1st period.
Many Tweets follow as this was goal #499 for Kane, who’s going to hit #500 sooner than later…
PATRICK KANE GOAL #499!!!! pic.twitter.com/tJ0WlZdRJ3
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
THAT'S CAREER NUMBER 499 FOR PATRICK KANE 🌟🚨 pic.twitter.com/duXbRc2Ocr
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 9, 2026
Career goal No. 499 for Patrick Kane! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/zAhCSPWmc2
— NHL (@NHL) January 9, 2026
499 for Showtime. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/pxYtybnk7P
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
Goal 499 for Showtime! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/ku4zDnWzER
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
Detroit 1, Vancouver 0: Patrick Kane (7) from Raymond (34) and Larkin (18) at 19:30 1st, PPG, 2 man advantage.
After 20 pic.twitter.com/y1AhnHo7Fs
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
Shots i the 1st 10-10;
— George Malik (@georgemalik) January 9, 2026
Detroit went 1-for-3 in 4:09 of PP time; Vancouver 0-for-1 in 2:00.
Shot attempts 23-22 Vancouver;
Hits 13-2 Vancouver;
Giveaways 11-2 Detroit;
Takeaways 3-0 Detroit;
Blocks 8-5 Detroit;
FO's 10-8 Detroit (56%). pic.twitter.com/5vXBqOhh7o
And, in the milestone department…
That's 300 for Ray 🙌 pic.twitter.com/LOX48qshSj
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
Patrick Kane has scored his 499th career goal, passing Glenn Anderson (498) for sole possession of 50th place on the NHL's all-time list. pic.twitter.com/sImGx9bRQD
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
YEAHHHH 🗣️
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
Kaner on the mic for goal #499! pic.twitter.com/zan5WiVqAo
2ND PERIOD:
GOAL: With the Canucks playing well, Axel Sandin Pellikka took a drop pass from James van Riemsdyk and RIPPED a SLAPPER through Kevin Lankinen at 5:09.
SANDY SNIPE pic.twitter.com/pyeb3buKJE
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
Axe-man! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/Z0uGlNjTud
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
The pass. The shot. 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/2ywvvbdrgC
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
Detroit 2, Vancouver 0: Axel Sandin Pellikka (5) from James van Riemsdyk (5) and J.T. Compher (11) at 5:09 2nd period.
PENALTY: Mason Appleton sits at 5:46 for interference. Canucks to their 2nd PP.
GOAL: Jake DeBrusk snuck into the slot away from Edvinsson and Larkin and ripped a slot shot through John Gibson at 7:02 of the 2nd period, PPG.
A little shake & Jake on the power play. pic.twitter.com/F2aR1khIuT
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 9, 2026
Detroit 2, Vancouver 1: DeBrusk (12) from Sherwood (6) and Boeser (12) at 7:02, power play.
GOAL: Off a lengthy stretch in which Axel Sandin Pellikka and Ben Chiarot held the offensive blueline vs. the Canucks, ASP fed James van Riemsdyk on the right wing side, JvR drop passed it through the slot for J.T. Compher and Compher RIPPED a snapper through Lankinen at point blank range at 10:10:
JVR TO JT BEAUTYYYYY pic.twitter.com/d8Pf9FByMa
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
JVR → JT 🤌 pic.twitter.com/E3bXUaLJ2x
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
👁️👄👁️ pic.twitter.com/Leo4q2ZGFx
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
Detroit 3, Vancouver 1: Compher (5) from van Riemsdyk (6) and Sandin Pellikka (12) at 10:10 of the 2nd period.
After 40 pic.twitter.com/TMfSCVCRUk
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
Shots in the 2nd period 8-4 Detroit, shots 18-14 Detroit overall.
— George Malik (@georgemalik) January 9, 2026
Attempts 42-35 Vancouver;
Hits 21-9 Vancouver;
Giveaways 12-10 Detroit;
Takeaways 4-1 Detroit;
Blocks 17-6 Detroit;
Faceoffs 19-17 Detroit (53%). pic.twitter.com/1hjHATtgdd
And, in the milestone department:
Axel Sandin-Pellikka became Detroit’s fourth rookie defenseman since 2000 to score at least five goals in a season.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
Moritz Seider (7 in 2021-22)
Dennis Cholowski (7 in 2018-19)
Filip Hronek (5 in 2018-19) pic.twitter.com/nyyUdSoBDE
3RD PERIOD:
GOALIE PULL: Vancouver pulled Kevin Lankinen with 4:50 remaining in the 3rd period, and…
GOAL: Patrick Kane scored his 500th goal and the Wings’ bench emptied for Kane, who scored on a pass from Andrew Copp at 16:07 of the 3rd period.
SHOWTIMEEEEEEE!!!! pic.twitter.com/IadNK1hSJf
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
PATRICK KANE BECOMES THE 50TH PLAYER IN NHL HISTORY TO SCORE 500 CAREER GOALS 🚨🎬 pic.twitter.com/mc0RkoHKcx
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 9, 2026
PATRICK KANE BECOMES THE 50TH PLAYER IN NHL HISTORY TO SCORE 500 CAREER GOALS 🚨🎬 pic.twitter.com/mc0RkoHKcx
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 9, 2026
🎬 500 FOR SHOWTIME 🚨
— Winged Wheel Podcast (@WingedWheelPod) January 9, 2026
PATRICK KANE SCORES CAREER GOAL #500! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/S0ueiKYyhk
5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ GOALS FOR SHOWTIME ‼️‼️
— USA Hockey’s NTDP (@USAHockeyNTDP) January 9, 2026
Congratulations to Patrick Kane (2004-06) on becoming the first NTDP alum and the 5th U.S. born player to reach this elite milestone!
One of the best to ever do it @88PKane 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/il0DMITmpx
PATTY KANE HAS 500 CAREER GOALS 🌟🚨 pic.twitter.com/H6IJgwNvNG
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 9, 2026
SHOWTIME'S GOT 500 NHL GOALS‼️ pic.twitter.com/PQfeu7TTLk
— NHL (@NHL) January 9, 2026
SHOWTIME FOR THE 500TH TIME ‼️ pic.twitter.com/c7SzT5rqua
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 9, 2026
Detroit 4, Vancouver 1: Patrick Kane (8, 500th NHL goal) from DeBrincat (22) at 16:06.
GOAL: Lucas Raymond took advantage of a Kiefer Sherwood self-trip, stole the puck and raced in, blazing a puck through Kevin Lankinen to make it 5-1 Detroit.
RAZOR!!!
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
5-1, #REDWINGS pic.twitter.com/vfDjnCvyrR
Detroit 5, Vancouver 1: Raymond (13) unassisted at 18:10 3rd period.
#REDWINGS WIN!!!! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/ouahj3Pw6G
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026
STATISTICS: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:


FINAL STATS from Detroit's 5-1 win over Vancouver:
— George Malik (@georgemalik) January 9, 2026
Shots in the 3rd 12-7 Vancouver, shots 26-25 Vancouver overall.
Gibson stopped 25 of 26, Lankinen 20 of 24.
Attempts 69-54 Vancouver;
Hits 24-13 Vancouver;
Giveaways 20-16 Detroit;
Takeaways 5-3 Detroit;
Blocks 25-12… pic.twitter.com/1n3PHSzPx1
Individually:
— George Malik (@georgemalik) January 9, 2026
Detroit was +20. Chiarot, Raymond +3, JvR, Compher, ASP +2, Copp, Johansson, JBD, Larkin, Edvinsson, Kane, Kasper, DeBrincat +1.
Kane 2G, van Riemsdyk 2A, 1G+1A for Raymond, Compher, ASP, 1A for Larkin and Copp.
7 shots + 10 attempts for Larkin, 2 shots + 4… https://t.co/uI0uEsTbGE