The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Vancouver Canucks 9-7 in the Canucks’ home opener despite Vancouver outscoring Edmonton 5-1 to finish the game.
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The Edmonton Oilers opened the scoring fast and cruised through a wide margin before going on to beat the Vancouver Canucks 9-7 in the Canucks’ home opener.
Vancouver faced a difficult start, going down 5-0 before getting on the board. Edmonton then went 8-2 at one point during the game.
The momentum continued to swing in Edmonton’s direction in the second period. The Oilers scored two short-handed goals 34 seconds apart, pushing the score to 8-2, and Kevin Lankinen was pulled in favour of Leevi Merilainen.
Vancouver still made a late push, outscoring Edmonton 5-1 over the remainder of the game to finish within two.
Boeser, speaking about the Canucks’ second-period stretch, said, “We were trying to claw back into it and the power play let us down in the second,” adding, “They really took it to us and then our mindset in the third was no quit in here. We have to fight and try to win the third period and we did a really good job with that.”
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl also contributed to the early second-period surge, scoring a goal from a wide angle that went off the back of Lankinen, making it 5-0 in the opening minute of the second period.
After Edmonton led 8-2 late in the second period, the score slipped through a series of Vancouver goals before Draisaitl scored a power-play goal to stop the run.
Connor McDavid described the importance of that ninth Edmonton goal, saying, “Weird to be excited about the ninth one,” but calling it “a big goal at the time.”
Canucks head coach Mike Babcock said the game left him frustrated with how Edmonton’s lead evaporated, calling it “ridiculous,” while also adding, “We know we can be way better. What I saw tonight was a group that can play right, that knew what they were doing and then I saw a group that didn’t do it.”
Next up for Vancouver is a Pacific Division matchup with the Calgary Flames, who will visit Rogers Arena on Saturday.
The Flames opened their season with a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken, after a ceremony at the Saddledome to kick off Calgary’s final season at that venue.
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