Vancouver dropped its third straight preseason game, losing 2-1 to the Edmonton Oilers on a night when Linus Karlsson scored and Nikita Tolopilo made 12 saves.
The Story
The Vancouver Canucks remained winless in the 2026 preseason after a 2-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, extending their losing streak to three games.
The Oilers victory came in Vancouver’s first home game since mid-April, with a younger lineup that included only five players born before 2000. The Canucks dressed 14 of their 18 skaters for the game, while Braeden Cootes, Victor Mancini and Guillaume Brisebois were the only players who had appeared in all three preseason games to that point.
Linus Karlsson scored Vancouver’s lone goal, finishing the night as the team’s goalscorer. Nikita Tolopilo stopped 12 of 14 shots through 40 minutes, while Chris Driedier—who played in the final period—made seven saves in that span.
Vancouver’s special teams were a recurring theme as the Canucks tested power-play units with a relatively deeper look at what could resemble the club’s opening-night roster. Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Marco Rossi, Jake DeBrusk and Filip Hronek were listed as the starters for the first power-play unit, while the second unit began with Karlsson, Filip Chytil (before he was replaced later), Liam Öhgren, Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Zeev Buium.
The Oilers’ goals included two sequences described as shaped by bounces and turnovers. Edmonton’s first came after a botched Canucks clear resulted in the puck bouncing off an Oilers player and onto Isaac Howard’s stick, allowing Howard to score past Tolopilo before Vancouver defenders could close. The second goal involved a pass from Viljami Marjala that bounced off Jamie Oleksiak into the crease for Quinn Hutson to tap in.
Vancouver did not score in the first period, but the Canucks converted during the second. With their second power-play opportunity about six minutes into the frame, Vancouver’s Karlsson tapped in a shot after Zeev Buium created space for a set-up from net-front position.
Buium also drew attention for how he affected play beyond the goal. The defenceman was described as solid on both sides of the puck and as a factor in preventing scoring chances, including tying up Aku Räty on a breakaway.
The game also included an injury to Filip Chytil during the first period. Midway through the game, Chytil became tangled with a referee and skated away clutching his shoulder, then later left for the remainder of the contest after heading down the Canucks’ tunnel. Head coach Manny Malhotra said the team was having Chytil’s shoulder looked at and that additional information would come the next day after imagery.
After the Canucks’ loss, Malhotra said the early parts of the game lacked the execution and intensity they wanted. He noted that the team improved as the second period progressed and that it was difficult to read too far into the result because it was close to many players’ first preseason game.
Edmonton’s win over Vancouver set up the next step for Vancouver’s preseason schedule. The Canucks are scheduled to play their next preseason game on Saturday against the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Arena, with a puck drop set for 4:00 p.m. PT. That matchup is described as the Canucks’ final home game before their regular-season home opener on October 1.
← More stories