A Vancouver lineup with only Tom Willander and Kevin Lankinen among presumed opening-night regulars kept Calgary scoreless until the final five minutes of the second period of a Sept. 22 preseason game at the Saddledome.
The Story
The Vancouver Canucks ran a mostly youth-heavy roster into their Sept. 22, 2026 preseason matchup against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome, while Calgary dressed what the game account described as an opening-night level lineup. Vancouver’s active lineup, by the same account, featured defenceman Tom Willander and goaltender Kevin Lankinen as the two players expected to be in the lineup when the regular season begins, shaping the game into a high-leverage evaluation for the club’s remaining roster contenders.
For much of the middle stages, the Canucks held firm despite the Flames controlling territory and generating volume. Vancouver’s goaltender, Kevin Lankinen, stopped the first 19 shots he faced and was credited with keeping Calgary off the board while the game stayed on a knife edge. After the Flames finally broke through late in the second period, the same stretch proved decisive: Calgary scored three goals within a span of five minutes, turning the game in their favour.
Shot totals underscored the imbalance. Through the second period, Calgary outshot Vancouver 18-to-2 in that frame, and by the account the Flames had produced 64 shot attempts and 26 shots on goal through two periods. Despite the sustained pressure, Vancouver was able to push back in the third: the Flames were limited to four shots on goal in the final frame, and Vancouver added a single third-period goal, though Calgary’s late-second explosion ultimately determined the result.
Aatu Räty, a Canucks centre fighting to earn a spot, generated the clearest all-around impact in the game’s detailed individual measures. Räty won 15 of 20 faceoffs and led Vancouver with five shot attempts, including two on net. He was also described as solid on the penalty kill, a facet the Canucks evidently needed after the match began with Calgary drawing power-play opportunities.
Even-strength shot-share data provided further support for Räty’s role. When Räty was on the ice at even strength, shot attempts were 12-to-10 in favour of Calgary—the best ratio on the Canucks—while high-danger chances were 4-to-0 for Vancouver, according to the game account. With Räty on the bench, the same metrics shifted sharply toward the Flames, including shot attempts of 55-to-12 and high-danger shot attempts of 13-to-3, illustrating how Vancouver’s defensive stability appeared tied to his presence.
The game account also highlighted near-scoring sequences involving Vancouver players. Adam Novotný came close to opening the scoring in the second period, with Braeden Cootes delivering a pass that sent “Joshua” Trey Fix-Wolansky into the offensive zone before Fix-Wolansky set up Novotný. Novotný’s effort, however, ended wide after the puck flipped on end.
On the defensive side, the report identified Kirill Kudryavtsev for specific play. He was credited with an effective retrieval under pressure in the first period that led to the first penalty of the game—drawing a penalty on Morgan Frost—and with killing off Calgary possessions using stick work and board play. The same account said Kudryavtsev wasn’t consistently matched to the speed of Calgary’s forwards while defending the rush, an issue that could matter if Calgary’s attack accelerates faster during the regular season.
Calgary’s scoring began on the power play, with Victor Mancini opening the offence sequence indirectly through a defensive miscue. Joel Farabee was described as being in alone after two passes following Mancini getting caught on the wrong side of Farabee, and Farabee chipped the puck under Lankinen’s glove. The Flames then extended their lead soon after, with Matt Coronato scoring to make it 2-0 a couple of minutes later.
A brief scoring stretch also reflected how quickly Vancouver’s young defenders were forced into difficult reads. After Matt Stienburg was caught deep in Calgary territory trying to throw a hit and a 4-on-3 developed for the Flames, the game account says Arshdeep Bains nearly intercepted a pass that could have ended the rush, but the puck slipped through. Coronato then had time to pick his spot on Lankinen, and the Flames scored again less than two minutes later.
The third goal came from a defensive-zone faceoff situation: the account says Novotný could not get to Zayne Parekh quickly enough, allowing Sam Honzek to drive in on the right side and tap in Parekh’s rebound after Tom Willander was caught between competing responsibilities in the same area. Calgary’s goal surge left Vancouver facing an uphill battle heading into the final period.
Vancouver’s late third-period scoring opportunity was tied to quick movement in transition. Braeden Cootes retrieved a Jacob Middleton clearing attempt and advanced up the right side with a move that left Zayne Parekh stripped of his stick and glove, drawing in another defender. Cootes then threaded a pass to Arshdeep Bains, who had space to shoot because Parekh was still dealing with the equipment loss, and Bains scored with a snapshot off the far post.
Following the goal, Arshdeep Bains was quoted saying, “He’s a smart player. There’s a reason he’s so special. He’s going to be a great player here. He makes it really easy to play with him.” The same account described Bains as consistently winning puck battles along the boards and finding ways to get to the net for scoring chances, even though the puck didn’t always land for him in the most favorable shooting locations.
The preseason game also featured evaluation of other supporting performers. The account cited Riley Patterson for consistently making smart off-puck decisions and described Yaroslav Bryzgalov as playing with the type of push that could translate into a role in the bottom six. At the same time, it noted that multiple players on Vancouver’s side remain away from NHL readiness, with the night framed as a snapshot of which skaters may be separating themselves as training camp continues.
Overall, the Sept. 22 matchup showed two distinct storylines for Vancouver: a defensive structure that could hold its shape—particularly with Räty on the ice and Lankinen standing in—before Calgary’s late-second burst, and a growing sense that Bains and Räty could be forcing their way into the Canucks’ deeper end of the roster conversation ahead of the regular season.
The match also left a clear practical takeaway for Canucks fans watching the roster race. When the Flames’ pressure arrived in waves, Vancouver’s young core needed to sustain its discipline through the most intense stretches of play, while standout centres and forwards such as Räty and Bains demonstrated the specific skills—faceoff success, penalty-kill steadiness, and transition shooting chances—that could matter most once the regular season begins.
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