Canucks spoil Oilers’ home opener with an entertaining overtime win after scoring six

The Story

The Vancouver Canucks spoiled the Edmonton Oilers’ home opener with an entertaining season-opening win on Tuesday, scoring six goals to secure an overtime victory.

Paul Cotter factored heavily into the result, scoring twice for Vancouver. Cotter said the group’s mindset is different from what others expect, adding, “I think it’s better to be an underdog than it is middle of the pack,” and later describing the dressing room as “very, very ego-less.”

Vancouver opened the scoring on the counterattack while shorthanded after Kevin Lankinen made a save to deny Leon Draisaitl. Cotter then took a 2-on-1 and scored his first goal as a Canuck by lifting the puck over Tristan Jarry’s glove.

A key storyline in Manny Malhotra’s first game behind an NHL bench was his use of a third-line matchup, with Drew O’Connor, Max Sasson and Linus Karlsson lined up against Connor McDavid. The approach worked at least in part at 5-on-5, where the Canucks and Oilers were tied 1-1 while Sasson was on the ice with McDavid, and Malhotra said it helped to limit McDavid’s transition opportunities. “It definitely helps to be able to match that speed and be on top of him as much as possible, to limit his opportunities to transition and use his speed the way he does,” Malhotra said.

Edmonton answered with a power-play goal sequence that included Zach Hyman creating pressure in front, setting up Evan Bouchard’s shot that beat Lankinen. Bouchard later tied the game at two, taking advantage of McDavid’s gravity as Tom Willander got set to challenge the shot.

After the second intermission, Vancouver’s offence pushed the momentum again, with Liam Öhgren feeding Marco Rossi for a breakaway goal and later with Max Sasson doubling the Canucks’ lead on a fast rush. Elias Pettersson then scored on the power play, redirecting a pass at the top to put Vancouver up 5-2.

Edmonton, however, mounted a comeback after Vancouver’s lead ballooned, tightening the game with additional goals including one from Brock Podkolzin and another from Bouchard. Despite the Canucks’ attempts to protect the lead in the closing minutes, the Oilers forced overtime.

With the win secured in extra time, Vancouver’s performance continued a theme from the opener: Malhotra’s club played with speed and created rush chances, including multiple goals tied to transitions and special-teams success.