Oilers Lucky To Salvage A Point In 2026-27 Season Opener: Lose 6-5 To Canucks

The Edmonton Oilers opened their 2026-27 regular season with a loss to the Vancouver Canucks. To say the least, fans have seen this story before.

After a perfect preseason in which the Oilers allowed only five goals in four games, Edmonton allowed six to a Canucks team many aren’t expecting much from. A style of play that felt all too familiar to Oilers fans, night one of the season reminded everyone how little exhibition means.

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“The bottom line is, if we want to work, we want to do things right, we’re going to have a lot of success. We want to play like that, we’re going to be chasing the game,” said Mike Babcock. “To be honest, we’ve got to feel fortunate we got a point.”

Paul Cotter scored first for the Canucks, a shorthanded goal after a great save by Kevin Lankinen on a one-timer from Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers had dominated up to that point, 8-3 in shots. It was a nice shot, high glove, on Jarry.

Evan Bouchard scored his first of the season, and what would be his first of three goals on the night. It came on a long-point shot that worked through a screened Kevin Lankinen.

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The shots were 13-5 in favor of the Oilers after the first, and Edmonton dominated at 5-on-5 play. They went 0-for-2 on the power play and tried to send an early message physically, outhitting the Canucks 14-3.

The first was not an indicator of how the rest of the evening would go.

Babcock On His GoaltendersMike Babcock was asked Monday afternoon if he could tell us who would start in net for the Edmonton Oilers on opening night.

Marco Rossi made it 2-1 for the Canucks early in the second. He got in behind the defense on a breakaway. Jake Walman made a poor choice to pinch, with Connor Murphy having gone down low; Colton Dach was the forward covering. It was just one of many odd-man rushes for the Canucks.

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Bouchard scored his second of the night on a pass from Connor McDavid. Alex Formenton drove the puck along the boards and got taken out, opening a lane for McDavid. Bouchard was in the slot to pick up a pass and score.

The Canucks scored just over a minute into the third on a shot that Tristan Jarry should have had. Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored a five-hole goal. Max Sasson scored another quick one to give the Oilers a 4-2 lead. Jarry lets another one sneak by him, five-hole, on a backhand break.

Elias Pettersson scored to make it 5-2. A nice tip past Jarry. It became clear that the Oilers were back to their old habits and had really crumbled in the second and third periods.

Vasily Podkolzin got the Oilers back on the board with a goal on a nice loose-puck pickup from a Bouchard shot that didn’t quite reach the intended target. Podkolzin had worked hard and deserved the reward. On the goal, Bouchard picked up his third point.

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Bouchard scored his hat-trick goal on a long point shot that got through a crowded net.