Canucks vs Oilers: Paul Cotter Wins It in OT, Spoiling Mike Babcock’s Return

Paul Cotter scored 1:59 into overtime as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 at Rogers Place on Tuesday night. The winner wasted a five-point night from Evan Bouchard and gave Mike Babcock a losing start in his first game behind an NHL bench since the Maple Leafs fired him in 2019.

Vancouver led 5-2 midway through the third period after scoring three times in 4:05. Edmonton answered with three of its own. The last came from Vasily Podkolzin, a former Canuck, with 43 seconds left and Tristan Jarry pulled. Then Cotter finished a give-and-go with Max Sasson in the three-on-three.

How the Canucks and Oilers got to overtime

Edmonton outshot Vancouver 37-23, and the Canucks blocked 21 shots. Their penalty kill went three for four and scored a shorthanded goal. Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves, several of them in the late push that forced overtime.

Bouchard’s five points, and why Babcock was unhappy

Bouchard did almost everything for Edmonton. He scored from the point in the first period, again in the second and a third time at 9:20 of the third, 24 seconds after Podkolzin’s first goal. Then he set up Podkolzin’s tying power-play goal. Connor McDavid had two assists and Leon Draisaitl one. The five points put Bouchard top of the NHL scoring race after one night.

None of it pleased the new coach. Babcock came out of retirement in June to replace Kris Knoblauch, with the job of making Edmonton harder to play against. He liked the start, then watched his team drift into bad pinches and odd-man rushes. “Tonight was an indication that we have serious work to do,” he said afterwards, adding that the Oilers were fortunate to leave with a point.

Jarry allowed six goals on 23 shots and said he needed to make one or two more saves. He was rarely helped, facing breakaways and open men in front. The Oilers also had little time to learn Babcock’s system: training camp was shortened for the 84-game schedule, and veterans played only two preseason games.

Cotter’s Canucks debut and Malhotra’s first win

Cotter bookended his first game as a Canuck. The 26-year-old from Canton, Michigan, scored shorthanded in the first period, finishing a two-on-one with Arshdeep Bains. In overtime he forced a turnover by Ryan Shea along the boards, played a give-and-go with Sasson, another Michigan native, and lifted a backhand past Jarry.

It was also a first NHL win for Manny Malhotra, in his first game as Vancouver’s head coach. He credited the penalty kill and Lankinen for the result. Marco Rossi, on a breakaway, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Sasson and Elias Pettersson, on a power-play redirect of Filip Hronek’s point shot, scored the other Vancouver goals.

Canucks vs Oilers by the numbers

Lankinen stopped 32 of 37 shots for the win. Jarry stopped 17 of 23 and took the overtime loss, which still earns Edmonton a point in the standings.

What’s next: the rematch in Vancouver on Thursday

The teams finish their home-and-home at Rogers Arena on Thursday, 1 October, at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET) on Sportsnet. Our how to watch the NHL in Canada guide has every channel, and the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers team pages carry both schedules and rosters.

For bettors, Thursday’s rematch is the first read on whether Babcock’s message has landed. Opening night showed how much a structural lapse can cost even a team with McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard. Our opening-night Canucks vs Oilers preview set out the matchup, and our Stanley Cup odds page tracks both clubs’ futures. Odds may change. 19+ (18+ in AB/MB/QC). Please play responsibly.

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