The Vancouver Canucks have put in some good efforts early in the 2026-27 NHL season. They had some highly chaotic games early on, and have beaten some good teams. Unfortunately, they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.

Paul Cotter scored a goal against the Golden Knights in this loss. He has had an incredible start to the year, scoring four goals in his first four games. Despite the loss, the veteran forward had a message for the Canucks' critics on Sunday.

“For a team that everybody in the world said is going to be last in the league, we’re doing a lot of good things,” Cotter said, via local reporter Irfaan Gaffar.

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Cotter's goal opened the scoring on Sunday, but the Golden Knights had an answer. Mitch Marner scored his first of the season, while Brayden McNabb added one to give his team the lead. Jonathan Lekkerimaki tied the game for Vancouver, but Vegas found the game-winner in the third period.

Vancouver has started off 2-2-0 on the year. They have a very chaotic win over the Edmonton Oilers to begin the season, as well. The Canucks are not expected to contend for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Still, they have shown a lot of promising things early in the year.

This loss will sting for Vancouver, but they played the defending Western Conference champions quite well. There is certainly a lot to be proud of here. They will look to keep this early run of strong performances going on Wednesday against the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.