The Vancouver Canucks finished dead last in the National Hockey League in 2025-26 and are widely expected to be bottom-feeders again this year. Despite that, they hung six goals on the Stanley Cup hopeful Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, winning 6-5 in overtime in both teams’ first contest of the new campaign.
And head coach Mike Babcock was having none of it.
“I didn’t think for one second it was going to be easy. Tonight was an indication that we have serious work to do, and so we’re just going to have a look at it tomorrow and show the players and clear it up,” the new bench boss told reporters, including NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest.
“But playing like that — we started fine — but playing like that and getting away from what we’re supposed to do is unacceptable for us, so we have to set a better standard for ourselves.”
The Oilers looked like the better team in the early going, but the Canucks broke it open early in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals in just over four minutes to take a 5-2 lead.
Edmonton mounted a comeback, with a historic night from Evan Bouchard leading the way. The superstar defenseman recorded a hat trick and two assists, factoring in all five of his club’s goals.
Article Continues Below“If we're going to do things right we're going to have success. If we play like this we're going to be chasing the game,” Babcock added. “To be honest with you, we're fortunate to get a point (tonight). Great comeback, but in the end we still gave up three chances in overtime in a minute and a half.”
The spirited late comeback wasn’t enough, as Paul Cotter scored his second goal in overtime to give the Canucks the victory. It was a brutal showing for Tristan Jarry between the pipes, as he made just 17 saves on 23 shots.
“I think for myself I have to be better in those aspects,” Jarry said. “Just talking about my game, I need one or two of those. I think that’s the game changer there and that puts us in a better place.”
Regardless of how the first game shook out, the Canucks and Oilers will very likely finish as polar opposites in the Pacific Division in 2026-27.
Still, it was a nightmare opening for Edmonton, and they'll look to right the ship against this same Vancouver team — this time in British Columbia — on Thursday night.