Full Breakdown
Canucks Edge Oilers 6-5 in Overtime Thriller to Open Season
By Drooid · · How we work
Season-Opening Victory
The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 in overtime to start the 2024-25 NHL campaign. Tied 2-2 after two periods, Vancouver surged with three goals in four minutes of the third to lead 5-2. Edmonton rallied, scoring three times in the final minutes—including a goal with 43 seconds left—to force overtime. Paul Cotter netted the decisive goal 1:59 into the extra period, completing a two-goal night.
Record-Setting Performances
Cotter, a free-agent acquisition from New Jersey, became the first player in Canucks history to score a short-handed goal in his debut and the first to record an overtime winner in a franchise debut. He also joined Brendan Shanahan as the only player to notch both a short-handed and overtime goal in a season opener.
For Edmonton, defenseman Evan Bouchard recorded a three-goal, two-assist night, becoming the first Oilers defenseman with a multi-goal season-opener and the third defenseman in NHL history to post a hat-trick in a season-opening game.
Kevin Lankinen stopped 32 shots for Vancouver, while Tristan Jarry made 17 saves for Edmonton.
Manny Malhotra’s Coaching Debut
Manny Malhotra entered his first season as Vancouver’s head coach, joining Marc Crawford, Pat Quinn and Orland Kurtenbach as former players to assume the role. He emphasized the team’s resilience despite conceding three third-period goals and highlighted the need for “clean-up” work on defensive lapses.
Official Statements & Reactions
He acknowledged the “momentum swings” and stressed that maintaining composure will be essential moving forward. Forward Elias Pettersson echoed the sentiment, calling attention to areas the team must improve.
Verbatim Quotes
- “It’s the first game, so maybe not the cleanest game but I think we were resilient,” — Canucks de
- “There’s definitely some areas we want to clean up,” — Elias Pettersson
- “Not the way we drew it up, for sure,” — Vancouver Canucks
- “There was a lot of momentum swings, energy swings on the bench,” — The Manny Malhotra, canucks head coach