How The Canucks Plan On Learning From Their Recent 9-7 Loss To The Oilers

The 2026-27 Vancouver Canucks had a home opener for the ages. After going down 8-2 midway through the second period, Vancouver caught fire as they scored five goals over the final 20:01 of the game. Unfortunately, the Canucks fell just short as the Edmonton Oilers skated away from Rogers Arena with a 9-7 victory. 

Games in which one team scores at least nine goals and the other team at least seven rarely happen in the NHL anymore. In fact, in the 59 regular-season games where it has happened, it has occurred only five times since the start of the 1997-96 season. Funny enough, Vancouver has been involved in two of those games, with the other being a 10-7 loss to the Minnesota Wild back in 2024. 

A chaotic game like Thursday can be very hard to evaluate. The first two periods of the game featured virtually all negatives, while the third was almost completely positive. There is also a challenge as it is the type of game that these players may never experience again. 

"It's obviously not something you want to do regularly," Jamie Oleksiak told The Hockey News after practice on Friday. "But I think, like anything, you can take positives away, and you can even use the negatives towards growing. I think in that game, you know, the start, obviously, something we got to clean up, but again, I think the resiliency was a positive there. So yeah."

One of the biggest positives was the Canucks fight in the final frame. Whether or not the Oilers stopped playing, it is not easy for any team to score four goals in a period. When asked about his team's play in the third, Oleksiak said this group wants to keep fighting regardless of the score. 

"I think it speaks to the group as a whole in terms of not getting dejected and not getting overwhelmed by a situation. I think, obviously, the first two periods were tough, but in the third period, we went out there with a purpose. We went out there to try and have some pushback and build some momentum. I think we did a pretty good job of that. But obviously, we got to make sure that we carry that through 60 minutes."

As for Manny Malhotra, he and his staff need to find ways to learn from Thursday's game. Even the most out of the ordinary results can have lesson that will better the team moving forward. As Malhotra explained, there were plenty of moments, both good and bad, that he can show the group to help build for the future. 

"That game is just like any other game," said Malhotra. "We will analyze the things that we like, the things that we don't like. We'll work and work on the things we like to make them better. We'll clean up the things that we feel need to clean up, and then we move on. But (Thursday's) game is not by any means a special game in that regard. It's going to be the same mentality throughout the course of the year."

Luckily for Vancouver, they won't have to wait long to put Thursday's result in the rearview mirror as they play a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday. With 15 games total in October, the Canucks will need to have short memories. While Thursday's home opener will soon be a distant memory for the players, Vancouver's performance still offers plenty of lessons Malhotra and his staff can use to strengthen this group. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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