Kevin Lankinen arguably deserved an assist on the Vancouver Canucks' opening goal of the 2026-27 season.
An interesting controversy has emerged from the Vancouver Canucks' season-opening 6-5 overtime win against the Edmonton Oilers. On Vancouver's first goal, many believe that Kevin Lankinen should have received an assist. Instead, Paul Cotter was credited with an unassisted goal.
According to John Shannon of the 100% Canucks With Woodley & Shannon podcast, the Canucks did submit a request to the NHL to add a Lankinen assist to Cotter's season-opening goal. The potential assist in question occurred when the 31-year-old stopped Leon Draisaitl with his blocker and deflected the puck, which led to a shorthanded marker. Shannon said, "The league reviewed it and what happened was, the league feels that if a goaltender makes a save but does not have the intent of passing the puck to a teammate than it is not a pass and therefore not an assist."
One major issue with scoring is that the same rules don't seem to apply when awarding assists to skaters versus goaltenders. For example, if a puck bounces off a skater's skate and their teammate scores, the skater gets credit for the goal. This rule applies to almost every body part as long as the play is not an intentional hand pass.
The same can't be said about goaltenders. As mentioned, Lankinen deflected the puck with his blocker, and it went to Cotter, resulting in a goal. There was also no change of possession and no additional players touching the puck during the play.
In the end, the NHL needs to review how they award goaltender assists. If a skater can be awarded an assist because a puck bounced off them unintentionally, than so should a goalie. Ultimately, there is a case to be made that the league robbed Lankinen of an assist, which would have been the eighth of his NHL career.
Sep 29, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) makes a save on Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman (18) during the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn ImagesMake 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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