Why The Canucks’ Opening Series Shows What This Rebuild Could Be

Two games into the season, the Vancouver Canucks have already given an idea of what this rebuild could look like.

The opener gave Vancouver something to build on. The Canucks played with pressure, sacrifice and pace in a 6-5 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers. They blocked 21 shots, Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves, and turned Oilers mistakes into counterattack opportunities.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki’s third-period goal showed it. With the game tied 2-2, Vancouver went the other way after an Edmonton mistake. Lekkerimäki attacked down the right side and beat Tristan Jarry five-hole to give the Canucks the lead.

The same thing happened moments later. Drew O’Connor and Max Sasson capitalized on another turnover, combining on a quick give-and-go that ended with Sasson scoring. In overtime, Paul Cotter pressured Ryan Shea into another turnover, Sasson picked up the loose puck and found Cotter again for the winner.

That pace has been missing from Vancouver’s game. The Canucks have spent years trying to deal with the opposition’s speed. Through two games, they finally look capable of using some of their own.

Sasson’s matchup against Connor McDavid reinforced that point. Sasson was asked to keep McDavid’s line at bay. Arguably the best player in the world somehow finished the opener with zero shots on goal. Sasson also scored and assisted on the overtime winner.

High scoring has not been limited to Vancouver and Edmonton. Through three days of the 2026-27 NHL season, 107 goals were scored across 15 games. For the first time since 1995, multiple teams scored at least seven in their opener.

The regular season increased from 82 to 84 games, while the preseason was cut to four. That may be part of the early-season sloppiness, but Vancouver’s pace and effort still stood out.

Game 2 was a lot less clean. Edmonton came over the boards wave after wave, and Vancouver spent the night trying to recover from its own mistakes.

The Canucks fell behind 5-0 and 8-2 before closing the gap in a 9-7 loss. McDavid finished with five points, and Sasson had a tougher night.

Vancouver really struggled in its own zone. Coverage broke down, Edmonton found too much space and the Canucks spent much of the night chasing the play.

Luke Schenn was direct afterward.

“Careless with the puck, didn't defend hard enough, kind of lost structure and details,” Schenn said. “If we want to have a chance, we’ve got to play as a five-man unit. That's the only way.”

With three defencemen under 23 in the lineup, mistakes are going to happen. Vancouver will get outskilled some nights, especially against Edmonton’s firepower. What cannot happen is being outworked or outwilled. Nights like Thursday are part of the learning process, but the bigger problem is when mistakes come with lost battles and poor structure.

For the fans, 6-5 and 9-7 games are definitely entertaining. For the team, they cannot become the norm. Vancouver cannot keep asking its goalies to bail the team out while giving up chance after chance.

An 84-game season is a grind, and spending too much of it trapped in the defensive zone, blocking shots and relying on big saves will eventually take a toll.

The offence will not score six or seven every night. Vancouver has to find ways to win when it only gets two or three. A big deficit will sometimes be too much to overcome, especially against teams with Edmonton’s skill. Those comebacks will be harder to find once games tighten up.

Still, the response after falling behind 8-2 was worth something. The Canucks scored four straight to make it 8-6. Elias Pettersson returned after needing stitches earlier in the game and finished with three points.

“I am proud how we didn't give up and went till the buzzer there,” Cotter said afterward.

The comeback did not excuse the first 40 minutes. The pushback, though, was closer to what Manny Malhotra wants this team to look like.

This is still a young team, so rough nights will come. The Canucks need to clean up their defensive-zone play, but the team looks faster, more dangerous off the rush and willing to keep pushing when things go wrong.

Two games in, Vancouver has given fans plenty to watch.

That makes the early part of this season far from boring.

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