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Paul Cotter scored twice, including the overtime winner, to give the Vancouver Canucks a 6-5 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday in the season opener for both teams. The win marked a promising start to the Manny Malhotra era in Vancouver, even if the Canucks had to hold on late to secure it.
Vancouver finished last in the NHL last season with a 25-49-8 record. However, Tuesday’s result showed a different side of the team, particularly in their ability to respond under pressure.
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Cotter Makes History in Debut
Cotter joined the Canucks as a free agent after two seasons with the New Jersey Devils. He wasted no time making an impact. His opening goal was a short-handed effort, making him the first player in Canucks history to score a shorthanded goal in his franchise debut. He also became the first to score an overtime winner in his first game with the club.
In addition, Cotter became the sixth player in Canucks history to score multiple goals in his initial game with the team. Furthermore, he joined Brendan Shanahan as the only players in NHL history to score both a shorthanded goal and an overtime goal in a season opener.
Marco Rossi, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Max Sasson and Elias Pettersson also scored for Vancouver. Goaltender Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves to earn the win.
Canucks Blow Three-Goal Lead Before Holding On
The game was tied 2-2 after two periods. Vancouver then scored three goals in just four minutes at the start of the third period. However, Edmonton battled back and scored with 43 seconds remaining to force overtime. Cotter ended it 1:59 into extra time.
“It’s the first game, so maybe not the cleanest game, but I think we were resilient,” said defenceman Jamie Oleksiak. “As the game went on, we handled the pressure well and responded when they had their push.”
Pettersson acknowledged the Canucks left room for improvement. “If we’re up by a three-goal lead in the third, then we should definitely be able to win it,” he said. “We won it, regardless, in overtime, but there’s some stuff we can clean up. But we’re very happy with the win.”
Malhotra Reflects on Coaching Debut
For Malhotra, Tuesday’s game marked his debut as Vancouver’s head coach. He became the fourth person in franchise history to represent the Canucks as both a player and head coach, following Marc Crawford, Pat Quinn and Orland Kurtenbach.
“Not the way we drew it up, for sure,” Malhotra said. “Obviously, a lot of really good things to be able to score five goals in a game. We don’t want to give up three in the third period. That’s something we’ll definitely need to work on.”
Despite the late scare, Malhotra praised his team’s character. “Just the resiliency to stay with it was a huge factor,” he said. “Guys stepped up in big ways. Lankinen made some key saves down the stretch, and our penalty kill did the job against an elite power play.”
Malhotra also described the experience of coaching his first NHL game. “There was a lot of momentum swings and energy swings on the bench,” he said. “There were a lot of moving parts, but it was definitely a fun one to coach.”
The two teams meet again in Vancouver on Thursday.
