That was not a tidy preseason tune-up. It was a full-on scoreboard riot, the sort of game that leaves coaches groaning, fans buzzing and both goaltenders wishing the night had lasted about 20 minutes less. The Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 in overtime on Sept. 29/26, but the final score barely captures how wild this one became.
Paul Cotter opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal just before the 10-minute mark of the first period, then came back to finish it just before the two-minute mark in overtime. In between, the two teams traded blows, traded leads and then traded errors in a game that never really settled down long enough for either side to feel comfortable.
Lead changes, hat tricks and no real safety
Evan Bouchard tied the game with 3:34 left in the first period, and Marco Rossi restored Vancouver's lead 2:07 into the second. Bouchard tied it again with 5:26 left in the second period, which tells you everything about how little margin there was between the sides.
Then the third period turned into a finishing drill. Jonathan Lekkerimäki made it 3-2 at 1:10, Max Sasson extended the advantage 1:45 later, and Elias Pettersson added a power play goal at 5:15. At that point Vancouver should have been in control. Instead, Edmonton kept coming.
Vasily Podkolzin cut the gap to two at 8:56, Bouchard completed his hat trick 24 seconds later, and Podkolzin then tied it with a power play goal at 19:17. That is not a comeback built on luck alone; that is a defense refusing to close the door when it had the chance.
Cotter finishes the job
Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves, which matters because Vancouver needed every one of them once the game started slipping toward chaos. A six-goal night does not usually scream structure, but the Canucks at least found the decisive moment. Cotter scored the winner and gave Vancouver the last word in a game that spent most of the night daring someone to take control.
For Edmonton, Bouchard's hat trick and Podkolzin's late equalizer were enough to drag the game back from the edge. For Vancouver, the lesson is simpler: scoring six and still needing overtime is a warning sign, but at least they found the answer when it mattered most.
