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Instant Reaction: Evander Kane scores in 1,000th NHL game as Canucks lose 4-2 to Golden Knights
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Photo credit: © Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Tyson Cole
Mar 31, 2026, 00:43 EDT
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Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!

Starting lineup

The forward group remains the same from Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the Calgary Flames. However, there is a change on the blueline, as Elias Pettersson returns in place of PO Joseph. After coming in for relief of Nikita Tolopilo against the Flames, Kevin Lankinen gets the start in goal. This marks Evander Kane’s 1,000th NHL game.

First period

The Golden Knights controlled play for the majority of the first period, but it was the Canucks who got the best chance through the first five minutes when Drew O’Connor found Marco Rossi on a two-on-one for a one-timer off the rush. Adin Hill slid over to make the save.
As play went on, Nic Dowd went in to pressure Aatu Räty in the Canucks zone. Realizing Dowd was coming, Räty backed up to hold his ground. In doing so, Dowd ran into Räty’s elbow and was left hurt down on the ice. Dowd stumbled a bit trying to get off the ice, but later did return. Räty was not charged with a penalty.
However, a few minutes later, we saw our first penalty of the game. Liam Öhgren dropped back in coverage to support a pinching Elias Pettersson (D). He got beaten by Rielly Smith and got his stick in the midsection and was given a two-minute slashing penalty.
But Jake DeBrusk had the best chance of the Golden Knights’ power play, when he used his hand-eye to knock down a pass and was all alone on Hill, but could not slide one through him.
After the penalty was killed, DeBrusk made a strong play to poke the puck past a pinching Jeremy Lauzon, sending him and Kane on a two-on-one. DeBrusk threads a nice saucer pass over to Kane, and Mr. 1,000 was not going to miss that opportunity, as he dekes Hill out on the backhand to open the scoring.
1-0 Canucks.
The Golden Knights had their expected push back to finish out the period, but Kevin Lankinen stayed perfect on the night, stopping all 10 shots he faced, and sent his team into the first break with a 1-0 lead.

Second period

Vegas kept pushing to try and find the equalizer, but Lankinen remained steady, making the best save of his night so far when he robbed Golden Knights captain Mark Stone on a beautiful passing sequence.
Shortly after the chance, Victor Mancini took a tripping penalty. And for the second straight power play, the Canucks did a strong job of limiting the Golden Knights’ chances. They even managed to outshoot Vegas despite being down a man.
But that power play gave the Golden Knights momentum. They continued generating chances in the offensive zone, none better than Mitch Marner’s deke at the net front and his in-between-the-legs shot that was inches away from lighting the lamp. Eventually, the Golden Knights would finally capitalize on all of their chances.
Noah Hanifin walks the line and finds a new shooting lane to fire a point shot toward the net. The puck hits Tomas Hertl at the net front, who then shovels it over to a pinching Rasmus Andersson, who has a wide-open net to tap the puck in.
Tough play from Drew O’Connor, who gets caught puck watching, allowing Andersson to sneak behind him and get to the net uncontested.
1-1 tie.
The Canucks were hungry to get their lead back. Pettersson’s line had a solid offensive zone shift and nearly scored when Öhgren sent a shot-pass to Karlsson at the net front, who tipped the puck up and over Hill, but hit where the crossbar meets the post to keep this game tied.
A few minutes later, Zeev Buium drew a holding penalty on Keegan Kolesar, who was in on the forecheck. And the Canucks power play, which has recently been clicking, re-gave them the lead when Filip Hronek found Brock Boeser’s stick in the bumper spot.
2-1 Canucks.
Not sure what has gotten into the Canucks of late, it may be all the fighting practice after practice, but the team has been overly physical of late. Karlsson gets into a shoving match with Lauzon in front of the Canucks bench. Teammates from both sides come to join in, leading to an unusual customer dropping the gloves: Teddy Blueger. He dropped the gloves with Colton Sissons for his first fight of the season.
That fight seemed to energize the Golden Knights, as they found yet another equalizer.
E. Pettersson (D) loses the race to the puck in the neutral zone. Ivan Barbashev uses his body to his advantage to box out Pettersson and buys time to send a pass to Shea Theodore all alone on Lankinen, who roofs it into the top left corner.
2-2 tie.
And just 1:17 minutes later, the Golden Knights took their first lead of the game.
The Golden Knights had the Canucks running around in the defensive zone. And yet another Canuck (Kane) got caught puck watching and let a Golden Knight (Smith) sneak to the backdoor for a chance with half the net to shoot at. Rielly Smith drops to a knee to fire home the one-timer for his 13th of the season.
3-2 Golden Knights.

Third period

The start of the third period was relatively low-event. Both teams had a handful of shots, but none were too threatening. And that low event hockey trickled through the first 15 minutes of the game. Both teams had just two high-danger chances over the span.
Buium made some moves in the offensive zone to breathe some excitement into the game. However, the Canucks weren’t able to turn that into a scoring chance as Hronek had his shot blocked by Brett Howden.
Head Coach Adam Foote remained aggressive, pulling the goalie with over two minutes remaining. And after some offensive zone pressure from the Canucks, Cole Smith put the game away with an empty net goal. This goal was his first as a Golden Knight.
4-2 Final.
Full game takeaways:
– The Canucks played a pretty decent game. Outside of two lapses in the defensive zone, I thought they were okay. Maybe that’s just because this Golden Knights team isn’t as good as we’re used to seeing. In saying that, there were a handful of Golden Knights chances that easily could have found the back of the net. So the score could have been more lopsided than it was.
– Regardless of your feelings for him, it’s hard not to be happy for Kane finding the back of the net in Game 1,000. It hasn’t been the perfect marriage for him in Vancouver, but it’s always a feel-good story to see players score in such a notable milestone game.
– They didn’t have very many chances in the offensive zone, but when they did, I continue to like what I’m seeing from the Öhgren-Pettersson-Karlsson line. They had three nice shifts with a couple of chances. I’m also starting to think that it’s the Öhgren effect. There have been three lines that have been clearly going on over the last two months, and they all involve Öhgren. And because he seems to be the common denominator in all of them, I’m starting to think he might deserve to win the “Most Exciting Player” team award for the Canucks.
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!

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