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Instant Reaction: Second period gets ugly in Canucks’ 5-1 loss to Rangers

Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

By David Quadrelli

Nov 13, 2026, 23:36 EST

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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!

Lineup

DeBrusk – EP40 – Boeser
Cotter – Chytil – Lekkerimäki
Öhgren – Rossi – Karlsson
O’Connor – Sasson – Gallagher

Buium – Hronek
EP25 – Willander
Oleksiak – Crotty

Meriläinen

Manny Malhotra

First Period

So here was the first shift of the game. JT Miller was booed heavily as he carried the puck on two separate occasions, and the second time he possessed the puck, it was in the Canucks’ end and finished with a Miller shot through traffic that pinballed and posed a real threat for Meriläinen to deal with. Thankfully, the Canucks’ goaltender was up to the task, kicking out his right leg to keep some life in the building early.

Later, Filip Chytil threw a big hit. Unfortunately, it was on Paul Cotter as the two Canucks got their signals crossed in the neutral zone.

Tom Willander had some great jump to start this game. When he was out there, it felt like the Canucks were in control. If they didn’t have the puck, he was useful in helping to get it back. If they had it, it was likely because he either had it on his stick or was helping to create offence. He was instrumental to a good start for the Canucks tonight, and less than seven minutes in, he drew the game’s first power play.

On the ensuing power play, the Canucks moved the puck around plenty up top and along the left half wall, but couldn’t turn that into shots on goal. Their best chance of the sequence came when Filip Hronek fired a shot pass through traffic and looked for a tip from Jake DeBrusk, but DeBrusk couldn’t make contact.

Back at 5v5, the Canucks held their own, spending a good chunk of time in the New York zone. Brock Boeser made a great play in the offensive zone to knock down a New York clearing attempt and sweep the puck back to Zeev Buium, who fired a shot through that Elias Pettersson deflected past Dylan Garand to open the scoring.

A 5v5 goal for EP40! And against the Rangers! Great initial shot by Buium as well. #Canucks have the lead

— Lachlan Irvine (@lachinthecrease.com) 2026-11-14T02:35:13.972Z

1-0 Canucks.

Meriläinen had to be sharp a couple times in this period, and perhaps no sharper than this one, which came shortly after the Pettersson goal.

The Meriln Wall strikes again on Noah Laba. #Canucks

— Lachlan Irvine (@lachinthecrease.com) 2026-11-14T02:37:29.372Z

With just over a minute to go in the period, the Rangers scored as Gabe Perreault potted his seventh of the year after a setup from Alexis Lafreniere.

New York goal!Scored by Gabe Perreault with 01:13 left in the 1st. Assisted by Alexis Lafrenière.VAN: 1 | NYR: 1#NYRvsVAN #Canucks #NYR

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-11-14T02:51:34.751003Z

1-1. JT Miller barking towards Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson after the goal…

You can see JT push his teammates out of the way so he can bark at Petey and Boeser on the replay of the Perreault goal#Canucks

— Lachlan Irvine (@lachinthecrease.com) 2026-11-14T02:55:01.755Z

Some more takeaways from the first:
-It’s been too long since we’ve gotten to see Tom Willander step up and kill plays. He was solid to start this game in all three zones. After 20 minutes of play, chances were 14-1 in favour of the Canucks with Willander on the ice at 5v5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
-500 points for Brock Boeser with the assist on Pettersson’s goal.
-Zeev Buium with some good head movement and dangles at the blueline to create space for himself. Maybe one of the best periods we’ve seen from him in a Canucks uniform. Harman Dayal had a really solid breakdown on Buium’s game on Friday’s episode of West Coast Conversation.

Second Period

The Canucks started the second with some decent jump, and thanks to some hard work from Brendan Gallagher, they found themselves on the power play as old friend Marcus Pettersson was called for hooking.

On this power play chance, the Canucks again tried to find the perfect play, passing the puck around plenty but not getting any shots on goal. Jonathan Lekkerimäki elected to pass twice, and I think he should take the thousands of fans in attendance yelling “shoot!” as a compliment.

The Canucks took a penalty of their own shortly thereafter as Brock Boeser was called for slashing Matthew Robertson with just over 13 minutes to go in the second.

Shorthanded, Elias Pettersson and Drew O’Connor nearly connected for a goal that would have brought the roof off the place, but O’Connor’s one-timer attempt off the rush hit the side netting. Instead, the Canucks ended up hemmed in at their own end as the Rangers cycled the puck around, with JT Miller — who was getting booed consistently all night long — saucing a pass over to Oliver Bjorkstrand, who beat Meriläinen over the right shoulder.

Power play goal for New York!Scored by Oliver Bjorkstrand with 11:39 left in the 2nd. Assisted by J.T. Miller and Adam Fox.VAN: 1 | NYR: 2#NYRvsVAN #Canucks #NYR

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-11-14T03:31:37.195938Z

2-1 New York.

After a sequence in which the Canucks controlled play in the Rangers’ end, the visitors scored again in a hurry. And this one was a weird one. After Filip Hronek raced back for a puck and failed to make contact, Leevi Meriläinen tried to make a quick-up pass, but Filip Chytil, doing his best impression of Manny Ramirez, knocked down Meriläinen’s pass, causing all sorts of chaos as he left the puck on a silver platter for 29-year-old Richmond, BC native Glenn Gawdin to bury for his first NHL goal.

New York goal!Scored by Glenn Gawdin with 07:00 left in the 2nd.VAN: 1 | NYR: 3#NYRvsVAN #Canucks #NYR

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-11-14T03:42:25.980586Z

3-1.

Then just two minutes later, the Rangers scored a couple, seemingly in the blink of an eye. First, a slow pivot from Brendan Gallagher turned what should have been a 2-on-1 for the Canucks into a 3-on-2 against, and the Rangers pulled off a beautiful passing play to push their lead to three.

New York goal!Scored by Alexis Lafrenière with 04:46 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault.VAN: 1 | NYR: 4#NYRvsVAN #Canucks #NYR

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-11-14T03:44:42.059820Z

4-1.

Then less than a minute later, Glenn Gawdin scored his SECOND goal of the game (and his career).

New York goal!Scored by Glenn Gawdin with 03:50 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Vladislav Gavrikov and Jaroslav Chmelar.VAN: 1 | NYR: 5#NYRvsVAN #Canucks #NYR

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-11-14T03:51:39.156503Z

5-1.

This one was quickly getting away from the home side.

Some takeaways from the second:
-I think the Canucks may have gotten away from their game in the second.
-That’s a costly penalty from Boeser in retrospect. A real turning point in this hockey game.
-Glenn Gawdin’s homecoming game was the angle nobody thought to cover.

Third Period

The Canucks were in tough, but the least they could do was try to give fans something to cheer about.

They had a chance to do so when they got their third power play chance of the game less than four minutes into the third. This time, the Canucks managed to get a couple shots off, and should have gotten a 5-on-3 as Lekkerimäki was definitely tripped, but because the Canucks were already on a power play, that trip didn’t count. Another power play opportunity gone.

The Rangers got the game’s next power play when Elias Pettersson made contact with the puck while going off on a line change, causing the Canucks to be called for too many men on the ice. The Rangers had the Canucks’ PKers absolutely exhausted, as the foursome of the Elias Petterssons, Brock Boeser, and Filip Hronek could not get out of their own end. They withstood the pressure, however, and just as the penalty expired, Elias Pettersson, the forward, drew a holding penalty.

The Canucks started their second unit because Pettersson and Boeser had been out on the long PK, and to the second unit’s credit, they got some shots through. Also, I sure want to see more of Zeev Buium on PP1. He’s (contractually and metaphorically) the future of this franchise, and a season like this one should see the Canucks try to get him every puck touch they can.

And that would be all she wrote, as the Canucks didn’t offer much pushback in the third, either.

What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below! And be sure to tune into Rink Wide Vancouver LIVE after the game on the Daily Faceoff Vancouver YouTube channel. Check out our live programming button in the top right of our website for easy access!