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Instant Reaction: Canucks go nearly 40 minutes without a shot in 5-2 loss to Red Wings

Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

By David Quadrelli

Oct 23, 2026, 00:28 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!

Lineup

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

EP25 – Hronek
Oleksiak – Willander
Buium – Mancini

Lankinen

As we noted in today’s edition of Scenes from morning skate, Liam Öhgren was a healthy scratch for this game. We’ll hear from Manny Malhotra about that decision post game.

First Period

The Canucks started this game on time, as it looked like the exact opposite of their start Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. The home team’s forecheck gave the Red Wings’ defence fits early on, but the Canucks struggled to turn that pressure into tangible scoring chances.

The Red Wings capitalized early, however, as Lucas Raymond executed one of the nicest deflection goals you’ll ever see on a rather innocent-looking shot from the point.

Detroit goal!Scored by Lucas Raymond with 15:42 left in the 1st. Assisted by Albert Johansson and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård.VAN: 0 | DET: 1#DETvsVAN #Canucks #LGRW

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-23T02:32:25.175922Z

1-0 Detroit early.

The Red Wings scored just a minute later, as William Wallinder shot a puck off of Kevin Lankinen and in.

Detroit goal!Scored by William Wallinder with 13:56 left in the 1st. Assisted by Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond.VAN: 0 | DET: 2#DETvsVAN #Canucks #LGRW

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-23T02:33:16.755799Z

2-0 Wings.

The Canucks got their first power play opportunity of the night very quickly after the goal when Anton “don’t call me Albert” Johansson sent the puck over the glass from his own end.

Elias Pettersson looked good on the ensuing power play opportunity, as he made a couple of plays to help extend the Canucks’ zone time instead of having to reset. Pettersson was rewarded for his efforts when he blasted a one-timer past John Gibson to begin the Canucks’ effort to chip away at the lead.

Power play goal for Vancouver!Scored by Elias Pettersson with 12:58 left in the 1st. Assisted by Filip Hronek and Jonathan Lekkerimäki.VAN: 1 | DET: 2#DETvsVAN #Canucks #LGRW

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-23T02:43:59.810752Z

2-1.

The Red Wings answered back less than two minutes later, as they made good on a power play of their own after Arshdeep Bains was called for slashing. This was Lucas Raymond’s second of the night.

Power play goal for Detroit!Scored by Lucas Raymond with 11:04 left in the 1st. Assisted by Viktor Arvidsson and Alex DeBrincat.VAN: 1 | DET: 3#DETvsVAN #Canucks #LGRW

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-23T02:44:47.319651Z

3-1 Red Wings.

After some pressure in their own end where they struggled to break the puck out (they had been pretty good in this department up until this point), the Canucks got another power play opportunity thanks to Ben Chiarot tripping Filip Chytil on a partial breakaway.

The Canucks’ power play didn’t go very well. Canucks down by two after 20.

Some takeaways from the first:
-I fully recognize that the Red Wings don’t forecheck like the Carolina Hurricanes do, but thought the Canucks’ defencemen did an exceptional job at moving the puck out of their own end quickly and with control. Very different than last game.
-Like to see Jonathan Lekkerimäki still getting ample power play time, even with the return of Marco Rossi.
-Filip Hronek… he’s got to figure it out soon, right? Some really sloppy plays from him again in that opening 20.

Second Period

The Red Wings and Canucks were in a very heated mid-off for the first ten minutes of the second period. The teams traded broken plays, odd-man rushes that somehow didn’t result in shots on goal, sloppy line changes, and multiple whiffed on shot attempts. The Canucks’ best chance to score in the opening ten minutes came when Max Sasson held onto a puck and set up a streaking Jamie Oleksiak in front, but Oleksiak couldn’t pull the trigger as the Wings quickly converged on him.

At the 10:38 mark, Drew O’Connor took a tripping penalty that put Detroit back on the power play. On the PK, Brock Boeser made a great read to jump-start a shorthanded 2-on-1 with Elias Pettersson. Boeser elected to shoot, but missed the net.

Shots off target were quickly becoming the story of the second, as the Canucks didn’t register their first shot of the period — and sixth of the game — until the final minute of the second. There was a noticeable Bronx cheer as Linus Karlsson backhanded a shot on goal. Unfortunately, the scorekeeper corrected the stat sheet and took the shot away from Karlsson

In the meantime, the Red Wings pushed their lead to four after the local kid Michael Rasmussen tipped home a point shot. Rasmussen didn’t have the same volume of supporters in attendance as Kamloops native Logan Stankoven did on Tuesday night, but there was still a solid cheer from a section of the Rogers Arena crowd containing Rasmussen’s family and friends after his goal.

4-1.

Not a great opening 20, and a much worse second period for the home side.

Some takeaways from the second:
-Kevin Lankinen’s positioning sure seemed off tonight.
-I have never seen a shotless period, at any level of hockey.
-32:58 minutes without a shot on goal. The last one came on Pettersson’s goal.
-Connor McDavid with as many points tonight as the Canucks had shots through 40 minutes.

Third Period

Michal Postava was in goal for the third. Not sure how John Gibson got hurt without having faced a shot, but hope he’s alright, obviously.

Alex DeBrincat took a tripping penalty less than two minutes into the third, and if they were going to make a game of this, it felt like they were going to need to score a goal. Instead, Filip Hronek’s shot off Postava’s blocker was deemed to have been going wide, and the Canucks finished the power play without a shot on goal.

To make matters worse, Kevin Lankinen slipped and fell on the next Red Wings chance, which wasn’t exactly from a dangerous location.

Detroit goal!Scored by Emmitt Finnie with 16:00 left in the 3rd. Assisted by Viktor Arvidsson.VAN: 1 | DET: 5#DETvsVAN #Canucks #LGRW

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-23T04:11:34.100259Z

5-1.

The building came alive as the Canucks took three shots on goal in the span of a minute, before Lankinen made a great save on Alex DeBrincat in tight. The fans that were still here were sure to be loud for this sequence. Of course, the Canucks’ 5th and 6th shots came almost 40 minutes apart from one another, so there wasn’t much to cheer about.

The fans got another reason to cheer with just under 10 minutes left when Marco Rossi fed the puck out front to Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who buried his chance for his second point of the game and fourth goal of the game. Assist for Zeev Buium on this one too!

Vancouver goal!Scored by Jonathan Lekkerimäki with 09:23 left in the 3rd. Assisted by Marco Rossi and Zeev Buium.VAN: 2 | DET: 5#DETvsVAN #Canucks #LGRW

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-23T04:21:34.398515Z

5-2.

The Canucks actually put up a decent fight down the final stretch of the game, so at least they didn’t give up, I guess?

Arturs Silovs and Mikey DiPietro both had shutouts tonight, by the way.

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!