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Instant Reaction: Canucks turn in another strong effort but lose 8-5 to Panthers
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Photo credit: © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
David Quadrelli
Nov 17, 2025, 21:49 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!

Starting Lineup

First Period

Making his first start since December 23rd, 2023 — which also came on the road against the Florida Panthers — Jiri Patera was busy early in this game. Max Sasson took an early penalty, giving the Canucks’ league-worst penalty kill some early work. But Patera and the PKers killed it off!
If you looked at the shot totals — which read 4-0 Florida up until eight minutes left in the first — you might think this was a repeat of last night vs. Tampa Bay, when the Canucks were under siege for most of the first period. But the Canucks actually did a good job of limiting Florida’s attack, they just struggled to get one of their own going. That was, of course, until the Canucks started scoring in bunches, just like they did last night.
The first came after some phenomenal work from Drew O’Connor. First, O’Connor led the way on the Canucks’ zone entry, and then he did some hard work at the front of the net and was rewarded with the game’s opening goal. That’s nine points in the last 10 games.
The second came less than a minute later when Jake DeBrusk continued his November to remember by scoring his eighth goal of the season on the Canucks’ first power play attempt of the night. That’s two points already for Quinn Hughes, who was named the NHL’s third star of the week earlier today.
Quickly, it was 2-0 Canucks.
The Panthers answered back shortly after, with AJ Greer beating Patera for the first time of the night.
2-1.
Not long after, Patera made one of the nicest saves you’ll see all season:
And then with the Canucks back on the PK, Patera allowed one of the softer goals we’ve seen so far this season:
2-2. 

Second Period

The Panthers wasted little time in taking their first lead of the night, capitalizing on a broken play in front and an unfortunate bounce for the Canucks:
3-2 Panthers. 
The Canucks went back to the power play shortly after the Florida goal as Kiefer Sherwood baited Sam Bennett into taking a roughing minor. On the power play, the Canucks snapped the puck around well, and Brock Boeser came within inches of tying this game up once again.
The Panthers executed on another quick strike play. A nifty backhand pass against the grain from Sam Reinhart fooled Jiri Patera, who was leaning the wrong way when the shot came and beat him.
4-2 Panthers. 
Just over 60 seconds later, the Panthers scored their fifth unanswered goal, as Anton Lundell wristed a shot just under the crossbar to quickly make this game 5-2. 
The Canucks finally found an answer, however, as Elias Pettersson pulled the Canucks back within two after Kiefer Sherwood jumpstarted the Canucks’ breakout to Quinn Hughes, which quickly turned into a 2-on-1 for Evander Kane and EP40. Kane found Pettersson with a solid saucer pass, and Pettersson made no mistake, ripping home his fifth goal of the season.
5-3.
As we wrote earlier today, Pettersson has been playing at a 100+ point pace since the start of November, and given how tough his deployment has been, it’s downright impressive what we’re seeing from Pettersson right now. Of course, fans know Pettersson could have another level to reach. Well, most fans. Also, that’s three points for Hughes on three Canucks goals.
The Panthers went back to the power play after Evander Kane took a hooking penalty. This time, the Canucks’ PK stood strong. Do that a few more times, and they’re gonna move on up!
Before the end of the period, there was a scary moment when Niko Mikkola leaned down on Kiefer Sherwood after hitting him in a bad spot. Tyler Myers immediately came to his teammate’s defence:
Sherwood was fine in the end, but that was a scary hit.
Oh, for those curious: The shot total after 40 minutes was 26-9 in favour of Florida.

Third Period

1:24 into the third, Tom Willander made a great play to enter the offensive zone and dish off to Kiefer Sherwood, who found Elias Pettersson, who wasted zero time before roofing a backhand shot to pull the Canucks within one:
5-4 Canucks.
Right after the goal, the Canucks got another power play chance, and again, they made good on it. Kane made a great pass to Max Sasson, who made a great pass of his own to Filip Hronek, who ripped home his shot to tie this one up.
5-5. 
Honestly, how bleak would this season be if this team didn’t have the work ethic that they do? They may not be the most skilled or have the most star power, but man oh man have they made almost every game interesting. Have to hand it to the players, especially when we’ve seen plenty of lifeless efforts out of them over the years.
Before I could finish writing that paragraph, the defending Cup champs took a lead once again:
6-5.
This game was action-packed, and the Canucks found themselves with yet another power play opportunity just after the Panthers’ sixth goal. They got some good looks through on Bobrovsky, but moved to 2-for-4 on the night.
The Panthers got a power play chance of their own after Marcus Pettersson took an interference penalty. And Florida made good on their opportunity:
7-5. 
The Canucks pulled Jiri Patera with six minutes remaining in the game, since they were on the power play. They came close to scoring a couple of times, but the penalty expired and they had to battle to pull back in this game at 6-on-5. To make things even more difficult, they had to put Patera back in net after Kiefer Sherwood was called for boarding Brad Marchand with just over three minutes to go. Things went to four-on-four with 32 seconds left on the Panthers PP, and the Canucks once again pulled Patera to get an extra attacker.
Off a Canucks faceoff win, Brad Marchand battled to get the puck back and shot the puck down the length of the ice to give the Panthers their eighth goal of the game on their 41st shot of the night.
8-5 final.
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!
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