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Instant Reaction: Canucks struggle defending off the rush in 6-2 loss to Rangers

Photo credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

By Tyson Cole

Oct 11, 2026, 20:45 EDTUpdated: Oct 11, 2026, 21:03 EDT

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Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at Daily Faceoff Vancouver, 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

Brendan Batchelor

@BatchHockey

·Follow

Projected #Canucks lines vs. @NYRangers DeBrusk. EP40. Lekkerimäki. Cotter. Rossi. Karlsson, Öhgren. O’Connor. Boeser. Sasson. Räty. Gallagher Buium. Hronek. EP25. Willander. Brisebois. Schenn. 🥅Lankinen🥅 3pm on @KiSSWestCoast and Seekr seekyoursounds.com/radio/kisswest…

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9:38 PM · Oct 11, 2026

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No changes to the Canucks’ top nine forward lines. Arshdeep Bains comes out of the lineup for Aatu Räty. Max Sasson shifts to left wing on the fourth line, with Räty filling in at centre. On the backend, Jamie Oleksiak, who has really struggled through his first few games of the season, comes out of the lineup. Longest-tenured Canuck, Guillaume Brisebois, will make his season debut tonight. Kevin Lankinen gets the start for the Canucks.

First period

Everybody’s ears perked up when Elias Pettersson and JT Miller lined up for the opening draw. And it only took 27 seconds before their eager ears drooped down when the New York Rangers came in on the attack.

Alexis Lafreniere tipped the puck past a pinching Zeev Buium, sending Miller and Tye Kartye in on a two-on-one. Miller rips a hard shot off Lankinen’s right pad, leaving a juicy rebound in the slot for Kartye to pounce on to wire it into the open net for the game’s opening goal.

REBOUND, SCORE ‼️KARTS CLEANS IT UP JUST 27 SECONDS IN

— New York Rangers (Unofficial) (@notnyrangers.bsky.social) 2026-10-11T22:18:39.900Z

1-0 Rangers.

Playing in his first game in nearly two years, Brisebois had the first offensive play for the Canucks, registering the team’s first two shots on goal. Brock Boeser had a nice strip in the defensive zone. But other than that, the next 15 minutes were pretty low-event.

With just over five minutes to go in the opening period, Mika Zibanejad gets called for interference on Pettersson in the neutral zone, awarding the Canucks the game’s first power play.

The Canucks’ top unit controlled play in the zone but never managed a shot attempt before passing it out of the zone themselves. The second unit hopped over the boards and had no issues gaining the zone, setting up, and creating some offence – all thanks to Jonathan Lekkerimäki.

Lekkerimäki wins the battle along the boards, absorbs the contact, and still makes the play to gain possession and get the puck to Buium at the point. Buium then shovels the puck straight back to Lekkerimäki, who walks down the half-wall and fires a shot on Dylan Garand. It wasn’t a snipe by any means, firing the puck into the crest of the Rangers logo, but it was a great play all in all from #88.

After being near invisible through his first five games in a Canucks uniform, Brendan Gallagher got himself activated in this game. He ran into Tye Kartye at the Rangers blueline, leaving the slot wide open for him to receive the Max Sasson pass for a chance on net.

Manny Malhotra threw his top line – the only one consistently producing offence lately – over the boards for the offensive zone faceoff and got rewarded.

Pettersson beats Miller on the draw, and Tom Willander fires a quick shot on net. Pettersson wins the race to the loose puck in the corner, but it’s the help from Lekkerimäki, wacking away at the puck until he gets enough to pass it to Jake DeBrusk in the left circle. Without even thinking, DeBrusk whips a shot that slides under the unsuspecting Garand to tie the game.

Good things happen when EP40 is dialled in. Wins the faceoff against JT, then he and Lekkerimäki win the board battle and get the puck right to DeBrusk. #Canucks

— Lachlan Irvine (@lachinthecrease.com) 2026-10-11T22:42:38.386Z

1-1 Tie.

Second period

The second period started similarly for the Rangers, as they capitalized early.

After a Canucks dump-in, the Rangers head up ice on the counterattack. Noah Laba gets just enough on his neutral zone pass to get the puck to Will Cuylle. Cuylle dances around Linus Karlsson to gain the zone, then rips a shot from the top of the left circle into the far right corner to regain the lead for the Rangers.

New York goal!Scored by Will Cuylle with 17:51 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Noah Laba.NYR: 2 | VAN: 1#VANvsNYR #NYR #Canucks

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-11T23:10:55.594337Z

2-1 Rangers.

The Canucks got a bit of bad luck when Lekkerimäki was tipped at the Rangers’ blueline, but no call. As the Rangers went up ice, Eeli Tolvanen rang one right off the iron.

Vancouver got its best chance off Karlsson’s stick, where he swept the puck along the ice and followed up with another chance on his own rebound. But it wasn’t enough to beat the Victoria, BC native.

It’s been a rough go for Lankinen lately, but he still has flashy moments, and he had his best in a while in the second period. Vladislav Gavrikov attacked down the left side, centring a pass to Zibanejad at the net front for a tip chance. Lankinen kicks out the right pad and makes a great save, keeping his team down by only one goal. The Rangers regain possession in the offensive zone, and Lankinen robs Zibanejad again on the same shift.

Say what you want about Kevin Lankinen, but the man battles. #Canucks

— Lachlan Irvine (@lachinthecrease.com) 2026-10-11T23:26:21.776Z

With a 52.2% penalty kill percentage so far this season, the Canucks were going with the “you can’t allow a power play goal if you don’t take a penalty” approach through the first 35 minutes. Of course, that was until Brisebois took a neutral zone holding penalty, sending the Rangers to their first power play of the contest.

Pavel Dorofeyev ripped a quick shot from his office on the right flank, which Lankinen got just enough of to keep the puck out. This was the most threatening chance the Rangers had on the power play, but it certainly wasn’t the most threatening chance of this power play.

The puck rings around the boards to Gallagher, who heads up ice with numbers. Both Fox and Dorofeyev go to cover Drew O’Connor, leaving Elias Pettersson (D) as the wide-open trailer. Pettersson handcuffs Garand, firing the puck under the glove and over the pad for the Canucks’ second shorthanded goal of the season.

Great read and pass across by Gallagher, even better finish by DePetey. What a laser beam. #Canucks

— Lachlan Irvine (@lachinthecrease.com) 2026-10-11T23:37:38.824Z

2-2 Tie.

For the first time in three games, the Canucks killed a full two-minute penalty. That, of course, hasn’t been the only problem the Canucks have had this season. They’ve really struggled to clear the defensive zone, leading to unnecessary extended shifts with tired players. In this game specifically, they struggled to defend off the rush.

Regrouping in their own zone, the Rangers make two quick passes up ice that end up on Miller’s stick. He gains the zone, loads up, and fires a cross-ice pass to Kartye, who wires a shot bar-down for his second of the game.

New York goal!Scored by Tye Kartye with 01:35 left in the 2nd. Assisted by J.T. Miller and Vladislav Gavrikov.NYR: 3 | VAN: 2#VANvsNYR #NYR #Canucks

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-11T23:42:57.503787Z

3-2 Rangers.

It’s been a difficult start to the season for Boeser. He has just one goal on the season, hasn’t kept up speed-wise, and has taken some questionable penalties. That continued in this game, as he took an offensive zone penalty for the second time in as many games. This time, a tripping penalty on former teammate Marcus Pettersson behind the Ranger net.

Tyson Cole

@tyson_cole

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Through the last five periods, Brock Boeser has just as many offensive zone penalties as shots on goal. #Canucks

11:39 PM · Oct 11, 2026

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Third period

I might sound like a broken record at this point, but the Rangers started well again. This time, it was to be expected: they had 1:12 remaining on the power play, but it still resulted in the Rangers finding the back of the net within the first two minutes of all three periods.

Lafreniere passes the puck to Zibanejad at the top of the zone, who fires a slap pass toward the net. Filip Hronek gets in the way of his plans, but the puck bounces perfectly back to Lafreniere in the right circle. He goes back and forth with Gabe Perreault and is left with a wide-open net to shovel the puck in.

Power play goal for New York!Scored by Alexis Lafrenière with 18:56 left in the 3rd. Assisted by Gabe Perreault and Mika Zibanejad.NYR: 4 | VAN: 2#VANvsNYR #NYR #Canucks

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-12T00:07:57.950340Z

Immediately after the goal, Lankinen makes his case to the refs that he was interfered with. Coming out of the corner, Miller does make contact with Lankinen’s right pad, but the contact was out of the crease. After a quick discussion, the refs decided not to review it; Malhotra did not challenge, and the goal stood.

4-2 Rangers.

It wasn’t long after that the Rangers would extend their lead to three, when Perreault outmuscled Lekkerimäki at the net front for an easy tap-in. Luke Schenn, the right defenceman on the ice, was not involved in the play as he finished his check in the corner – an error we saw Victor Mancini make on the penalty kill against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

New York goal!Scored by Gabe Perreault with 14:03 left in the 3rd. Assisted by Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad.NYR: 5 | VAN: 2#VANvsNYR #NYR #Canucks

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-12T00:14:55.129309Z

5-2 Rangers.

And just to rub salt in the wound, the Rangers attacked again on the rush. Tolvanen rips a shot on net; Lankinen can’t absorb the shot, leaving yet another juicy rebound for a Cuylle to chip into the open net.