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The Stanchies: Canucks can learn lessons in 3-2 loss to Golden Knights
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Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The Stanchion
Oct 5, 2026, 02:21 EDTUpdated: Oct 5, 2026, 03:03 EDT
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Excuse me if this hurts my journalistic integrity by cussing, but that was a flipping good effort from the Vancouver Canucks in their 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Son of a biscuit, that’s what a rebuilding team should look like on the second night of back-to-back games; can I get a fudge yeah?
Now, was the game pretty at times? No, no, it was not. The Golden Knights looked every bit the bigger, better team throughout the night. They held a pretty heavy-handed advantage in high-danger chances at even strength, holding a 12-2 advantage, and were it not for Kevin Lankinen’s best game in a country minute in a Canucks uniform, the final score might not have been as flattering.
That being said, and far be it for a niche article like this to stray too far out of its lane, the Canucks deserve a lot of credit for what they did in this game. Sure, the forecheck of the Vegas Knights caused fits for almost the entire Vancouver roster, forcing them into turnovers, preventing them from making zone exits, and getting them into that awkward situation where Sportsnet pops up the “Shift length” overlay on the TV. But for a young, rebuilding team taking on its first back-to-back scenario, they didn’t just simply die in the third period.
This continues a trend for this team that whenever they might have folded last year, instead they have, and I can’t believe I am saying this again, met pressure with pressure. Elliotte Friedman might have a better handle on this team, as I merely dabble in edgy humour, but from where I stand, this was a game the Canucks can build on.
But for real, build on. Not the fake build on when they would lose last year and then someone from the team would begrudgingly spit that retort out after a 9-1 loss.
Because if we’re being honest with each other, the young Canucks defenceman struggled hard tonight. When forced into making quick decisions with the puck, they showcased why the NHL is such a tough league to succeed in. Practice is a joyful land of time and space, a world where Mason Raymond looks like Pavel Bure.
In an NHL game, though? You’re forced into wondering why the fastest kid alive won’t leave you alone; doesn’t he know you all have to work tomorrow? Vegas brought the heat with such regularity that I began muttering “uh oh” every time they dumped the puck in.
Under Adam Foote, this would have made life feel bleak. It would have made it hard to want another game. Why the green dress, Marge? Why anything?
With Manny Malholtra, though, this feels like the perfect game for him to cut some video from. To make those, what did Mr. Rogers call them, teachable moments? Use this game to learn from and find ways to improve themselves.
And as cliché as it can be to hear a team talk about being a bounce away from tying it, the Canucks survived the Las Vegas onslaught to legitimately be a bounce away from tying the game. Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson both got solid looks on net with the goalie pulled and with the clock winding down, which again, that’s pretty good for a team that has been on paper compared to the Calgary Flames in the battle for last spot in the league.
In fact, a quick glance over at Calgary is a good example of what a rebuilding team can look like when you’re unable to generate much of anything, as they have been beaten 6-1, 4-1 and 6-1 in games against fellow draft dorks Vancouver and Seattle.
Here in the Good Vibes Only Era, though, life isn’t so bad. The crowds seem happier than they have in years, which, to be fair, who doesn’t love watching Drew O’Connor and Max Sasson generate shorthanded rushes out of nowhere? You want to talk to Kevin Lankinen; you better make sure Mr. Plow gives you the ok. It just feels nice to watch a team putting in effort and having each other’s backs.
We all know losing games eventually ruins even the best of moods, but for now? The Canucks are rebuilding in a way this city appreciates. Which might be a low bar to some, but at this point, I think most people will happily take it.
Onto the game we go!
Best ode to Bertuzzi
When last we met, Elias Pettersson was out on the ice sending Zayne Parekh to the Negaverse to battle Queen Beryl, leading to a Canucks game experience not felt since maybe that time Raffi Torres attempted to murder Brent Seabrook behind Chicago’s net. Physicality leading to dominance and wins hasn’t been a huge brand for Vancouver over the year, so it’s always a little special when someone steps up and demands you witness them before plowing into a dude with silver paint all over their face.
And while Elias Pettersson didn’t lay down the hammer in quite a spectacular fashion Sunday night, he did give a little something-something for the fans at home when he landed a nice hit into the glass on Jack Eichel to start the game:
He only finished with three hits on the night, including the aforementioned, but you can tell there is a bit of swagger to his game now. Last season it felt like he refused to shoot the puck, suffering from an extreme case of Ben Simmons-itis, but this year? Give him the puck, he’s gonna try to pull a Cody Hodgson game eight special; why not:
People love a comeback, and I am telling you, Vancouver fans are absolutely dying to get back behind EP40. You can see it starting to grow: the murmurs and cheers as people watch the former first-rounder walk out onto the ice with a bloody mouth and bruises on his face, randomly leading the league in hits because why not at this point. If his high-skill game can fall off a cliff for 2-3 years, then why can’t he become Bertuzzi reborn for a year or two? Hopefully minus the murder punches.
Of course it has only been four games, so caution is always necessary before making a John Wick declaration, but gosh darn tooting heck, it sure is fun to watch so far.
Best Blankinen sighting
Kevin Lankinen has had a rough time in Vancouver over the last year, mostly due to having to survive Adam Foote’s….well I don’t want to insult hockey by calling it a system, but having to survive Adam Foote, let’s leave it at that.
As stated earlier, though, Lankinen had himself a fantastic game against Vegas, stopping 25 of 28 shots. The save percentage of .893 might not look so grand, but man, a lot of these shots were very good looks at the net. On top of that, a lot of these shots were taken after Vegas moved the puck around with the kind of ruthless efficiency normally reserved for rejecting someone for a job due to their SFU degree not being quite as good as one from UBC.
Which makes Kevin Lankinen’s game all the more impressive due to the fact that he looked calm and in control of his crease throughout most of the night. When Lankinen has to start guessing and diving to make saves, that’s when he runs into trouble, but on this night, he made save after save, especially early on.
With Vancouver running into penalty trouble, Lankinen had to be very active in his crease, trying to track the highly skilled Knights’ puck movement on the power play. As seen here, he made it look easy; however, stopping a Tomas Hertl shot in the slot with ease and corralling the rebound:
Lankinen was also active with his stick early on, stopping cross-crease goals, the bane of any EA Sports NHL player over the years:
And later, when Mitch Marner wanted to showcase his One Timer X-Factor, even dropping to his knees with a flourish wasn’t enough to beat Kevin Lankinen:
As if that wasn’t enough, he stoned Noah Hanifin in the slot, and then made a theoretical save on the rebound, which counts just as much as the NHL’s “intention” logic:
“OK Wyatt, that’s all fine and dandy, but why didn’t Vegas try and tip the puck by Kevin? Surely tipping the puck would fool him. WHY DIDN’T THE TIP THE PUCK, WYATT?”
See, here’s the thing. They did try that. Rasmus Andersson threw a puck on net that William Karlsson got a piece of, but it didn’t even faze Kevin:
The shots at this point were like 6-4 for Vegas, but like, clearly every shot Vegas took could have been a goal, whereas Vancouver would curl a puck in from centre and pray it touched the goalie to count as a save. You haven’t seen NHL hockey until you’ve heard Fil Hronek screaming “HURRY HARD” at Paul Cotter to sweep the ice.
I’d like to think Lankinen was so dialled in because Leevi Meriläinen’s new Skate logo goalie mask is so stupendous that it’s making him worried about getting starts just due to the John Garrett tribute mask alone.
Best reason to watch
We have had a couple of fun shorthanded duos over the years, where a pair of players seem to excel at generating scoring chances at will on the penalty kill. Despite all their rage and being rats in a cage, Elias Pettersson and JT Miller were a lot of fun to watch on the PK, often creating odd-man rushes with their offensive skill.
And while Max Sasson and Drew O’Connor don’t have quite the offensive threat of that duo, what they lack in offensive skill they more than make up for in blazing speed, which leads to moments like this:
They are now known as Top Gun when on the ice together, because they love two things: speed, and I have to assume playing volleyball shirtless. That just sort of comes with the label; there’s not much you can do about it.
And while we work out which one is Rooster and which one is Maverick, I will say this was one of my favourite moments of the game just due to the crowd reaction alone. There was just such a loud positive cheer to them generating a scoring chance on the penalty kill, a cheer completely devoid of cynicism, anger or disgust. You could just hear a crowd being in sync with the team, and it’s something we haven’t felt a lot of in this city over the past decade.
Best always wear a glove
A wandering Jeremy Lauzon point shot made an appearance late in the first period, ending up on top of the net behind Lankinen after Victor Olofsson got to the rebound. While the puck stayed nestled in the spot normally reserved for the water bottle back in the day, Tomas Hertl and Zeev Buium had a choice to make: who punches first:
Buium ultimately won the game of hot potato with the puck, but he wasn’t so lucky on his next shift, when he tried to skate through multiple dudes, only to turn the puck over:
Obviously it’s still early in his career, so we don’t have to go overboard on extrapolating this criticism to how his career is going to turn out, but it is worth noting that Tom Willander, D Elias Pettersson and Zeev Buium had a lot of growing pains in this game.
From Zeev Buium losing board battles (or not even engaging in them), to Tom Willander handling the puck and making poor decisions with the puck, to Elias Pettersson struggling to make a clean pass for a zone exit, it just felt like this game was one of those moments where you have to dust yourself off and get back on the horse.
Best getting streets ahead
With the game still tied near the end of the first period, Jamie Oleksiak fell back on the Evander Kane special, aka the long-bomb air-drop pass. The end result? Arshdeep Bains drawing a penalty when he collected the puck in the slot:
First off, kudos to Max Sasson for the Messi-esque puck control on cradling that puck out of the sky. And a hearty stick tap to Jonathan Lekkerimäki for showing some patience before passing the puck to Bains, who was in a better spot to shoot.
Honestly, Max Sasson might have been the Canucks most consistent forward on the night. Obviously he isn’t a top-line centre in the league, but when you have a guy that forced his way onto the team and is now one of their more reliable guys, that’s about as good a win as you can get in the margins in the NHL.
Best Cotter why I Otter
Who betta than Cotter?
Filling in for the sick Jake DeBrusk, Paul Cotter made his presence known on the power play when he finished off the nice one-two from Elias Pettersson to Fil Hronek passing play.
Cotter doesn’t do anything magical on this play; he just knows the right area of the ice to go to. His honest effort in every game he’s played for Vancouver is the kind of thing where you’re like, “The Canucks could use ten guys like this,” but also “This guy could get a haul at the trade deadline.”
We will see where the season goes, and again it’s only been four games, but Paul Cotter is already lining up to be a fan favourite in the Lower Mainland.
Which means Macklin Celebrini will demand the San Jose Sharks trade for him, due to him being a Canucks super fan and all.
Best working out the kinks
A video clip I am sure Manny Malholtra will also look at is when Tom Willander made a tepid pass along the boards, which, combined with soft support from Liam Öhgren, led to Mitch Marner easily stealing the puck and feeding Brett Howden in front of Lankinen:
Not physically feeding him, mind you. That was merely a metaphor. I am not sure whether using metaphors is considered a low-brow tactic akin to cracking jokes, but let’s cross our fingers and pray on this one.
The point is, these were the types of mistakes the Canucks were running into. Vegas would apply pressure so quickly, and often by overloading man coverage, that the Canucks found themselves panicking and trying to force the puck out of their zone, giving up possession and often leading to turnovers like this.
Best Mr. Plow, that’s the name
William Karlsson learned the lesson many have found out in this young season when he tried to escort Kevin Lankinen to cotillion without asking his father Luke Schenn first:
I don’t think every team needs a captain, but if you asked me today if the fate of the world rested on giving a “C” to a Canuck tomorrow, Luke Schenn would easily get it.
He is just such a steadying culture presence on the ice. Things aren’t complicated in the Schenn world. Touch my goalie? We fight. Look at my sons? We fight. Generally exist anywhere near me? Odds are we might fight.
In terms of rebuilding the team culture, I just think this guy gets it.
Plus he willingly chose to come back to this city three times to play hockey here. Who does that?
Luke Schenn does.
Best a bit harsh
Speaking of puck issues, Zeev Buium’s handling of an incoming Brayden McNabb shot led to Mitch Marner scoring what I would call a goal with a bit of filth on it:
Lucky bounce aside, Marner taking the time to skate to the middle of the ice so he could raise his scoring percentage chances on that goal from 35% to 99.99% was slick. If EP40 does that on this night, he gets a statue; that’s all I’m saying. It was a nice goal.
Moments later, it was Tom Willander failing to cut off the boards as a Jamie Oleksiak clearance evaded the young d-man, which led to Williams finding Marner in the slot once again:
You can see in the clip, Vegas just doesn’t let you breathe at times. You can almost feel Royce Gracie grabbing at his pant leg so he can lock in the choke even harder.
Tom Willander would then take a penalty on a puck in the neutral zone when Aatu Räty didn’t cut off Ivan Barbashev at the boards, leading to Tom stepping up and getting walked by Ivan, resulting in him taking a penalty:
So again, just small mistakes in this one, which a lot of teams can make! It’s just when they continue to pile up in your game, it’s not a recipe for success.
Best skill stick activated
You can only dance with the devil for so long until he asks for your SIN number, and Mark Stone made the Canucks pay with a brilliant pass over to Olofsson for the Knights’ second goal of the game:
Poor Lankinen is doing his best to track the puck, but by the time that puck gets over to Olofsson, he is just praying for the sweet release of death.
Another highly skilled goal from a highly skilled team, which is fine; we all remember 2011, we remember what that’s like. Right? Right.
Best I’m not so sure about that
Jeremy Lauzon would take Tom Willander out of the game briefly when he led with a forearm shiver into the head/neck of the young d-man near the end of the second period:
Willander returned to the game, but yeah, this felt like a borderline hit.
The amount of times I have written Joe Lauzon instead of Jeremy is bordering on upsetting levels, by the way.
Best shooting your shot
Prime Time normally reserved scoring for Amazon games last year, but heck, Lekkerimäki is out here scoring from angles normally reserved for my beer league:
To echo what Ray Ferraro said on the broadcast, Lekkerimäki has a sneaky quick release that can catch goalies off guard. Quick release or not, Adin Hill wants that one back, but give me a rookie shooting his shot every day of the week over passing the puck too much. I think we all saw enough 12-shot games last year to last us a lifetime.
Best still struggling
Once again we find ourselves watching the Canucks losing the battle in the trenches, as this time Öhgren and Cotter can’t escape with the puck, leading to a Braeden Bowman wraparound attempt that Marc Gatcomb happily taps in:
Will Bowman claim he meant to pass the entire time? Of course he will. We all would. He clearly wanted to score on the wraparound, but when that puck moves perfectly to your buddy for the tap-in, you bet your bottom you skate to the bench, assuring him, “I meant to pass it the entire time, bro!” before offering up a fist.
You watch the goal, though, and aside from Shea Theodore banking the puck back in, it’s Nic Dowd, Gatcomb and Bowman versus five Canuck players, and they still manage to win the battle.
It went from Shea Theodore’s dump-in being blocked by the Canucks, to Vegas scoring on a wraparound pass within a matter of seconds; that’s how quickly Vegas jumps up on you.
Now I know this article doesn’t normally talk about hockey and the plays therein, but if you would give me a moment to pontificate, I believe it starts breaking down when Paul Cotter and Elias Pettersson both go to Gatcomb and release Dowd behind the net. After that, the Canucks just start chasing the puck and get caught watching, leading to Gatcomb sneaking in behind DP25 for the goal unmolested.
Small breakdowns leading to goals. That’s what good teams do, though.
Best audition to be Ice Man
With the third period starting to bleed time, it was Liam Öhgren trying to generate a goal off a shorthanded chance that got the crowd back into things:
Anytime you can force a goalie to make a sliding kick save behind their net, you know you’ve done good work on the play.
Liam would later make a nice cut to the middle of the slot before throwing in a shot primed for a rebound tap-in were it not for Linus Karlsson being defended well by Shea Theodore:
You could see Vegas setting up shop to go into road hockey shutdown mode, but Vancouver was chipping away at the edges, which is a positive for this team.
Best visual
Rasmus Andersson getting helped off the ice like my dog getting his leg tangled in the leash was an amusing sight halfway through the third:
Best just one bounce away
With Vegas shutting things down for the night, it was going to take either a greasy goal, or the type of North-South goal Rick Tocchet dreams of at night, which almost happened with Fil the Thrill and Paul Cotter blitzed into the Knights zone:
Were these high danger chances? No.
But as Lekkerimäki showed early, sometimes you have to be lucky to be good and good to be lucky and all that.
At least they generated a shot on net, you know? Baby steps.
Best they were this close
All of which brings us to the two chances Vancouver had with their goalie pulled.
Brock Boeser was the first to get a good look on net, but he was defeated by a rolling puck shooting up high:
And then Ep40 got the last look of the game when Hronek found him on the wing with Hill in his sights, but not a lot of room to shoot at:
Give credit to Hill as he reads that play perfectly, and he is in position before Elias even gets the puck off his stick.
Again, though, for a team more concerned about the process and being happy with a good draft pick, this was kind of the perfect game for them.
Best three up, three down
New feature: the best three things of this game and the worst three things. We will start with the worst so we end on a positive note.
Worst three:
  1. Canucks zone exits. They got absolutely blitzed by Vegas and had very few answers for them.
  2. Offensive chances. The team just couldn’t get much going in this game in terms of high-danger chances. Maybe Edmonton spoiled us, and getting seven goals a game isn’t feasible, but you still need to get more than two high-danger chances on net.
  3. Goal song. They need to change it.
Best three:
  1. Kevin Lankinen. Statement game from a guy being dangerously close to Toy Story meme territory with the fan base, with the new hotness Leevi Meriläinen showing off last game against Calgary.
  2. Max Sasson. Feels like he’s the ultimate utility guy for Manny Malhotra, willing to do any job asked of him.
  3. The skate jersey. It looks so good that you just know the white ones would pop just as hard in HD.
See you Thursday.
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