Canucks vs. Oilers: Paul Cotter Wins It in OT After Evan Bouchard's Hat Trick Wipes Out a 5-2 Lead

Paul Cotter was flat on the ice when the winning sequence began. He had stripped Ryan Shea along the left wall in overtime, and while still down he got the puck over to Max Sasson. By the time Sasson gave it back, Cotter was upright again, and he pulled it to his backhand and around Tristan Jarry.

That goal, 1:59 into overtime, gave the Vancouver Canucks a 6-5 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night at Rogers Place, and it saved them from one of the more humiliating collapses you will see in an opener. Vancouver led 5-2 early in the third. Evan Bouchard and Vasily Podkolzin then dragged Edmonton all the way back. It was chaos. It was glorious. It was a season opener that played like a Game 7 with the defense left in the parking lot.

A Shorthanded Start and a Defenseman on a Heater

Cotter set the tone in the first period, and he did it a man down. With Tom Willander in the box for holding, Cotter scored unassisted at 9:51 for a 1-0 lead, and NHL.com noted he became the first player to score a short-handed goal in his Canucks debut. The AP noted he signed with Vancouver as a free agent after two seasons in New Jersey.

Bouchard answered at 16:26, getting a point shot through a Zach Hyman screen. That would become a theme.

Marco Rossi put Vancouver back in front 2:07 into the second, sneaking past the Edmonton defense for a breakaway off a Liam Ohgren feed and finishing on the blocker side. Bouchard tied it again at 14:34, finishing a backhand dish from Connor McDavid, who had collected the puck after Alex Formenton lost his footing. Two periods, two Bouchard goals, 2-2.

Three Goals in Four Minutes, Then a Meltdown

The third period opened like Vancouver had read the script in advance. Jonathan Lekkerimaki capitalized on an Isaac Howard giveaway and scored between Jarry's pads at 1:10. Sasson and Drew O'Connor exchanged passes, and Sasson slid a backhand through Jarry's legs at 2:55. Then Mathieu Joseph high-sticked Filip Hronek, and on the ensuing power play Elias Pettersson redirected Hronek's shot-pass at 5:15. Vancouver 5, Edmonton 2. Lights out, right?

Not even close. Podkolzin jammed home a Bouchard centering pass at 8:56. Twenty-four seconds later, Bouchard completed the hat trick off another McDavid feed. Suddenly it was 5-4 with more than ten minutes to play and Rogers Place wide awake.

Vancouver bent for a while without breaking. Then Linus Karlsson took a slashing penalty at 18:08, Edmonton pulled Jarry for a 6-on-4, and Podkolzin took a cross-ice feed from Leon Draisaitl and beat Kevin Lankinen over the glove with 43 seconds left. Tie game. Overtime. Somewhere, a Canucks fan threw a remote at the couch.

The Turning Point: Cotter's Second Act

Overtime belonged to Vancouver, even if it lasted under two minutes. Edmonton coach Mike Babcock counted three Vancouver chances in that short stretch. Cotter forced the turnover, Sasson made the patient give-back, and Cotter finished on the backhand for his second goal of the night.

"It's a game of momentum, especially that game," Sasson said. "It felt like we were in control. We probably got a little too comfy."

That is the polite way to describe giving up three goals in a period after leading by three. But a team that finished last in the NHL a season ago at 25-49-8, per the AP, found a way to win anyway.

Stars of the Night

Evan Bouchard had three goals and two assists in 25:41. NHL.com noted he became the third defenseman in NHL history to score a hat trick in a season opener, a list that also includes Mark Howe in 1980. A five-point night in a loss is the hockey equivalent of a great album dropping on the same day as a bigger one.

Paul Cotter scored twice in just 11:51 of ice time, including the short-handed opener and the winner. Max Sasson had a goal and an assist, and Filip Hronek logged 25:08 with two assists. Elias Pettersson scored on the power play and went 12-for-24 on faceoffs. "He made that play. It was all him," Pettersson said of Hronek's setup.

Vasily Podkolzin scored twice for Edmonton with five hits, and Connor McDavid had two assists. Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves on 37 shots, while Jarry stopped 17 of 23.

Stats That Matter

• 37-23: Edmonton's shot advantage, which still was not enough.
• 38-13: Hits, a lopsided Edmonton edge.
• 21-12: Vancouver's advantage in blocked shots, a big reason the Canucks survived the barrage.
• 36-24: Edmonton's faceoff edge, a 60 percent clip.
• 1:59: Overtime time stamp on Cotter's winner.

What It Means

Vancouver starts 1-0-0 in Manny Malhotra's debut as coach. NHL.com noted he is the fourth person to represent the Canucks as both a player and head coach, joining Marc Crawford, Pat Quinn and Orland Kurtenbach. Malhotra was honest about the third period. "Not the way we drew it up, for sure," he said, adding that "just the resiliency to stay with it for us was a huge factor in the game."

Edmonton opens 0-0-1 with a point and a new coach in Babcock, who was not in a celebrating mood. "To be honest with you, we're fortunate to get a point," he said. "Great comeback, but in the end we still gave up three chances in overtime in a minute and a half." Bouchard echoed it. "You could tell it was our first regular-season game. We've got to be a lot more detailed than that," he said.

These two teams finish a home-and-home on Thursday in Vancouver, which is the best possible scheduling news for anyone who enjoyed this mess.

Closing Take

This game was the hockey version of a reality show reunion special: everyone yelled, nobody defended, and the drama lasted until the very last minute. Vancouver gets the win and some homework. Edmonton gets a point and a long film session. Malhotra put it best. "There was a lot of moving parts, but it was definitely a fun one to coach," he said. Fun for neutrals, too. Bring on Thursday.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and team notes as reported by NHL.com.