McDavid, Oilers outlast Canucks in wild 9-7 victory
Evan Bouchard set an NHL record for points by a defenceman through two games in the high-scoring affair.
VANCOUVER — Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the season and tallied four assists as the Edmonton Oilers outlasted the Vancouver Canucks for a wild 9-7 victory on Thursday.
Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists for the Oilers (1-0-1), and became the first defenceman in NHL history with eight points (four goals, four assists) through his team’s first two games of the season.
Leon Draisaitl added two goals and an assist, while Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen each had a goal and an assist.
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Owen Michaels scored his first NHL goal and Ryan Shea netted his first as an Oiler.
Edmonton outshot the Canucks 14-2 while taking a 4-0 lead in the opening period.
Podkolzin started the scoring with a power-play goal at the 9:26 mark. Michaels followed with his first career NHL goal, and 16 seconds later Bouchard made it 3-0 when his point shot caromed in off the skate of Tom Willander near the left post.
Shea capped the period’s scoring when he cut down the slot, took a McDavid pass and fired a wrist shot past Kevin Lankinen’s blocker side.
Draisaitl extended the lead to 5-0 just 27 seconds into the second period when he banked a shot from the goal line in off Lankinen’s shoulder.
Paul Cotter made it 5-1 with his third goal, but Trent Frederic answered 33 seconds later to put the Oilers back ahead by five.
Brock Boeser then banked a wrist shot from the right circle in off the left post to make it 6-2, the third goal in a 1:16 span.
The Oilers took an 8-2 lead on a Canucks power play midway through the second frame when McDavid and Kapanen scored short-handed breakaway goals 34 seconds apart.
Lankinen was pulled midway through the second period after allowing eight goals on 20 shots. Leevi Merilainen stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced in relief.
Vancouver closed within 8-6 midway through the third period on a goal by Arshdeep Bains with 0.1 seconds left in second period followed by a pair of goals by Marco Rossi and a power-play score by Elias Pettersson.
Draisaitl made it 9-6 with a power-play tally, and Jamie Oleksiak ended the scoring with 1:29 to go.
Rossi scored twice for the Canucks (1-1-0) and recorded an assist, while Pettersson had a goal and two helpers. Cotter, Boeser, Bains, and Oleksiak each had a goal and an assist.
Devon Levi made his first NHL start since Jan. 20, 2025 when he was a member of the Buffalo Sabres, and stopped 15 of the 22 shots he faced.
It was the second time this week the two sides played a high-scoring affair, coming after the Canucks took a 6-5 overtime decision in the season opener for both sides on Tuesday.
With files from The Canadian Press, The Globe and Mail and Global News