Oilers survive wild, 16-goal affair vs. Canucks

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Connor McDavid scored a goal and had four assists as the Edmonton Oilers built a six-goal lead and held on for a 9-7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists for the Oilers to become the first defenseman in NHL history with eight points (four goals, four assists) in his first two games of the season. He had three goals and two assists in the Oilers' season-opening 6-5 loss to the Canucks on Tuesday night.

Edmonton got two goals and an assist from Leon Draisaitl, and one of each from Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen. Owen Michaels scored his first NHL goal and Ryan Shea scored his first in an Oilers’ uniform.

Devon Levi made his first NHL start since Jan. 20, 2025 when he was a member of the Buffalo Sabres, and stopped 15 shots.

Marco Rossi scored twice for the Canucks and had an assist, while Elias Pettersson had a goal and two assists. Paul Cotter, Brock Boeser, Arshdeep Bains, and Jamie Oleksiak each had a goal and an assist.

Kevin Lankinen made 13 saves before getting pulled midway through the second period. Leevi Merilainen — claimed off waivers on Friday — stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced in relief.

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.

But the Canucks scored four straight to pull within 8-6 on Pettersson's power-play goal 7:37 into the third period.

Draisaitl ended the run with a power-play goal less than two minutes later.

The Oilers were missing top-six forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman.

Up next

Canucks: Host the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

Oilers: Host the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here