Paul Cotter’s second goal of the game was the overtime winner that gave the visiting Vancouver Canucks a wild 6-5 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
After his team squandered a three-goal lead in the third period, Cotter forced a turnover in the Edmonton zone, raced to the net and converted a pass from Max Sasson at 1:59 of the extra frame.
Sasson also scored in a two-point game, while Marco Rossi, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Elias Pettersson added singles for the Canucks, who finished last in the league standings last season. Filip Hronek recorded a pair of assists, and goalie Kevin Lankinen made 30 saves.
Evan Bouchard scored three times in a five-point performance while Vasily Podkolzin tallied twice for the Oilers. Goalie Tristan Jarry stopped 17 shots, and Connor McDavid registered two assists.
Bouchard is the first defenseman in NHL history to have a five-point game in a season opener.
The Oilers will try to exact a hint of revenge when the clubs meet Thursday in Vancouver’s home opener.
After the teams traded goals in each of the first two periods, the game became a wild west shootout.
Lekkerimaki put the Canucks ahead for a third time just 70 seconds into the third period. Getting in on an odd-man rush, he whipped a shot that went through Jarry’s legs to make it a 3-2 game.
Sasson extended the lead 1:45 later by redirecting a crossing pass from Drew O’Connor. Pettersson made it a 5-2 edge at 5:15, with a deflection for the power-play goal.
The Oilers responded thanks to a pair of goals 24 seconds apart. Podkolzin found a loose puck while parked at the net at 8:56, and Bouchard made it a one-goal game with a long shot through a screen for his second career hat trick.
The only other defensemen to record a hat trick in a season opener are Mark Howe (1980-81, Hartford Whalers) and Bert Corbeau (1919-20, Montreal Canadiens).
Podkolzin tied the clash on a power-play goal with 42.5 seconds remaining in regulation.
Cotter opened the scoring just before the first period’s midway point with a short-handed tally, but Bouchard tied the clash at 16:26 of the first by firing in a long wrist shot.
Rossi gave the Canucks their second lead 2:07 into the second period when he converted a breakaway chance, only to see Bouchard tally again at 14:34 of the middle frame with a shot from the slot.
