Vancouver Canucks End Year With Heavy 6-1 Loss to Oilers

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Flow of the game

At 1:58 of the first period, Josh Samanski opened the scoring after Colton Dach’s centering pass deflected in off his skate. Savoie doubled the lead at 6:48 with a wrist shot from the left circle, then Vancouver finally answered at 12:10 when Mueller took a pass from Curtis Douglas, hesitated, and fired home his first NHL goal. Lankinen even picked up the secondary assist on the play.

For a moment, it felt like the Canucks had something to build on. They didn’t. Savoie struck on the power play at 14:35, then completed the hat trick at 19:02 with a quick finish in front after McDavid and Evan Bouchard moved the puck cleanly through the zone.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added a power-play goal at 16:46 of the second after Zach Hyman, back from a five-game absence, found him at the side of the net.

Colton Dach made it 6-1 in the third with a wrist shot over Lankinen’s glove, and from there it was just about getting to the final horn.

Connor Ingram needed only 11 saves for the win, which tells you how little sustained pressure Vancouver created. Edmonton got six goals on 35 shots. Lankinen stopped 29 shots, showcasing how bad the score could have been.

This wasn’t one bad bounce or one hot scorer. It was a loose, messy night against a team that knew exactly what was on the line.

There was at least a small bright spot in Mueller getting his first goal. But for Canucks fans, the bigger feeling was probably the usual one, relief that the year is over and hope that the next version of this team looks more settled than the one that finished here.

Edmonton moves on to the playoffs with momentum. Vancouver moves into an offseason with a lot to answer for.

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