The Vancouver Canucks are still searching for a way to stop the bleeding after a sixth straight loss, but Wednesday’s trip through Florida at least gave them a few things to work with. Against a Panthers team that came in with the third most offensive zone time in the NHL at 43.8%, Vancouver pushed the game to overtime after holding a 2-0 lead for most of the night.
That lead, of course, didn’t survive. Brady Tkachuk scored his second hat trick in a row, and the Canucks walked away with another painful result. Still, this was their strongest effort of the road trip so far, even if it ended in a way that was tough to stomach.
Leevi Merilainen was the biggest reason the game stayed close for as long as it did. The goaltender was sharp throughout and looked like the best player on the ice for stretches, even as Vancouver was outshot 39-17.
Given how things have gone lately, it’s fair to say the Canucks probably would have been buried with Kevin Lankinen in net. Per MoneyPuck, Lankinen is the worst goalie in the NHL this season in goals saved above expected by a wide margin.
Merilainen, meanwhile, looks like he should keep getting more of the starts while Vancouver tries to claw its way back into steadier hockey.
Filip Chytil also gave the Canucks something encouraging to lean on. He was cleared right before the game and logged 18:30 of ice time, third among Vancouver forwards.
His assist on the Canucks’ second goal, scored by defenseman Elias Pettersson, showed the kind of vision and touch that have long made Chytil an intriguing player. The concerns with him are still tied to the rest of the package: he was pushed around in the faceoff circle and nearly turned the game into a disaster with an ugly giveaway late.
But the offense? That part still looks very real.
The bigger question is whether he can stay available.
There was another Elias Pettersson worth noticing, too. The defenseman is still playing more of a stay-at-home role, but he has three goals in nine games in 2026-27.
That matches the total he had in 70 games last season. He’s not going to become a Brent Burns-type, but he’s clearly growing more comfortable jumping into the play and taking the shot when the chance is there.
The overtime itself was a mess for Vancouver. Zeev Buium and Paul Cotter looked out of sync, the Canucks struggled to win possession, and Tkachuk finished the job. It was the kind of 3v3 sequence that exposes a team built more on support pieces than true play-drivers.
That’s the challenge moving forward. In overtime, Vancouver doesn’t have a lot of players who can take over and tilt the ice. Against a team that controls the puck as well as Florida, that problem showed up fast.
The road trip ends Saturday at 1 pm PST against the Tampa Bay Lightning, before the Canucks return home for three games.
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