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I Watched This Game: Räty, Bains make case to remain in Canucks roster race

Daniel Wagner
Daniel Wagner
|
Sep 23 2026, 7:53 am
I Watched This Game: Räty, Bains make case to remain in Canucks roster race
Vancouver Canucks centre Aatu Räty shoots the puck against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. (Sergei Belski/Imagn Images)

It wasn’t a fair fight.

The Calgary Flames dressed essentially their opening-night lineup for Tuesday’s preseason game at the Saddledome. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Canucks’ lineup had just two players who fans are certain to see on opening night: defenceman Tom Willander and goaltender Kevin Lankinen.

But you can learn a lot about someone in an unfair fight.

Who gets frustrated and loses focus? Who continues battling even when all is seemingly lost? Who does all the right things despite everything going wrong?

For over half of the game, the Canucks bent but did not break.

But when they finally did break, like Walter White, they broke bad.

The Flames outshot the Canucks 18-to-2 in the second period, which suggests that the lopsided ice is yet another reason to retire the Saddledome. But despite the heavily tilted possession, Kevin Lankinen and the Canucks kept the Flames off the board.

At least, they did until there were five minutes remaining in the middle frame.

The Flames scored three goals in those five minutes, and that was that. A single third-period goal by the Canucks did nothing to change the final result.

Of course, the result isn’t really the point in the preseason. Literally, there were no points at stake.

Instead, it was about seeing who fought the unfair fight well when I watched this game.

  • Full credit to Kevin Lankinen for keeping the Canucks in this one as long as he did. Lankinen stopped the first 19 shots he faced, which would be a full night’s work for the goaltenders of some teams. But the Canucks are not just some team.
  • While he didn’t wind up with a point, Aatu Räty was the Canucks best skater against the Flames. He was his usual dominant self in the faceoff circle, winning 15-of-20 draws, but also had a team-high five shot attempts (two of them on net), and was solid on the penalty kill, an area where he needed to improve.
  • When Räty was on the ice at even strength, shot attempts were 12-to-10 in favour of the Flames, which was the best ratio on the Canucks. When Räty was on the bench, shot attempts were 55-to-12 for the Flames. Like the Atmosfear at Playland, that’s a massive swing.
  • Räty also did well to protect the middle of the ice. High-danger shot attempts were 4-to-0 in favour of the Canucks when he was on the ice at even strength. Again, when he was off the ice, high-danger shot attempts were 13-to-3 for the Flames. Really solid night for Räty.
  • Adam Novotný nearly opened the scoring against the flow of play midway through the second. Braeden Cootes made a superb pass to send “Joshua” Trey Fix-Wolansky into the offensive zone, and TFW set up Novotný with a nearly open net. Unfortunately, the puck flipped on end, and Novotný sent it wide. On the bench, Cootes gave an upset Novotný a gentle head pat, like Drax comforting Rocket Raccoon.

  • Though no one on the Canucks’ blue line was exceptional in this one, I thought Kirill Kudryavtsev was quietly quite good. He had an excellent retrieval under pressure midway through the first that led to him drawing the first penalty of the game on Morgan Frost, and he neatly killed a few Flames possessions with a quick stick or a well-angled closeout on the boards. He didn’t always handle the speed of the Flames’ forwards well when defending the rush, though. Like the top of Barad-dûr, that’s something to keep an eye on.
  • The Flames opened the scoring on the power play when Victor Mancini got caught on the wrong side of Joel Farabee. Two passes later, Farabee was in alone and chipped the puck under Lankinen’s glove.

  • It was a rough game all around for Mancini. Shots on goal were 8-to-0 for the Flames when Mancini was on the ice at even strength, as he got buried in the defensive zone all game. At this rate, Mancini’s going to be singing along to Green Day on his way to Abbotsford.
  • Matt Coronato made it 2-0 a couple of minutes later. Matt Stienburg got caught deep in the Flames’ zone trying to throw a hit, which gave the Flames a 4-on-3. Arshdeep Bains nearly picked off a pass to kill the play, but the puck snuck through to Coronato, who had all the time in the world to pick his spot on Lankinen.

  • Less than two minutes later, it was 3-0. Off a defensive zone faceoff, Novotný couldn’t get to Zayne Parekh quickly enough, as the young defenceman activated up the right boards and drove to the net. Tom Willander was caught between trying to maintain position on Sam Honzek and checking Parekh and wound up doing neither, allowing Honzek to easily tap in Parekh’s rebound.

  • Considering the Flames had 64 shots attempts and 26 shots on goal through two periods, it’s fair to wonder why Malhotra kept Lankinen in the game for the third period, as it’s pretty common to ease goaltenders into action with partial games in the preseason. But Lankinen’s backup is the still-very-raw Aleksei Medvedev, and throwing him to the fiery wolves might not’ve been the best idea for a young goaltender.
  • Of course, the Canucks held the Flames to just four shots on goal in the third period, so it all worked out, though there was a mildly hairy moment — like when you see a particularly hirsute naked mole-rat — when Morgan Frost bumped into Lankinen and Tom Willander tripped on Frost and nearly landed on Lankinen’s head.
  • I did a double-take early in the third period when the camera showed two fans behind the Flames bench. Both were wearing Canucks jerseys with the 50th anniversary patch on them, but they also each had a bright red “DOME” patch celebrating the final season of the Calgary Saddledome.

  • While I’m sure that, like Nina Simone and The Animals, their intentions are good, it feels sacrilegious to have a Flames logo on a Canucks jersey.
  • This kind of literal duplicity is surprisingly common behind the Flames bench: does anyone other than me remember Double Moustache Man?
  • The Canucks spoiled Dustin Wolf’s shutout bid late in the third period. It started when Braeden Cootes snagged a Jacob Middleton clearing attempt and darted up the right side with a nifty move that literally undressed Zayne Parekh. Okay, Parekh only lost his stick and his glove, but that’s at least the start of a hockey-themed burlesque show.

  • Cootes kept scooting along to draw in another defender, then he threaded the puck through to Bains, who had space to shoot because Parekh was still trying to collect his glove off the ice. Bains took the slick pass and fired a quick snapshot off the far post and in.
  • “He’s a smart player,” said Bains of Cootes. “There’s a reason he’s so special. He’s going to be a great player here. He makes it really easy to play with him.”
  • Bains had a solid game. He continually won puck battles along the boards and found ways to get to the net for chances, even if the puck didn’t always find him there and, when it did, he wasn’t always able to put it on net. He just looked like an NHLer in a lineup that was largely AHL and CHL players. There’s a reason why I think he’s the favourite to be the 13th forward out of camp.
  • For Cootes, it was much the same as the first preseason game: he made a fantastic play offensively to create the goal, but overall, he was outplayed. Shot attempts were 20-to-4 for the Flames when Cootes was on the ice at even strength. There are flashes of brilliance that suggest the 19-year-old centre could be a really special player, but, like British cuisine, he needs seasoning.
  • A couple of Canucks caught my eye: Riley Patterson keeps doing smart things away from the puck, and Yaroslav Bryzgalov plays like a future fan-favourite bottom-six forward. Both are a long way from the NHL, but there’s a spark in both of them worth watching.
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