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Well, that was a hockey game. The Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers apparently decided that one “ridiculous” season opener wasn't enough. After combining for 11 goals in Edmonton, they went one better in Vancouver, combining for 16 in a 9-7 Oilers win. At some point, you stop trying to explain the game and just watch it unfold.

But beneath all that chaos, something was worth paying attention to. The Canucks were down 8-2 entering the third period, and somehow they turned the final 20 minutes into a game again. They scored five times in the third, with Marco Rossi scoring twice and adding an assist. Suddenly a game that looked completely finished became a two-goal game.

The Canucks Didn't Quit

Brock Boeser said afterward that Edmonton was simply hungrier in the first period. The Oilers were winning puck battles, and Vancouver wasn't ready for it. That's a pretty revealing admission.

Nobody in that dressing room is going to feel good about giving up eight goals. And there's little to celebrate about falling six goals behind at home. But there is something to be said for what happened afterward. The Canucks could have packed it in. They didn't.

That's the secondary story in this one. Vancouver showed some resilience that wasn't particularly visible during those first two periods. Once the Canucks finally started competing for loose pucks and playing with urgency, the game changed dramatically.

Boeser called it a mindset. That might be the thing to watch.

But the Canucks Can't Keep Finding That Mindset in the Third

Here's where I get a little cautious. A comeback like that is fun. It gives everybody something to talk about. It also makes the final score look much closer than the game actually was. Vancouver wasn't one goal away from winning this hockey game. The Canucks were six goals away from even being in it.

That's the part that can't get lost in the excitement. The Oilers dominated the first two periods, and Vancouver's goaltending and defence simply weren’t good enough. The Canucks found their game when the pressure was enormous, but the challenge now is finding that version of themselves much earlier.

Maybe that's what this ridiculous game actually gives them. Not a moral victory. Not a reason to feel good about losing 9-7. Just a lesson.

The Canucks Will Fight.

This Vancouver team has fight. Boeser basically said so himself: there's no quit in the room. Now the Canucks have to figure out how to bring that attitude to the opening faceoff instead of waiting until the game is almost gone. Because coming back from 8-2 is entertaining. Starting the night that way isn't.