Paul Cotter scores in OT as the Canucks beat the Oilers 6-5 in the opener

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Paul Cotter scored 1:59 into overtime to cap a two-goal game as the Vancouver Canucks got the season off to a strong start with a 6-5 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

Marco Rossi, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Max Sasson and Elias Pettersson also scored for the Canucks, who are coming off a last-place finish in the NHL last season with a 25-49-8 record.

Kevin Lankinen made 32 stops.

Evan Bouchard had three goals and two assists and Vasily Podkolzin scored twice for the Oilers. Tristan Jarry made 17 saves for Edmonton.

Entering the third period tied 2-2, Pettersson capped a three-goal run by the Canucks 5:15 into the frame to swiftly put the Canucks ahead 5-2.

But Podkolzin scored at 8:56, followed by Bouchard’s third of the night 24 seconds later and Podkolzin’s second of the night with 43 seconds left in regulation to send it to extra time.

Cotter, who joined Vancouver as a free agent after spending the last two seasons in New Jersey, became the first player in Canucks history to score a short-handed goal in his debut with the team.

Bouchard is the first defenseman in Oilers history to record a multigoal game in a season opener and just the third defenseman in NHL history to score a hat trick in an opener. He is also just the third blue-liner in the last 30 years to have at least four points in a game to open the season.

Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra became the fourth person to represent the Canucks as both a player and head coach in his career, following in the footsteps of Marc Crawford, Pat Quinn and Orland Kurtenbach.

Canucks: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Oilers: At the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard (2) celebrates a goal against the Vancouver Canucks during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (97) looks for the rebound from Vancouver Canucks' goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) during overtime NHL hockey action in Edmonton on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Max Sasson (63) is pursued by Edmonton Oilers' Colton Dach (34) during third period NHL hockey action in Edmonton on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers' Connor Murphy (5) defends against Vancouver Canucks' Marco Rossi (23) during third period NHL hockey action in Edmonton on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Tom Willander (5) and Paul Cotter (47) celebrate Cotter's game-winning goal against the Edmonton Oilers during overtime NHL hockey action in Edmonton on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)

HOUSTON (AP) — The crowd at Daikin Park was surprisingly sparse as the Houston Astros — baseball's first division winner with a .500 or worse record — opened their Wild Card Series with a 6-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

Large swaths of seats, especially in the upper deck, sat empty while right-hander AJ Blumbaugh delivered the game’s first pitch at 4:10 p.m. The bottom two levels were much fuller than the upper deck, but many seats in the lower two decks were also empty.

The announced attendance was 34,011, in a park with a capacity of 40,963.

All those empty seats are a rare sight in a stadium that is normally packed for the postseason. And some of the fans that did show up weren’t too happy with the performance of the home team with boos raining down on the Astros in the first and second innings as they fell behind 3-0.

“It’s extremely frustrating as a home player,” first baseman Christian Walker told The Athletic. “We’re here, playing at home; we need cheers. We need energy. We don’t need boos. What purpose does that serve in that moment? Whatever fans are feeling, we’re feeling it tenfold. We’re the ones out there. We’re the ones in the fight. We worked our butts off this whole season to put ourselves in this spot, and for guys to get booed, it’s frustrating.”

Reliever Bennett Sousa was subjected to some boos after spiking two breaking pitches in the seventh inning.

“This team has laid a lot on the line to be in this position to give the fans a playoff game — a playoff series," Sousa told The Athletic. “We want their support.”

Major League Baseball has previously had trouble filling stadiums for some afternoon games in the wild-card round. When Cleveland hosted Detroit last year, the series opener started at 1:08 p.m. with 26,186 in attendance. All three games in that series were played in front of fewer than 30,000 fans. The Tampa Bay Rays drew just 19,704 for an ALWCS opener against Texas in 2023 that started at 3:08 p.m., the lowest attendance for a non-COVID MLB postseason game since the 1919 World Series.

Houston returned to the playoffs after missing out last year despite finishing 81-81. It's the first time a team made the postseason without a winning record in a non-shortened season.

The Astros averaged 30,519 fans per game during the regular season, which ranked 14th in the majors.

Houston fought through an injury-plagued season to reach the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years. The Astros reached the American League Championship Series seven straight times from 2017-23 and advanced to the World Series four times, winning championships in 2017 and 2022.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, left, talks with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, right, before Game 1 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series against the Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren

Houston Astros catcher Christian Vazquez walks across the field before Game 1 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series against the Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren

Fans sit among empty seats during the second inning in Game 1 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series between the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Fans sit among empty seats during the second inning in Game 1 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series between the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)