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The Vancouver Canucks opened up preseason Monday night with a loss against a new division rival in the San Jose Sharks.
The Canucks battled through penalty trouble all night and that was too much to overcome as they fell 3-2.
Here are some thoughts on the game:
- Ryan Kesler didn't pick up any points, but I thought he played very well against San Jose. He looked very confident and put a lot of pucks on net. He didn't score, obviously, but if he continues to get as many chances as he had last night he'll put up his fair share of points.
I also thought Kesler played very well in his own zone, especially on the penalty kill. The Canucks paraded to the box all night long and Kesler did some heavy lifting in terms of killing them off. San Jose converted on only 1-of-7 power plays and while Kesler was on the ice for the goal, he was not burned on what was a fluky goal.
Kesler was playing well, but he played way too much last night. There's no reason arguably the best player in the lineup should play 25:29 in his first preseason game.
- Hunter Shinkaruk is making quite the case to make the Canucks out of camp. He had plenty of chances and scored a beautiful goal while logging almost 22 minutes of ice. Shinkaruk displayed great balance, skill and accuracy when he beat Alex Stalock high on the short-side. That was a goal scorers goal and if he continues to play like he did last night, he'll probably start the season in Vancouver.
- Brendan Gaunce played pretty well last night, in my opinion, but for whatever reason didn't get much ice. Gaunce made a couple nice defensive plays and scored a goal in the Canucks losing effort.
Despite the Canucks spending a large chunk of time down a man and Gaunce being defensively responsible, he only played 10 minutes and wasn't really used in defensive situations. He only won 38% of his draws so perhaps that's the reason, but either way it was surprising to see him play so little; especially when he appeared to be playing well.
- Frankie Corrado did some good things last night. He wasn't flashy, but for the most part he did a good job of getting the puck safely out of the defensive zone, and he did create a few chances offensively. He also blocked a game-high five shots, which will surely earn him some points with John Tortorella. Corrado finished 3rd on the Canucks in ice time behind Kesler and Dan Hamhuis.
- I wasn't overly impressed with Nicklas Jensen's game. He played almost 15 minutes and didn't register a shot nor look dangerous offensively at any point. He's an offensive player so if he's not scoring or generating chances, he's probably not doing much. That was the case against the Sharks.
- Bo Horvat played almost 18 minutes and won 47% of his faceoffs, but didn't really stand out. He played well in his own zone for the most part, but he did lose his man a couple of times and didn't generate much offensively.
- Lastly, I thought Eddie Lack and Joe Cannata both played really well. The Canucks were outshot 42-16 and if not for the play of those two, the game wouldn't have even been close. They both made some excellent saves and gave the Canucks a chance to win the game which is all the coaching staff can ask.
The Canucks are back in action Wednesday night against the Oilers.
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