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Jake Virtanen plays, Brock Boeser sits as Vancouver Canucks open vs Oilers

October 7, 2017, 2:36 PM ET [720 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Saturday October 7 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers - 7 p.m. - CBC, Sportsnet 650

Vancouver Canucks 0-0-0, 0 points, fifth in Pacific Division
Edmonton Oilers 1-0-0, 2 points, first in Pacific Division

One week after their preseason dress rehearsal, the Vancouver Canucks will make their official 2017-18 season debut against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday at Rogers Arena.

There are plenty of storylines to watch, starting with the debut of coach Travis Green and how he works his lineup.

The lines have been pretty consistent at practice for the last couple of days...




The morning skate is an optional:




And Travis Green throws in a wrinkle!




I'm glad to see that Jake Virtanen will get to play—most likely in Boeser's spot on the third-line right wing. I think that hit that Virtanen laid on Connor at the 2015 Young Stars tournament is one of the top highlights of his career so far.



Green's a poker player. Did he keep Virtanen in the mix as the 13th forward this week in order to try to disguise his true intentions? If so—awesome. I'm so ready to see a coach play some mind games and try to get the better of his opponents with a tactical approach.

The Canucks open their season with a four-game homestand, so we'll have a great opportunity to see how Green executes his matchup game when he has the power of the last change.

The idea of the Sedins and Vanek lining up against McDavid and Draisaitl terrifies me but I don't mind the look of the other three lines. Hopefully the ice time will be divvied up fairly evenly—which would mean keeping penalties to a minimum.

On the back end, I'm happy to see Edler and Tanev together again. They're a legit shutdown pairing.




Over at TSN, Jeff Paterson takes a look at the challenge that faces the veteran blueline pair tonight—and opens with the humbling pronouncement that the Canucks have not beaten the Oilers in regulation during the Connor McDavid era. Yikes!




Last year, the Canucks were 1-4-0 against Edmonton, with the win coming thanks to Bo Horvat's shootout goal at Rogers Place on New Year's Eve. In 2015-16, the team was 2-2-1. The wins came in overtime (December 26, Jannik Hansen scored the game winner, McDavid was out of the lineup with his broken clavicle) and in the shootout (April 9, Emerson Etem scored the shootout winner).

The Canucks saw McDavid work his magic against them in their preseason finale last Saturday, where he set up Draisaitl for two pretty goals. In the Oilers' season-opener on Wednesday, he showed that he has come to play this year by scoring a hat trick and teased a level of speed that has put him in a class of his own.




Chris Tanev explained to Paterson how the Canucks will try to counteract that speed tonight.

If you’re flat-footed and you’re sitting there and he’s flying at you at 100 miles an hour, it makes your job pretty tough. That’s why all five guys need to be on the same page in our neutral zone forecheck when they have the puck. It’s a combination of us as defencemen and the centres trying to slow him down.

He likes to swing back and get moving and pick up speed, so forwards can help by slowing him down and not making that pass to him so easy.


Sounds like a plan. Now let's see if they can execute.

Jacob Markstrom gets the start in goal.

One other housekeeping note this morning: Nice knowin' ya, Ryan White.




The Oilers flew in on Friday, so they should be well rested for tonight's game.




In addition to Connor's heroics in their season opener, don't forget that Cam Talbot also opened his year with his first shutout, stopping 27 Calgary shots.

Here's how Edmonton deployed its forwards on Wednesday against the Flames:




The day's games have already begun, with first-overall pick Nico Hischier and the New Jersey Devils hosting Matt Duchene and the Colorado Avalanche. Duchene got off to a good start with a goal and an assist in Colorado's season-opening win on the road at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers on Thursday. Wouldn't it be something if the Avs were able to right the ship this season and maybe he doesn't get traded after all?

A little later this afternoon, Trent Cull will make his debut as an AHL head coach when the Utica Comets kick off their season with a visit to Toronto to take on the Marlies. The Comets' home arena is still undergoing renovations that began during the offseason, so they're starting their year on a seven-game road trip.

The Comets are kicking off the season with 27 players on their roster.




Not surprisingly, Carter Bancks has been named captain for the second straight year. It'll be fascinating to see how Cull sets his lines with so many players to choose from—and limited by the rule that allows him to dress only five veterans per game.

Two items to note:

• Anton Rodin has cleared up his immigration paperwork and will join the Comets today

• Jonathan Dahlen left the Comets on Friday to return to Sweden for the year.

It's too bad that we won't be able to keep a closer eye on Dahlen and watch him adjust to the North American game but when it looks like ice time will be at such a premium with the Comets, this could be for the best. Dahlen has already been working from behind as he recovers from his bout of mono, and at 19, he's still younger than almost all AHL players—if he had been a CHL player, the Comets wouldn't even have been an option.
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