Tuesday September 27 - San Jose Sharks 3 - Vancouver Canucks 2 (OT)
The Vancouver Canucks were badly outplayed, but were 22 seconds away from stealing a win at the Shark Tank in their preseason opener against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
Though the shots on goal were 15-4 in favour of the Sharks in the first period, the Canucks came out with a 1-0 lead after Bo Horvat converted on a rebound on a Jake Virtanen shot.
Here's John Shorthouse's radio call of the goal:
All told, the Canucks were outshot 33-15 in the game. Richard Bachman was outstanding in net, stopping all 15 shots he faced in the first 32:33 of action.
Michael Garteig played the second half of the game—and though he gave up three goals on 13 shots, it sounds like he didn't get much help. He was hung out to dry on the Sharks' first goal by Barclay Goodrow, then Tommy Wingels sent the game to overtime with an extra attacker on the ice for San Jose. Kevin Labanc finished things off at the 1:05 mark of three-on-three overtime.
Sven Baertschi got Vancouver's other goal in the third period.
Ashton Sautner and Jordan Subban drew the assists on the goal, though you can see that Subban had changed for Philip Larsen by the time the puck went in the net.
You can also see that Borna Rendulic was playing on the right side with Horvat and Baertschi by the time the goal was scored. Jake Virtanen didn't finish the game after suffering a shoulder injury on the forecheck during a second-period power play.
Here's all we know on that so far:
#Canucks Desjardins confirms Virtanen has a shoulder injury. He didn't think Jake would be out too long, but re-evaluate tomorrow #TSN1040
After a good start to the game in the bottom six, Rendulic was effective when he jumped up into Jake's spot. He finished the game with two shots, four hits and a giveaway in 17:07 of ice time.
Andrey Pedan and Tuomo Ruutu also got banged up on Tuesday, but both finished the game.
The other big positive—Manny Malhotra's faceoff coaching has paid instant dividends. Though the Canucks still had trouble controlling possession in the game, Bo Horvat went an amazing 20-3 in the faceoff circle.
Other quick impressions: Brendan Gaunce had a solid game, though he played just 12:40. Philip Larsen was said to be losing puck battles along the boards. And while Rendulic stood out as a free-agent signee, PTO players James Sheppard and Tuomo Ruutu each did little to impress.
This morning, the Canucks announced that four players from Tuesday's game have been assigned to the Utica Comets:
Sautner was actually the lone player to finish on the plus side of the ledger last night, with a plus-one. Subban, of course, is the player drawing all the attention.
For all the defensive zone frustrations in SJ, I thought Jordan Subban played pretty well. Up to #Canucks D prospect to lead in Utica
I'm going to look at this from a practical point of view. As we have been discussing since Young Stars, the Canucks have a logjam of players competing for spots on the blue line, and Subban had already dropped one notch below new arrivals like Philip Larsen and Troy Stecher.
Right now, it seems like we have all the time in the world, but the Canucks' coaching staff has some big decisions to make about who stays and who goes on defense—especially when waiver eligibility is factored in.
It was pretty clear from the outset that Subban wouldn't get a chance to start with the team. Let the coaches get a good look at the real competitors and hopefully make the best decisions to upgrade a blue line that needs to take a big step forward after last season.
Last year, Subban didn't get any preseason games. This year he got one—as well as a good look at training camp and Young Stars. In his case, I feel like he's not moving forward—and that means he's being left behind.
Wednesday September 28 - Edmonton Oilers at Vancouver Canucks - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet One
Moving on, the Canucks get right back to work tonight, with their preseason home opener against the Edmonton Oilers.
Can't complain about the roster that the Oilers are bringing to town. Fans will get a chance to see both Milan Lucic and Connor McDavid, who's straight off his strong performance at the World Cup of Hockey. UND free-agent signing Drake Caggiula will also be in the lineup—as will his college teammate Stecher for the Canucks.
You'll see Virtanen's name on that roster. He was expected to play in the back-to-back, but is now being held out.
Looks like it might be Burrows in for Virtanen tonight. Despite a good recommendation from a listener to try Cassels vs his nemesis McDavid
Up front, it'll be interesting to see what Jack Skille and Anton Rodin can do on that top line with Mike Zalewski. Michael Carcone will also get a chance to see if he can keep his positive momentum going after a solid Young Stars tournament.
The intrigue, though, lies on the back end—the debut of the Hutton/Gudbranson pairing, a first look at Olli Juolevi and a chance for Troy Stecher to play top-pairing minutes with Alex Edler. Also, Thatcher Demko is expected to share duties with Ryan Miller in net.
This one's on TV—on Sportsnet One. I also have to say, I have been super-impressed with all the early-season coverage on GameCentre Live. Not only has the NHL been streaming all the World Cup games, they're also broadcasting plenty of preseason action. I caught a bit of Rangers/Islanders and Washington/Montreal yesterday—and was amused to see AV using Max Lapierre and Tanner Glass as his forwards on a Rangers penalty kill. Seems like some things never change...
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