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New-look Canucks show promise as they push the Oilers to a shootout |
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Wednesday October 13 - Edmonton Oilers 3 - Vancouver Canucks 2 (S/O)
Something to build off, right?
With half the team turned over from the end of last season, the Vancouver Canucks overcame a two-goal deficit to pick up a point before dropping a shootout decision to the Edmonton Oilers in their 2021-22 season opener at Rogers Place on Wednesday night.
Once Travis Green set his game-night lineup, he had a whopping 10 new faces in the mix.
Forwards: Conor Garland, Jason Dickinson, Alex Chiasson, Justin Dowling, Juho Lammikko, Vasily Podkolzin
Defense: Tucker Poolman, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Kyle Burroughs
Goal: Jaroslav Halak (backup)
The team's three extras on Wednesday are also all new: Luke Schenn, Nic Petan and Brad Hunt.
Now that we're here, that's a stunning amount of turnover. And the changes extend all the way up to the leadership group — J.T. Miller and Oliver Ekman-Larsson wore the 'A's for Game 1.
With all that change at the forefront, I thought the team played with a pretty decent level of cohesion. That should improve further as the season progresses — and this early-season road trip, with team dinners and interactions allowed once again, could also be a good bonding experience for the group.
When Quinn Hughes was interviewed at the end of the second period, I liked his sense of focus on the game. Gene Principe wanted to chat about the new contract, and while Hughes acknowledged that he likes it in Vancouver and wanted to stay for the long haul, he was more interested in talking about how the Canucks' first period wasn't great but they were getting better as they went along and hoped to take things up another notch in the third.
Those words carry a lot more weight when they foreshadow what comes to pass. If you have the NHL app on your phone and take a look at the Game Flow function, you'll see how the possession balance shifts more and more in Vancouver's direction over the course of the game.
Shots on goal tell the same story:
Period 1: Edmonton 14 - Vancouver 10 (1-0 Oilers on Puljujarvi's net-front goal)
Period 2: Vancouver 12 - Edmonton 11 (2-0 Oilers on Hyman's power-play goal)
Period 3: Vancouver 13 - Edmonton 9 (2-2 off goals from Ekman-Larsson and Hughes)
Overtime: Vancouver 3 - Edmonton 0
So do the penalty minutes: 25 for Edmonton and just 11 for Vancouver.
Bench minors were a frequent occurrence last season — with 10 in 56 games, the Canucks were tied with Vegas for fourth in the league in that category. It was disappointing to see another one on Wednesday — and to see it turn into a power-play goal for Edmonton.
But that was the only damage done by McDavid and company, who had the NHL's most lethal power play last season. And I thought one of the key items that turned the tide in the third period was Vancouver staying out of the box. Edmonton took a pair of minors, one of which turned into the OEL goal that started the comeback.
After being largely ineffective last season, that was PP2 coming through — in this case, with Ekman-Larsson and a forward group of Nils Hoglander and Conor Garland (who drew the assists), plus Tanner Pearson and Justin Dowling.
An effective game overall for OEL, who had seven shot attempts and three hits in 23:52 of ice time. He started with Tyler Myers but was also paired, at times, with Tucker Poolman. He was named the game's second star.
And with Quinn Hughes scoring the equalizer, the Canucks are off to a good start again in the 'offense from the defence' category.
The comeback was well deserved. For the last 14+ minutes of the third period and all of overtime, the Oilers managed just one shot on goal, as well as taking two minor penalties.
I'm glad the Canucks were rewarded as they turned up the heat — although I'm hoping players will get a little more automatic in their shooting as the season rolls along. I noticed moments where both Elias Pettersson and Alex Chiasson perhaps could have beaten Mike Smith — who was very good in the game, overall — if they hadn't taken quite as much time to try to label their shots.
Also good: Thatcher Demko, who kept his team in the game, particularly in the first period. McDavid and Draisaitl only managed two shots on goal each, but Puljujarvi and Darnell Nurse had six each, some of which were quite dangerous.
I think Green's decision to go with the younger, speedier Jack Rathbone and Kyle Burroughs on the third defense pair on Wednesday paid off, rather than Schenn and Hunt. The kids did fine!
And a shoutout to Nils Hoglander, whose quiet demeanour off the ice gets him overlooked sometimes, but who looks like he's going to take another step forward after exceeding expectations in his rookie season.
The 20-year-old drew the primary assist on both Vancouver goals and put four shots on Mike Smith, taking the early lead in the Canucks' team scoring race. He started the game on the third line with Matthew Highmore and Jason Dickinson, but that may not be his permanent home.
But how many players can fit into the top six? Brock Boeser is also on the road trip and took the morning skate on Wednesday, so it probably won't be long until he gets into the lineup.
Thursday's a travel day, as the team heads east to Philadelphia for its first game stateside since Mar 1, 2020 in Columbus.
Of course, it's an early start on Friday, 4 p.m. PT, against a Flyers team that will be making its season debut with a vastly revamped lineup of its own. Here's how they looked at their Thursday practice:
No Rasmus Ristolainen, the major offseason acquisition who has been missing from practice now for about a week and is said to be questionable for Friday.
Also, of course, the Flyers claimed Vancouver's Zack MacEwen on waivers on Wednesday — and from what I saw of them in preseason, his toughness could be something they can use, although not necessarily against Vancouver. It'll be interesting to see if he draws into that fourth-line LW spot against the Canucks.
Speaking of toughness, perhaps this is a good place to wrap up today. A Tyler Myers appreciation GIF.
#NeverForget
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