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Elias Pettersson entertains in Abbotsford as Canucks beat Senators 6-4 |
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Monday, September 23 - Vancouver Canucks 6 - Ottawa Senators 4
Run and gun is back, baby!
With eight days to go before the 2019-20 regular season begins, the Vancouver Canucks have played six games, more than any other team in the NHL. After their 6-4 win over the Ottawa Senators in Abbotsford on Monday night, they also lead the league in goals for (27) and are tied with Calgary for the most goals against (20).
The defensive number isn’t especially egregious, given the high number of games played. But the offensive number is head and shoulders above every other team in the league. The next highest-scoring club is, believe it or not, New Jersey, with 18 goals in five games. The Canucks are averaging 4.5 goals a game, and no other team is even approaching four.
It’s a big change from one year ago, when the team scored just 10 times in its entire seven-game exhibition schedule.
Here are your highlights from Monday’s sold-out contest at the Abbotsford Centre.
The folks in the Fraser Valley may have been disinclined to support the AHL's Abbotsford Heat, but they showed up in force for the Canucks on Monday. That should add some additional fuel to the debate about whether the Utica Comets should eventually be relocated closer to their parent club.
In addition to many of the Canucks' regular game-presentation touches, including P.A. announcer Al Murdoch and a number of the usual video clips from Rogers Arena, fans were also treated to appearances by Canadian figure-skating royalty. Recently-retired Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff, then were joined by Elvis Stojko, Patrick Chan and Kaetlyn Osmond for the first-intermission T-shirt toss as they promoted their upcoming Rock the Rink Tour. That kicks off on October 5 in Abbotsford, followed by a show in Penticton on October 6 and at Thunderbird Arena at UBC on October 7.
The Abbotsford fans also got a tantalizing taste of what the Canucks' power play might be able to do this season. Vancouver went four-for-seven with the man advantage, including two goals on a five-minute major in the first period after Jordan Szwarz was given a game misconduct for his part in a two-man sandwich collision behind the net that knocked Vancouver's defenseman Oscar Fantenberg out of the game.
The Petey Show was in full swing. With his left-side one-timer working perfectly, Elias Pettersson was in on all four power-play goals. With just three official shots on goal, Pettersson finished with two goals and two assists and was named the game's first star. Alex Edler also finished with four points - an even-strength goal and three power-play assists. Brock Boeser led the Canucks with five shots and finished the night with three assists. The other goals came from J.T. Miller and Bo Horvat on the power play, and Jordie Benn on a flawlessly executed breakaway out of the penalty box with three seconds left to play in the third period.
Now with a goal and six assists in three preseason games, Edler is showing early signs that the Canucks made a good decision to bring him back for two more years. He's currently tied with Max Pacioretty atop the NHL's preseason scoring race, and Elias Pettersson's five points in three games have him tied for fourth with Will Butcher of the New Jersey Devils and fellow Calder Trophy winner Mat Barzal.
The Canucks' penalty killing was also great, going a perfect five-for-five. I'll cut the team some slack, defensively, given that they were playing with five defensemen for more than two and a half periods after Fantenberg was injured, but a glance at the bare-bones neutral-site stat sheet shows the Sens' goals game primarily at the expense of the Pearson-Horvat-Miller line, plus Tyler Myers. Horvat and Pearson were on the ice for all four Ottawa goals, and Miller and Myers were both minus-three for the night.
To his credit, Myers did make the perfect pass at the end of a penalty kill that sprung Benn for his breakaway goal.
With all the special-teams time in the game, Jake Virtanen didn't get much of an opportunity to shine. Playing on the fourth line with Jay Beagle and Tim Schaller, Jake had just one shot on goal in front of his hometown crowd. His most noteworthy moment was a high-sticking double minor late in the first period.
I'm not sure he made the most of his opportunity, but at least he was in the lineup on Monday. Nikolay Goldobin was not.
I was a little surprised not to see Micheal Ferland in this game with Pettersson and Boeser. Turns out, an illness has kept him out of action since late last week.
On Monday, it was announced that forwards Reid Boucher and Francis Perron, defenseman Ashton Sautner and goaltender Zane McIntyre had officially been assigned to Utica. No Canucks were placed on waivers on Monday or Tuesday.
The Canucks now return to Rogers Arena for their final two preseason games on Wednesday and Thursday. With Elton John playing his third Vancouver concert on Tuesday night, the team will practice at Burnaby 8 Rinks on Tuesday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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