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Elias Pettersson shows he's ready for the NHL as Canucks wrap up preseason |
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Saturday September 29 - Arizona Coyotes 4 - Vancouver Canucks 1
Nikolay Goldobin saved the Vancouver Canucks from the indignity of being handed back-to-back shutouts to wrap up the 2018 preseason.
Goldy's third-period goal was the only thing for the standing-room-only crowd at Prospera Place to get excited about as the Canucks fell 4-1 to the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday in Kelowna.
Here are your highlights:
For the rest of the details, I will shamelessly direct you to the game story that I filed last night for the Canadian Press:
The game was a very hot ticket in Kelowna. The city has an ever-growing population and is an offseason hockey hotbed, with a significant gang of NHLers making their summer homes here, and Prospera Place is a good-quality junior hockey arena, which was packed to the rafters on Saturday night.
The fans were decked out in a wide range of Canucks jerseys. I saw a Tikkanen, a Mason Raymond, some Bures and Lindens and Keslers and a little boy who couldn't have been more than six wearing a Tryamkin.
One thing the arena couldn't accommodate was the influx of media. We were set up in the restaurant area at one end of the rink, with some hastily-assembled power bars providing our laptop juice and internet that was reliable.
The postgame media session was an embarrassment of riches. I missed out on hearing from Goldobin because I was talking more with one-time Kelowna Rocket Alex Edler about his experience when he came over from Sweden and what he's doing to help mentor Elias Pettersson. The rookie picked up another assist on Saturday to finish out preseason with a team-leading six points. He's also handling himself defensively and managing the media attention well, so while many other promising rookies are being cut from other teams, Pettersson's ready to start his NHL career.
We also heard from Pettersson as well as Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, Jacob Markstrom and Travis Green. I'll share more of their thoughts in the coming days.
I couldn't get Green to show his cards with respect to those final lineup cuts that are coming. He did praise Goldobin for bringing a skillset that the team is lacking, so I think he's safe.
Tyler Motte made the trip to Kelowna and took the pregame skate, but he didn't play on Saturday. I assume that means that Green has seen enough, but I'm not sure if that translates to him sticking around for opening night or being assigned to the Comets because of his waiver-exempt status.
Once again, all players around the league from Saturday's waiver wire clear. Sunday's list includes some familiar names:
Green is planning to meet with his staff today to determine the final cuts. Monday is the deadline to place players on waivers, then teams will set their final 23-man rosters on Tuesday.
It's raining in Kelowna this morning, which is odd. And that means a snow warning on the Okanagan Connector, which makes me glad that I decided to fly. Boarding for my flight home should be starting any minute, so I'll wrap things up for today with some Utica Comets notes.
Though former Kelowna Rocket Kole Lind didn't get a chance to skate for the Canucks at his junior arena on Saturday, he made up for it with a goal as the Comets once again fell 4-2 to the Binghamton Devils.
Tanner MacMaster had the other goal for the Comets.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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