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Balanced attack gives Vancouver Canucks 6-1 win over Edmonton Oilers

September 20, 2019, 2:11 PM ET [400 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Thursday September 19 - Vancouver Canucks 6 - Edmonton Oilers 1

The Vancouver Canucks extended their exhibition record to 3-1 with a 6-1 smackdown of the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Thursday.

Here are your highlights:



Jacob Markstrom got the nod for his first preseason action and went the distance, stopping 26 shots. The only puck that beat him was a squeaker by Cooper Marody, which tied the game 1-1 at 6:12 of the first period.

To keep things in perspective—a good chunk of the Oilers' roster from Thursday is now on a plane to Bakersfield.



But that's not to say that the Oilers didn't have their chances — Edmonton actually carried much of the play through the first half of the game. Though the Canucks had a 2-1 lead after one period, shots were 18-8 for Edmonton at the 4:06 mark of the second before the tide started to turn. Vancouver ended up outshooting Edmonton 34-27.

It was a well-balanced game for the Canucks, too. Six different players got the goals and the ice time was divvied up pretty evenly. Troy Stecher was the only player to crack the 20-minute mark, playing 20:15, and Justin Bailey was the low man at a respectable 12:15. He was the only player not to see meaningful special-teams time on a night where the power play clicked twice on six chances and the penalty kill was a perfect four-for-four.

Friday marked the first day this year that players around the NHL can be placed on waivers before being reassigned, and Bailey is on that list.



I think this is a case where the Canucks are aiming to sneak Bailey through to Utica without attracting too much attention. At this stage of preseason, every team has more bodies than they know what to do with, so waiver claims are rare. A big-bodied winger, Bailey acquitted himself pretty well through training camp and two games of preseason action — a plus-one with four shots on goal.

We never want to read too much into preseason, but it's a pleasant feeling to see everybody looking good in a blowout win. Especially compared to last year, when the team scored one goal or less in four of their seven contests.

Brogan Rafferty continued his strong audition when he opened the scoring with a blast from the right point off a faceoff win by J.T. Miller. Rafferty has earned good notices from observers all week but at this point, his best-case scenario might be first call-up from Utica. And if all goes according to plan, the blueliners in the main lineup will stay healthier this year and a player like Rafferty won't get his chance two weeks into the season, like Troy Stecher did after playing four games for the Comets in 2016-17.

The Miller/Horvat faceoff split looks to be an early success, too. After Miller volunteered to take some draws on Bo's weak side during training camp, he went 4-for-6 on Thursday while Horvat was 8-for-9. If they can keep that up against tougher competition in the circle, that could be a huge possession advantage this season.

Sven Baertschi also looked good on that line on Thursday, and showed some of his old chemistry with Horvat when Bo threaded a cross-ice pass over to him for the power-play goal that put Vancouver up 3-1.

After everything he's been through with his head injuries, I'm rooting for a return for form for Baertschi this season.



Almost as rare as goals from the point last season were goals from the second power-play unit. That happened on Thursday, too — courtesy of Lukas Jasek.



In the third, Bo Horvat stripped the puck from Joel Persson for a snipe from the slot, then Adam Gaudette rounded out the scoring with a goal that was reminiscent of some of his prettiest tallies from his time in college at Northeastern.



Gaudette took some heat for being a little overexcited about a preseason goal in a 6-1 game, but I think it's a testament to how hard he's working, and how he wants to be able to chip in offense at the NHL level this year. While his odds of making the team out of camp are low because he's waiver exempt, he is getting a good look from the coaching staff. He's the only player on the team to have dressed for three games so far.

Travis Green singled out his fourth line for praise after the game. Jay Beagle scored what turned out to be the winning goal late in the first period, but Green liked the line's overall tenacity.



With the group reunited in Vancouver, the Canucks are scheduled to hit the ice for practice at 11:30 on Friday ahead of their next game — Saturday in Salt Lake City against the Los Angeles Kings.

I'll close today with this video from training camp. It does a good job of capturing the energy of three intense days — and also of showing a lighter side of Travis Green than we sometimes see.

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