Saturday November 30 - Vancouver Canucks 5 - Edmonton Oilers 2
I have to admit — I was kinda hoping that the Oilers would score once more in garbage time on Saturday, so that Loui Eriksson's first point of the season would stand up as the game-winning goal in the Vancouver Canucks' impressive road-trip-ending win in Edmonton.
But that's just about style points. Full credit to the Canucks for their game-planning, execution and intensity as they snapped their two-game losing streak.
Here are your highlights:
I loved the fact that the Canucks came out hitting in the first period — and I thought Alex Edler really seemed committed to the importance of the game. His early hit on Zack Kassian led to a reckless retaliation on Chris Tanev, which earned Kassian a charging penalty, which led to the Canucks' first goal of the game on Tyler Graovac's seeing-eye shot that hit the back bar of the net behind Mike Smith.
It was fun having Kevin Bieska in studio on Hockey Night in Canada, too — spilling the tea on how Kassian and Tanev were roommates during Zack's time with the Canucks, and how the hit that drew the penalty might have actually been a sort of inside joke between old friends. Dave Randorf also did a good job of continuing some of the narratives that were established when the Canucks and Oilers played on opening night.
It's too bad, though, that Edler's night was cut short rather abruptly after the second period. He still played 16:18, and finished the night with two shots and two blocks as well as that early hit. But his last shift ended with 2:23 left to play in the middle frame, not long after Tanner Pearson had scored what proved to be the game winner.
Of course, I wonder if this is the same upper-body injury that knocked Edler out of the game in Washington last week? He's said to be doubtful for the rematch against Edmonton on Sunday in Vancouver, so Oscar Fantenberg may finally draw in for his first game of the season.
Given how much the Canucks' defense typically struggles to stay healthy, I'd suspect that one of the reasons why Fantenberg chose to sign in Vancouver was an expectation that he'd probably get into the lineup sooner rather than later. Bet he never thought he'd have to wait until December to get his first game — he's nearly a month removed from his conditioning assignment in Utica, which ended on November 2.
A few other quick notes from Saturday's game:
• On a night that was expected to be all about McDavid and Draisaitl, the Canucks did a great job containing them. Connor still picked up two points, passing his teammate in the overall scoring race and now coming into Sunday's game with an incredible 49 points in 28 games. But despite a busy night that included 10 shot attempts, Draisaitl was held off the scoresheet for the second-straight game — and the first time at home at Rogers Place all season.
That's especially resonant if you remember back to what a beast Draisaitl was in Edmonton's 3-2 win over Vancouver on opening night.
• Travis Green's decision to try to match up the Pearson-Horvat-Eriksson combo against Connor and Leon couldn't have worked out better. Pearson finished the night with a career high four points and Eriksson's now one goal ahead of Milan Lucic in terms of his production this season.
After Eriksson was healthy-scratched twice on the road trip, even with the Canucks short of bodies at forward, Green figured the time was ripe to give the embattled veteran a bit of a different role, while still capitalizing on his checking abilities.
“I talked with Loui last week and talked about his game a little bit,” Green told
Mark Spector of Sportsnet. “I felt like when I put him back in, I’d give him a different look than playing with the fourth line. I thought tonight was a good night to do that and as it turned out, they end up scoring, that line.”
• I felt like Eriksson's linemate, Horvat, really raised his game late in the second period, after the Oilers had battled back to a 2-2 tie. The captain finished with three primary assists on the night — setting up Pearson for the winner, Eriksson for the insurance marker and Josh Leivo for the icing-on-the-cake goal that announced that there was no third-period collapse in the cards on this night.
After missing a scheduled start last week due to illness, Jacob Markstrom also looked solid in his return to the net. The Canucks outshot Edmonton 38-30, but Markstrom was the better of the two netminders on the ice.
We went into November worried about the Canucks' busy schedule and heavy travel demands. In the end, the team came out the other side with a 5-7-3 record and a tenuous hold on the second wild-card spot in the west. Satisfied, under the circumstances?
Sunday December 1 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet West, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 27 GP, 13-10-4, 30 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
Edmonton Oilers: 28 GP, 16-9-3, 35 pts, first in Pacific Division
As I pointed out in yesterday's blog, the Canucks needed a win on Saturday just to keep pace with the teams around them in the Western Conference playoff hunt. The Sharks and Flames won while the Preds lost, which allowed the Canucks to move up two spots in the conference standings.
On Sunday, there are just three games on the schedule, so there is an opportunity to move up a bit more. A win would put the Canucks ahead of the Sharks, back into third in the Pacific and just three points behind the first-place Oilers. A single point would keep them in eighth, because San Jose holds the tiebreaker.
With both teams on the same travel schedule, I imagine we'll see optional morning skates and will have to wait till warmup for any significant lineup notes. I imagine both teams will use their other goalies, setting up a Demko-vs-Koskinen duel.
A couple of other quick organizational notes before I sign off for today:
• Antoine Roussel is on his way back to Vancouver after picking up an assist on Saturday in Utica's 4-3 win over the Toronto Marlies. The Comets are back in action in Toronto on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT — and Mikey DiPietro is the
lead story on Sportsnet.ca this morning.
I imagine Roussel will draw in during the homestand sometime next week. Alex Burrows' Ring of Honour night on Tuesday would be rather appropriate, wouldn't it?
Also, here's the early word on Olli Juolevi.
And finally, Quinn Hughes was named as one of the runners-up behind Cale Makar, who earned Rookie of the Month honours for November. Makar had 16 points in November, including three game-winning goals, and was a plus-10 for the month! Hughes had 12 points — and also has more competition for the Calder than just Makar. Adam Fox of the New York Rangers has also now found his footing, and chipped in 12 points of his own in November as well.
With that, you're up to date for now. Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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