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Vancouver Canucks Game Review: Beating the Oilers to Wrap Solid Preseason |
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Saturday October 4: Vancouver Canucks 3 - Edmonton Oilers 2
The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their 2014 preseason with a 3-2 win over an undermanned Edmonton Oilers squad on Saturday night at Rogers Arena.
Here are your highlights:
The Canucks got off to a fast start with goals by Chris Higgins and Daniel Sedin in the first 3:26 of the game, before the Oilers had even registered their first shot.
Higgins made no mistake when he got in alone after Alex Burrows chipped the puck out of the defensive zone, while Daniel made a nifty bank shot from behind the net—off Ben Scrivens' skate and into the goal.
Scrivens didn't look great on either play, but it was nice to see two of the Canucks who suffered the biggest declines towards the end of last season playing with confidence as the new year begins.
The Canucks outshot the Oilers 8-3 in the first period and looked to have the game well in hand, but Edmonton picked up the intensity through the final 40 minutes. They outshot Vancouver 26-10 in the final two frames and got within a goal, with Jordan Eberle making a tremendous individual effort in the dying seconds with the goalie pulled, which could have tied the game.
Considering the Canucks were basically playing their full roster while the Oilers were still auditioning for jobs, especially on the blue line, it was good to get a win but would have been nice to see it come with a bit more authority.
Though Willie Desjardins is still reluctant to say a negative word about any of his players, he admitted after the game that he "didn't think we were good enough."
It's pretty amazing to hear him handle the question about Luca Sbisa's horrible giveaway that led to Edmonton's first goal, by Nail Yakupov. Desjardins quickly turns the talk around to how Sbisa "played pretty good for us" over the course of the night.
It is worth remembering that Sbisa played 21:45 last night, in a top-pairing role with Dan Hamhuis, so he faced more minutes and tougher competition than he usually would. He has been a bit of an adventure throughout this preseason but he's going to be a fixture for awhile, simply due to depth issues.
Desjardins says in his comments that he's not sure if Kevin Bieksa will be ready for opening night on Wednesday, though "(Bieksa) thinks he will be." And Frank Corrado will be on the sidelines for a bit longer:
If Bieksa isn't ready to go, last night's defense group is what we'll see against Calgary on Wednesday, though the configuration could change.
I caught Sbisa's radio interview after last night's game. Had a good chuckle when, in his subtle Italian-Swiss accent, he said his unfortunate giveaway is "what we call a pizza" in hockey terms.
He also admitted—surprisingly candidly—that if he'd found himself in the same situation last season, he would have "crumbled into a ball." Last night, he said he picked himself up and went back out to find the puck and keep contributing.
Is that a sign of the confidence that Willie Desjardins instills in his players?
Overall, Sbisa was a good interview. He may be a bit of an adventure on the ice, but he could also be one of the more interesting characters to watch on a Canucks team that won't have nearly as much drama surrounding it this year.
Zack Kassian is another player to watch, though he was awfully tough to spot lat night. After missing a few days—possibly with a back injury—Kassian played just 12:51 on Saturday, the lowest ice time of any forward. He had no shots, one hit and was a minus-one, though he probably can't take any real blame for that Yakupov goal.
Kassian's saying all the right things about wanting to contribute wherever he plays. He's not going to start the season on the second line but will have plenty of room for improvement as the season goes along.
At the other end of the spectrum, Shawn Matthias is taking advantage of his opportunities. He played another strong game at centre, though his stats line is mixed. Matthias was on the ice for both Oilers goals and was just 40 percent in the face-off circle, but he was skating very well, had three shots on goal, killed penalties effectively and was generally making himself noticeable.
On balance, it's been a decent preseason. The Canucks didn't face much tough opposition, but finished with a 5-2 record and look like they have a pretty good idea of what kind of team they'll want to be when the real work begins. By contrast, last year's team went 2-4 and my lingering memory is the chaotic nature of those early games, when no one seemed to know where they were supposed to be.
I'll further dissect the preseason and look towards the year ahead over the next couple of days, before we start playing for keeps on Wednesday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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