Saturday October 3 - Vancouver Canucks 3 - Edmonton Oilers 2 (OT)
The win nearly slipped away, but the Vancouver Canucks showed the same come-from-behind determination that served them well last season when they won their second straight game against the Edmonton Oilers to wrap up their 2015 exhibition schedule.
Here are your highlights:
Saturday's game wasn't as much fun as the 5-2 win on Thursday in Edmonton. The Canucks sat on a 1-0 lead for two periods, managing just 12 shots through the first 40 minutes of the game.
The bright spots were a strong performance by Ryan Miller and a sexy opening goal, where Bo Horvat drove to the net to convert a Sven Baertschi feed for his fourth of preseason.
The NHL exhibition schedule concludes later today with a single game, between the Islanders and Capitals. As things stand now, Horvat's four goals in five games tie him with the likes of Corey Perry, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Johansen and Tomas Tatar for second place in NHL preseason scoring.
Baertschi's assist on that goal gave him five in preseason—good enough for a share of a five-way tie for fourth place in that category.
Jacob Markstrom also places among the top goaltenders in all categories. His three goals against in 178 minutes of play earned him a 1.01 goals-against average, .962 save percentage and a shutout.
We've talked so much about the young players who have surprised through preseason. It's great to be reminded that Horvat, Baertschi and Markstrom have all lived up to their advance billing and should continue to do so.
Click here to take a look at all the league's preseason stats.
Bo's preseason shooting percentage is 28.6 percent. Pretty sure the advanced stats folks will tell us that's not sustainable. Still, a goal like he scored last night, driving to the net and deflecting the puck past a helpless goaltender, looks like a pretty high-percentage play to me.
The other positive we saw on Saturday was a late-game contribution from the Sedins, who helped set up Jannik Hansen's tying goal before showing that yes, they can be effective in three-on-three overtime.
That goal came against the speedy Edmonton trio of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Justin Schultz, by the way. And full credit to the Nuge, who finished the game with a goal and an assist and was by far Edmonton's best player. Whether it's another summer of training adding strength to his 22-year-old frame or the pressure off his shoulders now that all eyes are on Connor McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins looks like he's ready to take his game to the next level.
As for McDavid, not a whole lot to report. In just under 17 minutes of ice time on Edmonton's top line, he managed one shot on goal and went 7-for-14 in the faceoff circle.
I tried to watch him in isolation a couple of times when he was on the ice. Noticed that he's not the most ferocious backchecker around, but I guess that goes with the territory when you've been a scoring star all your life.
As for the Canucks kids on the bubble, I thought all were passable.
I think Willie's plan on Saturday was to deploy them in positions they might realistically play within the team's full lineup. That meant third-line centre duties for Jared McCann, a fourth-line energy spot for Jake Virtanen and third-pairing minutes with Luca Sbisa for Ben Hutton—for the second straight game.
Hutton probably had the roughest outing of the three—and perhaps his roughest to date. But he wasn't terrible by any means, especially considering that he has played in seven of Vancouver's eight preseason games—the most of any Canuck.
Hutton took his first penalty of preseason—and the only penalty of the game—when he hooked Anton Lander midway through the first period. And he got undressed by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on Benoit Pouliot's 1-1 goal early in the third period. But the kid still finished the night with one shot on goal, one takeaway and one blocked shot—and got some high praise from Henrik Sedin after the game.
From
Jason Botchford of
The Province:
“As well as tonight, he’s been the key in the games I’ve watched and haven’t played,” Henrik said. “When we take over games, it’s when our D starts skating.
“The way he can skate, from standing still to three steps, how fast he is able to get to top speed is amazing.”
Uh, when has Henrik ever called anything amazing?
After the game, Willie Desjardins was cagey in his responses about final roster decisions. Today's an off-day for the team, then they'll practice Monday before heading to Calgary on Tuesday for their season-opener—and submitting their official opening-day roster list.
About the only thing Willie conceded in his postgame comments was that Brendan Gaunce almost certainly will not be recalled for opening night—though he praised Gaunce and left the door open for a return at some point during the season.
I'm also not sure why Dan Hamhuis didn't play last night after taking the morning skate with Matt Bartkowski. Willie mumbled something about Hamhuis' unavailability being a bit of a surprise, so there might be a health issue there. Something to keep an eye on, though he'll certainly need to be included on that season-opening roster.
My best guess is that we'll get the announcement on Monday morning. Hutton will almost certainly be assigned to Utica—even if it's temporary—since he doesn't have to clear waivers.
If Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann's auditions are to continue, the other two names will be of players who will need to clear—most likely some combination of Adam Cracknell, Linden Vey, Alex Biega and Frank Corrado.
I thought Jake was just fine in his role last night. He finished the night with two shots and three hits, playing 10:55 on the fourth line with Cracknell and Brandon Prust.
McCann—who takes all the heat for having a body that's not ready for NHL play—chipped in with three hits as well in his bottom-six role, and was elevated to play some third-period shifts with Baertschi and Vrbata right after Edmonton's first goal, to see if he could get anything going offensively.
That trio was on the ice for Nugent-Hopkins' go-ahead goal late in the third period, but that goal really was the result of an Edmonton dump-in suddenly changing direction after going off the linesman's skate. Simply a tough play.
I hope the kids are still with us when the regular season begins on Wednesday.
The Canucks wrapped up their exhibition schedule with a 4-3-1 record. That'd be nine points in eight games—the equivalent of 92.25 points over an 82-game schedule, which wouldn't be enough for a playoff spot.
The good news? Three of the four wins came during the second week—with a more representative lineup, and with Willie Desjardins back behind the bench.
I think we're seeing a more experimental Willie this year, even as he seems more determined than ever to win every game that he can.
Overall, I feel pretty good about how preseason has unfolded. What about you?
online surveys
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»