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Canucks get 1st win & acquire Studnicka, Bruce hits 600, Pens on tap Friday |
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Thursday October 27 - Vancouver Canucks 5 - Seattle Kraken 4
Friday October 28 - Pittsburgh Penguins at Vancouver Canucks - 7 p.m. PT - Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet One
It took them eight tries, but the Vancouver Canucks finally picked up their first win of the 2022-23 NHL season when they eked out a 5-4 road win over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
Vancouver maintains its perfect record against its expansion cousins, after going 4-0-0 last season.
It was a different-looking game right off the hop, with Tanner Pearson and J.T. Miller dropping the gloves against big defensemen Adam Larsson and Carson Soucy, respectively, in the first three-and-a-half minutes. Shortly afterward, Bo Horvat also tried to engage Vince Dunn, which would have squeezed Seattle down to just three defensemen if he had obliged.
The Canucks opened the scoring at 4:58, on Ilya Mikheyev's first goal for his new team, but were outshot 14-9 in the first period and went to the dressing room in a 2-1 hole after a couple of iffy shots squeaked past Thatcher Demko.
In the second, Vancouver re-took the lead on a pair of power-play tallies from Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko. Matty Beniers re-tied the game just 15 seconds later, converting a breakaway chance after a sweet feed from Jaden Schwartz.
Then — the dreaded third period. But even though the Canucks were outshot 14-3 in the final frame, they managed to outscore Seattle 2-1. Elias Pettersson connected on a Luke Schenn shot which beat Martin Jones at the 1:16 mark, then Conor Garland added an insurance marker into an empty net with 1:25 left on the clock. But Tyler Myers was whistled for a cross-check on Alexander Wennberg with 51 seconds remaining, and Schwartz kept it interesting with a 6-on-4 goal with 30 seconds left.
But for the first time this year, the Canucks were able to close it out. They didn't allow another shot, and J.T. Miller made a huge block just a few feet in front of Andre Burakowsky in the dying seconds to help preserve the win.
Bruce Boudreau finally got his 600th career NHL coaching victory in his 1,049th game — still reaching that milestone second-fastest in NHL history despite the fact that the wait must have felt excruciating over these past two weeks.
Other positive takeaways: special teams were an asset for a change, with Vancouver going 2-for-2 on the power play while only giving up that 6-on-4 power-play goal with Martin Jones pulled in the last minute of the game. Nice to see Mikheyev finally hit the score sheet — and I'm entertained that his two goals now have him level with current Rocket Richard Trophy holder Auston Matthews, who is off to a decidedly slow start this year.
Though the overall totals weren't high, the Canucks outhit the Kraken 21 - 13. Seven of Vancouver's hits came from Luke Schenn, who also picked up two assists on the night. And the physicality and fighting spirit displayed by Vancouver's more offensive-minded forwards in the early going certainly set the tone for the game and offered up some real evidence that the Canucks came to play on Thursday night.
And while the situation with J.T. Miller certainly looked dire as he was helped off the ice after that last-second shot block, it was reassuring to see him sitting calmly in the dressing room as Bruce Boudreau handed out his wrestling belt — and even giving stall-mate Bo Horvat a little tap of recognition as he stood up to accept his honour.
That's all we have to go on for now. With the back-to-back set, there's no morning skate ahead of Friday's game in Pittsburgh. I'll stay cautiously optimistic for now that Miller is OK, although who knows what might have happened with his ankle after he took his skate off.
Also on Thursday, Patrik Allvin did pull off a trade, acquiring center Jack Studnicka from the Boston Bruins in exchange for goaltender Mikey DiPietro and defense prospect Jonathan Myrenberg.
The deal finally gets DiPietro to a new home, months after it was clear that he wasn't going to get a meaningful chance to prove himself within the Vancouver organization. He is still AHL-eligible, of course, but will slot into an organization that has Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman entrenched at the NHL level — although Swayman will be coming out of his entry-level contract as an RFA without arbitration rights at the end of this season.
DiPietro could get a shot with AHL Providence, but incumbents Keith Kinkaid, 33, and Kyle Keyser, 23, are both off to solid starts. The Baby Bruins are 3-1-1 so far this season, with 12 goals allowed in five games.
I've seen some hand-wringing online about the inclusion of Myrenberg in this deal — and at this point, I certainly hope he doesn't turn out to be the next Gustav Forsling, who's currently second in average ice time on the Florida Panthers at 23:51 a game and has six points in eight games this season.
Forsling, of course, was a fifth-round pick by Vancouver in 2014 and was dealt away for more immediate defensive help in the form of Adam Clendening in January of 2015, after just seven months in the organization. But it is worth remembering that both the Blackhawks and the Carolina Hurricanes gave up on him before he found his footing in Florida, after having been claimed on waivers.
Myrenberg was selected in the fifth round by the Canucks in 2021, so he has been in the organization for nearly a year and a half. Where Forsling is a lefty, Myrenberg is a coveted right-shot defender. And while we have an admittedly small sample size to work off at the pro level, he hasn't done much yet. He was pointless in 15 SHL games with Linkoping last season and this year, one level down in Allsvenskan, he has a goal and two assists in nine games with Mora.
Forsling was also a regular on Sweden's national teams. In 2015, not even a month before he was traded, he had a breakout at the World Junior Championship, putting up eight points in seven games and named to the tournament all-star team.
Myrenberg turns 20 next April. He did play at the U16 and U17 levels. But he has not recorded a point in international play and has not been named to Sweden's U18 or U20 teams to date.
So yes, he's young and perhaps he can still develop into something. But the basic information suggests that he's a low-level prospect.
Now — Studnicka. He's listed at 6'1" and 187 pounds and was selected by Boston at No. 53 in the 2017 draft. That was two spots before the Canucks selected Jonah Gadjovich, and 11 spots ahead of DiPietro, who went at No. 64.
He's a centre from Windsor, Ontario, who played his junior hockey primarily with the Oshawa Generals, where he served as captain for a season-and-a-half. He was part of that 2019 Canadian World Junior team, with DiPietro, that came up short here in Vancouver.
At 23, he now requires waivers to be sent down to the AHL, and he had trouble sticking at the NHL level in Boston. In 38 career NHL games spread over four seasons, he has one goal and six assists.
Studnicka is a right shot, and can step into that 4C slot that is now open due to Curtis Lazar's injury. Nils Aman and Sheldon Dries are currently holding down those bottom-six centre spots.
Again, no word yet on when Studnicka will draw into the lineup. I'd be surprised to see him against Pittsburgh, without even a skate with his new team, so I'd assume he'll debut next Tuesday against the Devils.
And yes — Pittsburgh. After a strong 4-0-1 start to their season, the Penguins hit a rut in their back-to-back games in Alberta earlier this week. They lost 6-3 in Edmonton on Monday, then 4-1 in Calgary on Tuesday — and have since been sitting in Vancouver. Wednesday was an off day — and John Garrett suggested that might have been a good opening for a rookie dinner on Wednesday night. And then the team practiced at Rogers Arena on Thursday, so the group should be well-rested and hungry to get back onto the winning track on Friday night.
It's another back-to-back for the Pens, who also play Saturday in Seattle to wrap up the road trip. So, no word yet on goalie deployment. Tristan Jarry took the loss in Edmonton, while Casey DeSmith played in Calgary.
As for the Canucks, Bruce Boudreau left his goaltending options open when he spoke to the media before Thursday's game, also. I would expect we'll see Spencer Martin on Friday night.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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