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Canucks look to re-ignite their offense as the Oilers come to town |
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Saturday October 30 - Edmonton Oilers at Vancouver Canucks - 7 p.m.
The Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers are both coming into Saturday's contest at Rogers Arena following home losses to the Philadelphia Flyers.
For Vancouver, it was a 2-1 defeat on Thursday, where the Flyers started fast and held on thanks to some strong defense and good goaltending by Martin Jones.
One day earlier, the Oilers dropped a 5-3 decision in Edmonton. In that contest, the Flyers built a 2-0 lead by the midway point of the first period, but the Oilers fought back. A couple of timely goals by Cam Atkinson were the difference. His first, with one second to go in the opening frame, put the Flyers up 3-2. His second, 4:18 into the third, proved to be the game winner.
It was Edmonton's first loss of the season, coming even as Connor McDavid picked up his seventh goal and eighth assist of the year. He's not just riding a six-game point streak since the beginning of the season — he has multiple points in every game.
As of Saturday morning, McDavid is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the NHL scoring lead, with 15 points. And while Ovi's nine goals in eight games are fantastic as far as his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's record goes, McDavid's 15 points have come in just six game so far.
Averaging 2.5 points per game, the Oilers captain is on page for 205 points over an 82-game season.
Gretzky, of course, is the only player ever to crack the 200-point threshold. He did it four times during his Oilers years in the 80s, peaking at 215. Mario Lemieux was his closest challenger, with 199 points in 1988-89.
If McDavid can make a run for a spot in that stratosphere, I'm here for it. His 105 points in 56 games last season would pro-rate out to 153 over an 82-game schedule, which is still way more than anybody in this millennium — Nikita Kucherov currently holds that record from his 128-point season in 2018-19.
Many people seemed to believe that McDavid's numbers were inflated last season because of the all-divisional play. In the early going, he's seems to be out to prove those doubters wrong.
At the other end of the ice, the Canucks are looking to find an offensive spark after flatlining a bit since they got back to Rogers Arena. They've scored just three goals in their losses to Minnesota and Philadelphia this week:
Against the Wild:
• Chiasson from Pettersson and Hughes, on the power play
• Horvat from Myers
Against the Flyers:
• Hughes from Schenn and Highmore
Highmore didn't finish the game against Philadelphia after suffering an undisclosed injury, leading the Canucks to recall Nic Petan from Abbotsford.
Jason Dickinson also rejoined the team for practice on Friday at Scotia Barn — the complex formerly known as 8 Rinks. So here's how the lines shook out:
After missing Thursday's game, Tucker Poolman also skated on Friday, but not in a regular rotation.
Saturday's morning skate was optional, and didn't provide much additional clarity.
Good to see Motte back on the ice. But because he has now been placed on long-term injured reserve, he is not eligible to draw into the lineup until the Canucks have played 10 games and are 24 days into the season — so, not until Nov. 6, at least.
After Jaroslav Halak took the loss against the Flyers, Thatcher Demko gets his seventh start of the year on Saturday, while Mikko Koskinen is confirmed to be making his fifth-straight appearance for the Oilers after Mike Smith was injured in Game 3. After starting with a couple of strong outings, Koskinen gave up three goals to Vegas and four to the Flyers, where he looked shaky at times. He might be just what the Canucks' scorers need to get their confidence back on track.
It was interesting being back in the arena on Thursday, where an announced crowd of 18,344 took in the action. I've covered a handful of 50% capacity Lions and Whitecaps games at B.C. Place over the past couple of months, so it was a very different feeling to see the rink close to full — and the press box functioning in its usual fashion once again after the media spent last season operating out of a large loge suite on the 400 level, below the broadcast gondola on the other side of the arena.
Since the fans didn't get a whole lot to cheer about in terms of goals or even Grade A scoring chances, they threw themselves with gusto into helping the officials do their jobs. The third period, in particular, was a parade to the penalty box for both sides, with three minors assessed to the Flyers and two to the Canucks — and there definitely could have been more. Ultimately, Vancouver's failure to connect with the man advantage was the difference in the game, especially after allowing the winning goal to James van Riemsdyk on a very cool tic-tac-toe passing play, just 10 seconds after Quinn Hughes went to the box in the first period.
I'm hoping for more from Conor Garland on Saturday night. After garnering so much attention during the road trip, where he picked up eight points in six games, Garland has no points and just one shot on goal in the two games so far at Rogers Arena. He played just 10:37 on Thursday, his lowest ice time of the year, and was moved off the Horvat line at practice on Friday — replaced by Nils Hoglander, who is now riding a three-game pointless streak of his own.
Meanwhile, out in Abbotsford, the undermanned Baby Canucks suffered their first home loss of the year, a 5-2 decision at the hands of the Ontario Reign. Sheldon Dries scored both goals for Abbotsford, who ended up dressing seven defensemen after Petan and Justin Bailey were called up by the big club this week.
Abbotsford hung in through the early part of the game, scoring the first goal despite being badly outshot — 14-6 after one period; 29-10 after two.
Tyler Madden finally got the scoring started for the Reign, beating Arturs Silovs on the power play midway through the second period. Ontario added two more goals before the end of the second, then outscored Abbotsford 2-1 in the third. Final shots were 36-18 for the visitors, who will play the rematch in Abbotsford on Saturday night.
Enjoy the games!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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