The Vancouver Canucks' first game of this year's Young Stars tournament against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night had the structure of an action blockbuster, though without the third-act redemption and happy ending. Maybe they're setting us up for the sequel?
Like Tom Cruise's wild stunt to kick off "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" earlier this summer, Jake Virtanen got Friday's game started with a bang when he laid a big, clean, shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Oilers' prize prospect Connor McDavid just over four minutes into the first period.
The hit set off a chain reaction of events that dominated the first half of the game in front of the sold-out crowd at the South Okanagan events centre.
McDavid's linemate Mitch Moroz earned himself an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he went after Virtanen in retaliation for the hit. Later, big Darnell Nurse also threw off his gloves and tried to exact revenge from Virtanen, while the Canucks' Mackenze Stewart threw down with first-liner Moroz in the only fight of the game.
Alongside the rough stuff, though, the Oilers were piling up the goals. Edmonton took a 4-0 lead before the game ran out of gas, ultimately walking away with an 8-2 win.
Here's the complete highlight package:
I'm not terribly concerned about the result. The Canucks limited Connor McDavid to a goal and an assist—and it was brutally obvious at times that the players were unfamiliar with each other and didn't have any real level of trust.
McDavid's goal was a fluke that went in off the skate of Vancouver defender Guillaume Brisebois, and Leon Draisaitl's goal went in off the skate of Vancouver defender Ben Hutton. The only real highlight-reel goal the Oilers posted came from Darnell Nurse—a blast from the blue line after a sweet pass from McDavid.
Looking at the box score, Vancouver's young defense got burned pretty evenly, for the most part. Carl Neill was a minus-3 on the night, as were forwards Dane Fox and Rodrigo Abols, while Brisebois, Ashton Sautner and Anton Cederholm were all minus-two.
Jordan Subban survived at just a minus-one, while Ben Hutton scored a goal and managed an even plus-minus for the night—a nice debut for him.
Virtanen didn't get on the score sheet but he did lead the Canucks with seven shots on goal—a full 20 percent of the team's total. I'm surprised to see that Hunter Shinkaruk was second in that category with five shots, when I thought he was invisible for a good part of the night.
We also didn't see much from Cole Cassels or Jared McCann, which makes me wonder if they'll need a bit more time than their teammates to acclimate after recovering from their respective injuries. I'd expect they'll both stick with the Canucks through most of training camp in order to maximize their exposure to the big-league game, especially after missing out due to illness last year.
The bright spot? Brendan Gaunce. Playing as a second-line left wing, Gaunce led the team with a goal and an assist and showed a responsible playing style that gives us some idea why Utica coach Travis Green was so pleased with his development last season.
Green also liked Gaunce's play last night and, like me, enjoyed his team's physical intensity in the first period:
I worry a bit that Jake Virtanen's fearless playing style could come back to bite him once he starts playing against NHL regulars. Connor McDavid may be a budding superstar but at this point he and Virtanen each have the same amount of big-league experience: none.
I'm already imagining what might happen if Virtanen tries to lay a hit like last night's on somebody like Logan Couture or Joe Thornton when the Canucks open their preseason schedule against the San Jose Sharks.
Virtanen's unapologetic about his style in his post-game interview, pointing out that he has had three years of experience dealing with Mitch Moroz sticking up for his teammates when they both played in the WHL.
I like this interview. Virtanen's very engaged and willing to share some thoughts that go beyond the standard hockey cliches.
Virtanen said he didn't know he was hitting McDavid til the last moment. McDavid says it's part of hockey. Microwave your takes accordingly.
McDavid took his lumps like a man but couldn't suppress a nervous chuckle when asked about Virtanen's hit. He seemed a bit perplexed that reporters were so interested—get used to it, kid.
McDavid has a bit of a goose-egg on his cheek. He said it was a from a glove in the face during the first period. Now he looks like a hockey player!
Trevor Linden called the Canucks' play "spicy" during his interview with Joey Kenward in the second intermission of last night's broadcast. If this is any indication of the type of identity that Linden and Jim Benning are trying to forge for the big club, we could be in for some entertaining nights at Rogers Arena in 2015-16. Let's hope the blowout losses aren't also part of the package.
No game for the Canucks on Saturday—they'll practice at noon.
It'll be interesting to see if the Oilers coaches throw McDavid back into the fire for their Battle of Alberta game tonight at 7:30 p.m. against Calgary.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»