Before the season opener against the Edmonton Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks announced their leadership group. There will be no captain. Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Filip Hronek, Drew O’ Connor, Linus Karlsson, and Zeev Buum will wear A’s this year.
There has been speculation that if there was going to be a captain, it would probably be Hronek. That is a somewhat hotly debated topic. Hronek doesn’t seem to love interviews. Also, many want Hronek traded for assets.
The Canucks expect Boeser to be a leader in the locker room..Remember this quote from Canucks Head Coach Manny Malhotra.
“As far as Brock, he has the experience of being here for a long time. He’s seen some ups. He’s seen some down times. So he has the understanding of what this team has gone through. And with that comes the passion of the fan base. They want things to turn around….. Just like the veteran guys we brought in, we expect them to lead by example.”
The significant news here is Buium and Karlsson. He signed the big extension before training camp. He has a great personality. On ice, he’s a great skater with some pizazz. Karlsson has simply led by example. He never takes shifts off. He can play with any central.
The Game
The obvious difference is goaltending. The Oilers outshot the Canucks 35-23. 13-5 in the first period. But they came out with a 1-1 tie in the first. 2-2 in the second. Lankinen made a big save early in the first when the Oilers crowd was loud. The Paul Cotter shorthanded goal was a good shot. Rossi had a breakaway. But Lekkermaki is one Jarry should have had. Lankinen allowed four goals. But he made big saves, especially in the third, a highlight-reel stop.
The Canucks penalty kill had a mostly good night.. The Canucks killed two penalties in the first. And although the first one had the Cotter shorthanded goal, I think the second kill was better. They prevented the powerful Oilers power play from setting up. The Podkolzin last-minute power play was set up by a fairly questionable slashing call on Linus Kaelsson
The Canucks blue line had an interesting night. They blocked 12 shots; the team blocked 19 total. They also only allowed seven high-danger scoring chances. But I thought an area they struggled was positioning in front of the net. Podkolzin’s goal was a positioning win for Podkolzin. Zach Hyman was a problem all night. Including on two of Evan Bouchard’s goals.
Max Sasson had a great night. He was playing against McDavid and held him shotless in the first two periods. He scored a goal and set up Paul Cotter in OT. His speed was a factor all night. I didn’t have Sasson playing against McDavid on my bingo card.
Zeev Buium was fun to watch 3-on-3. He had a shot to win the game. But Jarry made the save. He’s a smoother skater than he gets credit for. He doesn’t hold the line the wy Quinn Hughes does. His offensive strength is finding ways to jump into the play offensively.
Overall, what a fun game. The Canucks never trailed. Evan Bouchard has an historic night. First hat trick from a defenceman on opening night since Mark Howe in 1980. But there was that battle we didn’t see from the Canucks last season. There are no expectations except effort. Canuck fans got that. Let’s see what happens during the home opener Thursday.
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