Stats

Quick Hits

• The youth movement might not be on hold after all. Some of the Canucks best players today all qualify as players at the forefront of that supposed movement. It was Virtanen who doubled the Canucks lead in the second with a heads-up play to put the puck on net past an unsuspecting Kings goaltender; Boeser, meanwhile, secured the victory with less than a minute to play in overtime with a wicked wrist shot. Both players were strong defensively. Virtanen led the Canucks in five-on-five Corsi percentage, and Boeser was just three spots down the leaderboard — neither were on the ice for a goal against. Spots on the Canucks opening night roster are limited, and competition is fierce. It’s going to take efforts like today’s to vault either of these two into the Canucks lineup. To their credit, both showed exactly what they needed to show in this game.
• Tonight’s best player? That honour is probably Jacob Markstrom’s. The lanky Swedish netminder was solid as a rock in goal, stopping all 19 shots the Kings sent his way in the half-game he played. Markstrom’s positioning was sound, and he seemed as focused as ever. There was a tonne of pressure on the Canucks in the second period, and Markstrom was up to the task. In the battle for the Canucks’ crease, the advantage is Markstrom’s for now.
• I don’t think there are many more intriguing players in the Canucks lineup this season than Alexander Burmistrov. Before Burmistrov left for the KHL, he was a dominant player by underlying shot and goal metrics who couldn’t score. By the time he returned to the Winnipeg Jets after a brief stay in the KHL, Burmistrov could neither score nor tilt the ice. The one break of daylight for Burmistrov last season? When he met Newell Brown and the Arizona Coyotes power play last season. Burmistrov lit the lamp four times in 26 games with the Coyotes on the man advtange. Tonight, Burmistrov played just off the half-wall as the second triggerman on the Canucks’ first unit, playing over six minutes on the power play. I’m looking forward to following Burmistrov’s season. Tonight was a good start.
• If Philip Holm is going to win a spot on the Canucks’ crowded blue line to start the season, he’s going to have to get past tonight’s effort. The Swedish free agent, who’s playing his first year in North America, looked every bit the part of the former Canuck to don the number five, Luca Sbisa. That’s not a good thing. The Canucks need reliable, defensively sound puck-moving defenceman to round out their roster. Tonight, Holm didn’t look the part.
• Tonight was a bad night for the professional tryouts. Ryan White and Scottie Upshall combined for six penalty minutes and were mostly ineffective in the rare moments they weren’t in the penalty box. Upshall had the lowest Corsi percentage on the team; White was ineffective in every phase of the game.