Canucks Army Post-Game: Canucks Kick-Off YoungStars with 4-2 Win Over the Jets

I’m sure part of the Canucks plan for tonight didn’t involve surrendering the first goal a mere two-minutes and eighteen seconds into the game.

Something tells me losing Jalen Chatfield to a malicious head shot no less than eight minutes later wasn’t on the white board, either.

Their response? That was picture perfect. Before Chatfield could hit the ice, Olli Juolevi rushed to his partner’s — and, apparently, his roommate — defence, delivering a shot of his own to the offender, Winnipeg Jets invite Kody McDonald.

Chatfield, in a state of mixed disbelief and amusement, could hardly let me get the words out when I told him about his partner’s avenging shoulder. “Did he!?” Chatfield interjected “I missed it; I don’t even know! He told me he did something like that”.

Best of all for the Canucks? Juolevi managed to control himself and avoid a costly penalty.

Trent Cull, the Canucks head coach for this exhibition tournament, was happy with the way his team responded. “We were in control — that’s key. I thought it was good, Olli sticking up for a teammate and not running in there and being silly”.

The Canucks went to the man advantage for a full five-minutes, and Griffen Molino converted on a cross-ice feed from Brett McKenzie to give the Canucks a comfortable 3-1 lead in the third.

“Yeah, I thought he was good” coach Cull told a group of reporters. “I love his speed. I think he’s got a good knack for getting in the right places too. [Molino] made some really good plays on controlled entries into the zone”.

From there, the Canucks were in cruise control. They controlled the flow of the game, such as it was in the first game of a short exhibition tournament and managed to keep the Jets chances to a minimum.

On the few Jets chances, Thatcher Demko was up to the task. The Jets had a pair of breakaways, but the steady Demko kept them at bay on each occasion. “Yeah, [that breakaway in the third] I think he was trying to pull it back to far side there, and I kind of got a stick on it and took it away from him” Demko told a group of reporters. “I didn’t bite too hard on his deke, and that helped out”.

The Jets attack came in spurts, not waves. A testament to Demko’s focus, he was on his game all night and was able to keep his composure in spite of long stretches without facing rubber.

Demko needed that focus in the final minutes of regulation. Kole Lind took a cross-checking penalty behind the play with three minutes left in the third — the one blemish on an otherwise great night for the Canucks second-round pick.

Lind redeemed himself, joining a Canucks rush on his way out of the box to finish the play, and the game, with an empty-netter for the 4-2 goal. That was Lind’s third point of the night.

The Canucks coaching staff definitely took notice of Lind’s three point (one goal and two assists) night. Cull said to a group of reporters after the game “We thought he had a really good night. Had to show some composure for a younger kid; not just plays where he had the puck, but his positional play was really good and he’s a really smart player”.

“I thought it was a really good performance all the way through” Cull added. The Canucks had contributions throughout their entire lineup and managed to play sound defensively in their first night with him behind the bench. Hard to argue with his assessment.