The Vancouver Canucks held their home opener tonight and earned the 8-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
A game that started with Bo Horvat being named captain of this team and full of monumental events for individuals on this team. Quinn Hughes got his first career NHL goal and J.T. Miller was able to get his first goal as a Canuck.
Despite the slow start, Vancouver was able to get their first win of the season tonight and looked good doing it. They looked more put together and some key new players compared to last year’s squad, were able to step up and demonstrate what the 2019-20 Canucks might look like beyond their first three games.
Never forget.

Stats

via naturalstattrick.com
via naturalstattrick.com

Highlights

Game Notes

  • Not to overreact but the Canucks will be a very good team for a very long time and Quinn Hughes will be known as one of the greatest defencemen to ever play the game and will re-invent the position.
  • There are just sometimes those games where everything goes right against a struggling opponent and that was tonight for the Canucks. They were unable to get more scoring chances than the Kings, but the ones that they did have just ended in goals more often.
  • In a ceremony that was done very well to start the game, Bo Horvat was named the franchise’s 14th captain in its history. The team brought out past captains in between the introductions of the current roster, with the alumni coming out wearing the jerseys of that era. Creative and executed well.
  • Quinn Hughes’s first NHL goal was an absolute rocket from the point. After making a skilled entry and setting up a scoring chance for Adam Gaudette, the puck returned to Hughes on the backend and he shot it so damn hard and right past Quick. It was beautiful on the power play and will only further give people a reason to talk about why the American defender isn’t on the first unit regularly. He was given his shot for a short stint to end the second period — because Edler needed a rest — and there were a couple really solid scoring chances.
  • Pettersson scored his first goal of the season. “The first of many” is very cliche but so true for the centreman. As the puck jostled its way towards the front of the net, he was able to pounce on it and slide it right behind Quick to give Vancouver the 3-0 lead. He’s had a rough start to the year, but so has the team overall. All it takes is a hot streak for his point totals to look the way they should based on his previous season.
  • After the amount of moves this team made in the offseason, there were bound to be some questionable players that have a bad start to their first season in Vancouver, and Micheal Ferland is certainly one of them. A bad mistake almost directly led to Tyler Tiffoli giving the Kings their first goal and he is still without a point through the first three games. But that’s they key, it’s been only three games and he’s had less than an hour of ice-time to put up any points.
  • J.T. Miller really demonstrated why the Canucks paid a high price to get him to Vancouver. His playmaking ability has been something that the team has lacked in the past and he makes the forward depth so much better. His four-point night comes at a time that is perfect to signal the — hopeful — start for something new for the Canucks this season. Miller was the standout tonight, with a goal and three assists to his name, but he was able to be a +21/-13 for shot attempts at even-strength — a positive influence.