Welcome to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
Here is how the lines were constructed for the Canucks in their second last preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers.
It was a slow start for the Canucks, as the Oilers registered the first three shots of the game before Vancouver hit the net nearly halfway through the opening frame. After chasing Josh Brown behind the net, Arshdeep Bains gets his stick lifted and it flew above the netting.
The best chance the Canucks had in the first period came on this play here. Pius Suter brings the puck from behind the net and tries to jam it short side. Then, the chaos ensues. After a few wacks at the puck, Arshdeep Bains grabs it and tries to take it around the other side for a wrap-around.
That wrap-around attempt goes through the crease and finds the stick of Daniel Sprong, who gets a few wacks at Stuart Skinner’s pads before he covers the puck up. This line has generated some solid offence in the opening frame.
The Canucks have another phenomenal chance after an offensive zone faceoff win. Christian Wolanin takes the pass from his partner and skates down the left half-wall. He makes an incredible cross-ice pass to Nate Smith in the opposing faceoff circle, and he sends a one-timer right off Skinner.
The first period was relatively quiet for both teams. Edmonton outshot Vancouver 8-7, but both teams ended the period with a scoreless tie.
To start the second period, Mark Friedman draws a penalty after Drake Caggiula holds him. The first unit to step out there consisted of Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Nils Höglander, Aatu Räty, Phil Di Giuseppe and Mark Friedman manning the point. This unit had a few chances, including an exciting Lekkerimäki one-timer from the half-wall.
The second unit was Bains, Sprong, Pius Suter, Kiefer Sherwood and Christian Wolanin quarterbacking the powerplay. Sprong receives a pass from Wolanin on the left half-wall. In one quick motion, he fires the puck to Sherwood, who’s hanging around the goal line. Once Sherwood receives the pass, Bains sneaks down the right-hand side and gets himself open for a one-timer with a wide-open net to give the Canucks the lead.
Vancouver up 1-0 after the second period.
It was only a matter of time before Connor McDavid made an impact on this game. He picks up the puck behind the net. With Noah Juulsen draping all over him, McDavid sends a short pass to Corey Perry, who enters the play with speed. With Elias Pettersson taking away Vasily Podkolzin, it left Perry with more than enough space and time to put on a nice move to deke around Lankinen and even the game at one.
After scoring his goal, of course, Perry had to get into some rough stuff. After following McDavid through the neutral zone, Suter and McDavid get tangled up and start a pushing match. Perry doesn’t take too kindly to his captain getting roughed with and drops his gloves to try and engage in a fight. That was unsuccessful, and the Canucks were sent to the powerplay.
There wasn’t any real dangerous pressure from the Canucks on this powerplay. However, Räty has his stick in the stomach of Travis Dermott and in an attempt to try and get it free, he gives him some shoves when he’s down and sends the Oilers to the powerplay.
Halfway through the powerplay, Ben Gleason takes a pass from McDavid, who then lets one rip from the point that beats Lankinen. Viktor Arvidsson sets a nice screen that almost looked like goaltender interference, but it was not called, and the Oilers have their first lead of the hockey game.
But that lead didn’t last long. 19 seconds later Canucks answer back as Max Sasson sends a pass to Mark Friedman at the point. Friedman sends it to the left faceoff dot for Kirill Kudryavtsev who has his wrist shot tipped in by Nate Smith for his first of the preseason.
One thing we’ve noticed this preseason is that the Canucks defencemen are often pinching and joining the offensive play more. Although, if not executed properly, it can lead to an odd-man rush the other way – which is exactly what happened. Vincent Desharnais’ pinch led to Connor McDavid finding a streaming Leon Draisaitl, who rips a wide-open shot off, which Kevin Lankinen stopped.
We head to overtime.
This was a wild extra frame. There were chances on both ends of the ice, even one for Daniel Sprong, who had a wide-open net with Skinner sprawling and wasn’t able to finish that. However, he did draw a penalty that sent the Canucks to the powerplay with under 30 seconds remaining. But that was unsuccessful, and the game went to a shootout.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki opened up the shootout for the Canucks. He rang his first-ever shootout attempt off the post.
Daniel Sprong was the Canucks second shooter; he also couldn’t beat Skinner. Leon Draisaitl and Viktor Arvidsson scored on their attempts to secure the victory over the Canucks. Vancouver will have to wait until Friday to seek their revenge.
Some takeaways from tonight:
-How did Sprong not finish that in overtime?
-Räty looked good all game. The Canucks are going to have to figure out a way to get him some games this season. He’s so poised with the puck. He doesn’t look nervous, even though two of the best players in the league are on the other side of the ice. While he lost more draws than he won, it’s the flipping of his stick that is so impressive.
-Lankinen had a much better game tonight than he did in his Canucks debut. He stopped 24/26 shots against for a .923 save percentage. Taking into consideration the lineup he had in front of him tonight, along with taking on McDavid and Draisaitl, he was able to hold his own and keep the Canucks in this game.
-Sherwood was very noticeable out there. Whether he was making a play in the offensive zone like he did setting up Bain, backchecking and causing a turnover, or being an antagonist and getting under the skin of his opponents. He should be a problem for other teams once the season rolls around.
-Did Podkolzin play tonight? According to the stat sheet, it says he logged 13:04 minutes of ice time and registered two shots on goal and three hits. But outside of that, he wasn’t noticed. Canucks fans shouldn’t be too upset about his absence.
-What to do with Lekkerimäki? Tonight’s lineup felt like a game with a lot of players who aren’t going to make the team being given one last opportunity to showcase their talent. Sprong, Sherwood, Höglander and Desharnais will make the lineup for sure, but to have Lekkerimäki not be given the night off like most of the other starters was telling that he may not start the year with the big club after all.
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