[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at Edmonton Oilers | Oct. 02, 2019

[nuck-lifer]

Hughes looked great last even though he lost a couple assignments. its early but can see him just gaining confidence playing 18-20 minutes a night and being a serious threat for the Calder.

others positives , our whole "2nd line" new D additions, Marky, Beagle, Eddie.

This was the first game for the top line together and they had some moments so its worth keeping them together IMO

 

Our bottom 6 looked discombobulated out there. I believe we have the players but not the chemistry. Hate to say it but Motte on that 4th line would have really helped.

 

JV's confidence is pretty low or else something else is going on behind the scenes there. 

Not sure if sitting him out is the right move, so sitting Schaller and trying something like these lines for bottom 6

 

Leivo- Gaudette- Virtanen- fast aggressive 

Eriksson- Beagle -Sutter- shutdown 

 

 

 

 

[VictoriaJord]

Wasn’t Hughes just unlucky on McDs goal?, only saw the highlight quick but it looks like he got his stick on the puck to knock it away but pushed it into McDavids stick path

[stawns]

Not spectacular, but I didn't mind Vans game.  They had some great stretches and ran into a hot goalie.  That could have been 4-1 coming down the stretch. 

 

Myers played a simple game and was probably the best dman for either team tonight.  Eddy was up and down, but can still play heavy mins.  Benn was quiet, but that's what you want from him.  Hughes was a bit of a wild ride.........thrilling and dangerous on one hand, terrifying on the other.  Still he got better as the game went on.  Stetcher........I think Breezer is a better option at this point and Stetch is lucky he's right handed I think.

 

P-H-M was dominant after the first period and should have had three.  Truly, that's the top line and the better they play, the better it's going to get for Petey and Boes.

 

Petey had good moments, but looked like he can feel the pressure a bit.  Ferland started out good, but disappeared.  Boes' made a nice play on Eddie's goal, but didn't have a good night otherwise.

 

The bottom six did what they were supposed to do.  Though Sutter made a poor play on the McD goal, he was pretty steady throughout.  Im not a fan of Leivos game though, and it would have been him going to Utica, not Baer.  Jake's game better as he got a little more ice time.  Beagle and Schaller were the best in the bottom 6, imo......I can't wait for Rous to get back though.

 

Marky was brilliant, at times, but needs to.hold the fort as the game winds down.

 

All in all, a C+ game for them

[Wanless]

9 minutes ago, VictoriaJord said:

Wasn’t Hughes just unlucky on McDs goal?, only saw the highlight quick but it looks like he got his stick on the puck to knock it away but pushed it into McDavids stick path

McDavid had his sticked lifted and the luck poked at the same time. That play he scored on are the plays he known for.

 

The fault that I see is Sutter giving the puck away with a weak pass and then not doing anything to help with the turn over.

 

The bottom six didn't play well at all. Would like to see Motte in for Leivo, Gaudette in for Eriksson an MacEwan in for Schaller

 

Beagle Sutter Motte

Virtanen Gaudette MacEwan

[-DLC-]

Game one, I'm not ready to assess or panic based on the small sample size.  Edmonton came out with energy and obviously has some coaching in place that makes them a little better than they were in the past.  As spoken about by Burke, down low their D had things covered pretty well and they made it difficult.   We had chances and came on in spurts.   Smith was on and that factored in.

 

 

 

[nucklehead]

Right Deb. I like to assess the team every 10 games. That gives a clearer picture of how they are performing over all. 

[Tre Mac]

One thing I am worried about is not getting any scoring from the bottom six.  I don't think having two checking lines is the way to go in today's game.

[stawns]

10 minutes ago, Wanless said:

McDavid had his sticked lifted and the luck poked at the same time. That play he scored on are the plays he known for.

 

The fault that I see is Sutter giving the puck away with a weak pass and then not doing anything to help with the turn over.

 

The bottom six didn't play well at all. Would like to see Motte in for Leivo, Gaudette in for Eriksson an MacEwan in for Schaller

 

Beagle Sutter Motte

Virtanen Gaudette MacEwan

How did the bottom six not play well?  That seems to be the mantra after that game, but I can't see what they could have done much differently.  Their job is, literally, to prevent goals, which they did.  Of the 4 lines, Petey's looked the worst, how about pointing fingers there if you need to point fingers at all 

[Darius]

3 minutes ago, stawns said:

How did the bottom six not play well?  That seems to be the mantra after that game, but I can't see what they could have done much differently.  Their job is, literally, to prevent goals, which they did.  Of the 4 lines, Petey's looked the worst, how about pointing fingers there if you need to point fingers at all 

Maybe in 1986 stawns.  

 

This team is gonna get killed if the bottom 6 are only out there to kill the clock and smother the other team.  Look at the third line of the better teams around the league, they are capable of burning you on the score sheet.

 

Petey;s line is going to be the target of every elite checker and shut down pair in the NHL.  You need everyone to produce to be successful.

 

I think Roussel could help the third line.  The other good aspect of this is they have guys like Baer and a hungry kid like Gaudette to pressure some of the established vets from getting too comfortable.

[Tracksuit]

The speed size and commit level oilers won. 

Oilers blew past easily dispatched canucks . No physical push back at all and the majority of the canucks play was from the perimeter. 

Sutter was awful he had to turn the puck over with botched plays and passes at least a dozen times including the game winner. 

Ineffective third and fourth line. Beagle was the best of the six of them.

pearson looked good driving the net and getting dangerous shots away. 

Not sure why any team would go into a game with smith is the goaltender and think trying to dump it in would work...that’s on coaches lack of a plan or ability to adjust. 

Hopefully the coaches and key players will sharpen up quickly. 

 

[-DLC-]

14 minutes ago, Darius said:

Maybe in 1986 stawns.  

 

This team is gonna get killed if the bottom 6 are only out there to kill the clock and smother the other team.  Look at the third line of the better teams around the league, they are capable of burning you on the score sheet.

 

Petey's line is going to be the target of every elite checker and shut down pair in the NHL.  You need everyone to produce to be successful.

 

I think Roussel could help the third line.  The other good aspect of this is they have guys like Baer and a hungry kid like Gaudette to pressure some of the established vets from getting too comfortable.

This is huge.

 

I do feel we came out flat and, honestly, think we miss energy guys like Baer and Gaudette.  Sparks.  I'm glad the team did pick it up but they looked a bit too casual/relaxed and lacking in intensity to start.  Although the Oilers often fizzle out (and did to some degree), so pacing is important too.

 

I also agree with the comment, above....about how we played Smith.  Crash that damn net, create some chaos...he unravels easily.  

 

 

 

[MattJVD]

Kassian, Draisaitl, and Smith were great. Really like JT Miller for the Canucks. Some good shifts, some bad shifts. I don't think we adjusted well enough to Smith's puck moving. Nothing too concerning, it's game one, onto the next one!

[Darius]

On a different note

 

That was the Kassian I was hoping we would see here a few years back.  Big, strong, fast.  We saw glimpses of his playmaking ability.  Hes a solid NHLer.  Would love that guy back in our mix.  If they pair him with Drai all year hes gonna have a career year i think.

[-DLC-]

Holy crap did Pearson REALLY have 11 shots on goal?  

[Crabcakes]

27 minutes ago, debluvscanucks said:

Game one, I'm not ready to assess or panic based on the small sample size.  Edmonton came out with energy and obviously has some coaching in place that makes them a little better than they were in the past.  As spoken about by Burke, down low their D had things covered pretty well and they made it difficult.   We had chances and came on in spurts.   Smith was on and that factored in.

 

 

 

HItchcocks D structure helped the Oilers for a few weeks when he started and I totally agree, Tippett has the Oilers playing a good system in their own end and in the neutral zone.  Zone entries are difficult and once set up in the zone, down low and in between the dots is tough.

 

McDavid was handled for most of the game but all he needs is one opportunity.  Same goes for Petey.

 

Teams are going to throw a lot of challenges for our skilled guys and as they're just going to have to solve them.  Sometimes it takes a little time.

[Jtutino]

I thought we played pretty well last night but when you have a 1 goal lead with 10 min left you have to be able to close it out. Pearson Bo miller is going to be a good line for us. They shut down that Mcdavid line pretty much all night, then Sutter shutdown steps on the ice and we are picking it out of our net. also Ive seen alot of edler hate on here lately and he was a beast with a goal, 5 shots, 3 bs and a crossbar late. Im not superstitious but............ we won our opener the last 4 years and missed the playoffs so im kinda glad we lost haha.

[PositionOfPower]

 Here are my honest thoughts 

 

Schaller don't know why he's on this team does really nothing well

Virtanen on bottom six needs to be more physical 

Sutter looked very slow and unagile, I think maybe it's time to replace him for Gaudette

Myers looked very good getting many shots on net one of the best tonight

Hughes good exits but needs to work on his shooting, shooting has always been his weakness

Boeser slow starter but lots of giveaway passes in offensive zone

Petey looked little bit rusty needs to follow instincts more like usual, sometimes tentative

Ferland looked little tentative like Petey

Leivo looked average

Pearson looked involved 

[aqua59]

1 hour ago, MikeBossy said:

Something that I think has been missed in this thread is that Tippet has the Coilers playing different hockey. Their D stayed back last night - I think Nurse maybe rushed the puck one time. Last year all of the Oilers D including Benning rushed the puck. Also McDavid is going to have a very frustrating season if his line mates are going to be Neal and Nygard - they were virtually non existent. As for Kassian he played the way he did last night almost all last year for the Oilers - this isn't something new for him. The Canucks dominated the play last night and there were several times the Oilers were running around in their own end. I don't understand all the negativity - I expected a lot more from the Coilers after all the ridiculous hype of their season opener ceremony - it was painful to watch live lol. We will see how we fair against a much better team in the Lames on Saturday.

I totally agree. Well written statement. The lowly Oilers had the lamest ceremony yet. It was embarrassing that's all they could come up with. I'm surprised they never introduced the janitors. 

I think the real point is that vancouver is s better team and will gel with time. 

[ynwa]

33 minutes ago, nucklehead said:

Right Deb. I like to assess the team every 10 games. That gives a clearer picture of how they are performing over all. 

Absolutely! to start suggesting wholesale changes based on one game—especially the first game of the season—just doesn't make sense.By the end of the month we should have a real good read on where the team stands and what, if anything, needs to be redressed.

[Snapshot85]

8 hours ago, janisahockeynut said:

Well, here are my take anyways from the game...………..

 

I thought Smith may have been one of the difference makers...….filled the net, and moved the puck well

Draisaitl was the best player on the ice, and their defence really blocked the front of the net, as did their team

because of that our Forwards had no room to move inside, and it is why our Dmen had some room to get their shots off

 

I thought that on the McDavid goal, 2 things stuck out to me. #1. Sutter lack of urgency getting back into the play, and I wondered why

Tanev was so far to the right with no one around him. I think he really misjudged McDavid's speed, as did Hughes, that had never 

seen it before...….I am not dumping on a rookie, for mistakes veterans also made, especially against the best player in the world.

 

I think Pearson was a stand out for us tonight, I liked MIller's game, and the best parts of Edler's and Myers. I actually thought Marky 

deserved better, also.

 

I was also a little confused by not seeing Pettersson's speed, but to be honest, he turns to quickly, he is leaving Boeser and Ferland

behind. So he slows it down. Once again, when he got inside, their players were right on top of him. Still made some good plays though.

 

I also think it going to take awhile to work the kinks out, to become a more cohesive line. I think it will come.

 

I don't think our bottom 6 were any worse than their bottom 6, as some suggest, I just think I would like to see a little more drive/intensity.

Virtanen and Eriksson were neither good or bad, but neither made statements...….

 

and I don't really know why I feel this way, but I think Green was out coached tonight......even though we out shot them. I was disappointed

with Sutter on that 3rd goal...….

 

Just one game though!

 

Pearson had 11 shots on goal......that means he put him self in position to succeed 11 times offensively...….I think that is very outstanding.

 

Sure glad Draisaitl and McD did not have that many opportunities

 

 

I think its was a fairly good game for the canucks I think we were the better team.... sometimes you just dont winnem.... especially with a guy like mcjesus performing Miracles ... anything can happen.

 

Things I thought we did well

 

For the most part we shut down mcdavid and draisital .... yes they scored.... but they diddnt get a tonne of quality chances 

 

I think we brought our speed..... oilers were fast.... but we were not dogging  we were flying.

.

We shot the puck! We struggled getting shots last season.... this is a great improvement.

 

Why we lost...

Well.... mcdavid turned it up and our defense was not ready.

 

Boeser..... hes looked scared...   rightly so.... but he was not going all out... he was very very soft along the boards.... and not full speed... I guess training camp and injuries might. Be slowing him down.

 

Boeser furland and pettersson still creating chemistry....  

 

Cheers