Canucks lose 2-1 to inexperienced Oilers’ lineup

Now the Condors Oilers:

First Period

The Canucks controlled this one from a territorial perspective in the first few minutes, but it resulted in just one shot on goal. And then things got not so great.

After a faceoff win in their own end, Filip Hronek’s pass to the winger didn’t make it out of the zone, as Brock Boeser was knocked off balance just as he would have received it, and the Oilers capitalized quickly. It was Isaac Howard who beat Nikita Tolopilo to open the scoring, and you can watch the goal by clicking here.

1-0 Oilers.

From there, it was some more ugly, ugly hockey. The Canucks repeatedly failed to exit their own zone cleanly, and the Condors didn’t really have much else going either.

The Canucks got their first power play of the night just before the ten-minute mark after Brendan Gallagher made a nice shift in neutral ice and sprang Paul Cotter on a breakaway. Cotter lowered his shoulder as he drove toward Jarry, deked backhand to forehand, but put his attempt wide. In the process, Spencer Stastney was called for slashing and was assessed the game’s first power play.

That meant that the Canucks’ power play, which was absolutely dynamite down the stretch of last season, got their first chance of the night to go to work. Both units got their fair share of chances. Not too many conclusions to draw from a two-minute power play, but Marco Rossi stood out as the straw that stirs the drink for PP1 (as he was last season, too), and Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Liam Öhgren were my PP2 standouts for their ability to keep their feet and the puck moving in the Oilers’ end. That was especially nice for Lekkerimäki, who was standing out almost exclusively for the wrong reasons at 5v5 to this point of the contest. The end result was three shots on goal and no goals for the Canucks.

There was a scary moment later in the period when Filip Chytil and referee Riley Brace clipped each other in the corner. Brace went down for a minute, and although Chytil, who went headfirst toward the boards, got up almost right away and seemed fine. Chytil went to the Canucks’ locker room shortly after.

Chytil obviously has a long history of head injuries, so this was a scary one. Chytil exited and did not return.

Second Period

The second period opened with the Canucks still needing to kill off just over a minute of an Oilers power play. Back at 5v5, it was more sloppiness — and slow play through the neutral zone from Brock Boeser — and for the second time of the night, the baby Oilers made the Canucks pay.

2-0 Oilers.

After that goal, Aku Räty, NOT to be confused with his more talented brother Aatu, took a holding penalty and sent the Canucks back to the power play.

On the power play, the second unit got to work quickly, and it was a nice play from Jonathan Lekkerimäki that helped kickstart the play that ultimately ended with Zeev Buium snapping a pass into the blue paint that Linus Karlsson managed to pull to his forehand and beat Tristan Jarry for the first time of the night:

2-1.

The Canucks got another power play opportunity in the final minute of the second, and while Linus Karlsson made some nice plays behind the net, the home team entered the third still trailing by a goal (and still with over a minute of power play time to work with).

Remember how dominant the Calgary Flames looked against an AHL lineup on Tuesday night?

Some takeaways from the second:
-Not a great opening 40 minutes for Brock Boeser, to say the least.
-Jamie Oleksiak… not great tonight!
-How many times are we going to see Linus Karlsson score from within a foot of the blue paint this season?
-Not going to get tired of watching Luke Schenn bury people into the glass and boards anytime soon.
-Not the best start to the preseason for Filip Hronek, either. It’s just preseason. It’s just preseason. It’s just preseason.

Third Period

The Canucks entered the third down by a goal. Chris Driedger got his first taste of preseason action to start the third period.

Braeden Cootes drew a tripping penalty within the first two minutes of the period, giving the Canucks’ power play another chance to work. This time, PP1 featured Zeev Buium at the point instead of Filip Hronek. This time, they didn’t create much and never tested Jarry.

Jake DeBrusk set up Braeden Cootes with a net-front chance on the rush, but the Canucks’ youngster couldn’t negotiate the pass. That was the Canucks’ best chance of the period, and with ten minutes to go, the Canucks were on their way to losing this game and going 0-3 in the preseason.

Filip Hronek took a high-sticking penalty with just over eight minutes to go, and for about a minute and 50 seconds, the Canucks’ penalty killers prevented the Oilers’ power play from setting up. That’s a positive! Right?! Right?!

With just under a minute and a half to work with, the Canucks pulled their goaltender and hunted for a late goal. They got pucks to the blue paint a couple of times, but could not score.

2-1 final.

These games, of course, don’t count, but it sure would have been nice to see the Canucks look a little more competent than they did tonight.

Some takeaways from the third:
-Zeev Buium showed a more deceptive release than I remember him having last season. Some bright spots for him tonight, and a reminder that watching his progression will be a big part of this season, when the Canucks will play a lot of games like they did tonight.
-After a rough night, Oleksiak reminded everyone a big part of the reason he’s here when he went after Connor Clattenburg, who was chirping and getting into it with Canucks at the bench after a whistle. Oleksiak grabbed Clattenburg and the two took coincidental roughing minors.
-Remember how dominant the Calgary Flames looked against an AHL lineup on Tuesday night? Yes, I know that’s the second time I’ve written that line.
-I hope Filip Chytil is alright.