The Vancouver Canucks fell for the first time this season as they lost 3-1 to the Edmonton Oilers. Brock Boeser scored the only goal while Quinn Hughes became the franchise's all-time leader in points by a defenceman. As for Thatcher Demko, he was the story of the game, stopping 34 of the 36 shots he faced.
The Vancouver Canucks fell for the first time this season as they lost 3-1 to the Edmonton Oilers. Brock Boeser scored the only goal while Quinn Hughes became the franchise's all-time leader in points by a defenceman. As for Thatcher Demko, he was the story of the game, stopping 34 of the 36 shots he faced.
Saturday's performance was problematic for a number of reasons. One of the main problems was Vancouver's offence, which finished with just 15 shots on goal. Ultimately, the Canucks struggled to generate offensive zone time, with Edmonton controlling play for the majority of the game.
"I think we sat back a little too much in the first two periods there," said Boeser post-game. "When we tried to get some momentum going in the third, we took a couple of penalties, and that kind of made us take a step back. I thought we were in the box a lot. We gotta be more disciplined and push a little harder."
Vancouver was also very undisciplined, as they gave the Oilers five power plays. Luckily, they were able to go a perfect five for five, largely thanks to Demko. Just like the end of last season, the Canucks penalty kill has been one of their big strengths as it is now a perfect nine for through the first two games of the year.
"I think we gotta stay out of the box," said Head Coach Adam Foote post-game. "We actually didn't have a bad, it wasn't going too wrong early. They really forecheck hard and go wide. We almost had four or five two-on-ones in the first. We hit one of them, we're fine, and then we take a defensive zone penalty. It happens, but a team like that, you gotta stay out of the box."
Speaking of Demko, he was the only reason this game was close. Vancouver's goaltender made multiple highlight reel saves and was able to frustrate Edmonton's top players all night. In the end, the best way to describe Demko's performance is "Vezina worthy," as, according to Natural Stat Trick, he stopped 12 of the 13 high-danger shots he faced.
Looking at the team as a whole, defensive structure was a massive issue on Saturday night. The Canucks continually lost board battles in the defensive zone and struggled to clear the puck. By the end of the game, Vancouver was credited with 21 giveaways, which is the sixth most by the team since the start of the 2024-25 season.
As mentioned, the Canucks are lucky that this game stayed close to the very end. As mentioned, Vancouver struggled to get the puck out of the zone, and once they did, were forced to dump and chase in order to facilitate line changes. While it is very early in the season, Saturday should serve as a wake-up call for the team before they head out on their upcoming five-game road trip.
Stats and Facts:
- Brock Boeser now has 26 career goals during October. He ranks tied for 12th all-time in franchise history with Petri Skriko for goals in the month of October.
- Quinn Hughes becomes the Canucks all-time leader in points by a defenceman
- Conor Garland led all Vancouver players with three shots on goal
- Aatu Räty finished the night going nine for 11 in the faceoff circle
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
No Scoring
2nd Period:
12:21- EDM: Noah Philip (1) from Kasperi Kapanen and Vasily Podkolzin
19:09- EDM: Andrew Mangiapane (2)
3rd Period:
00:47- VAN: Brock Boeser (2) from Quinn Hughes and Jake DeBrusk
18:45- EDM: Leon Draisaitl (2) from Darnell Nurse and Connor McDavid (SHG) (ENG)
Next Up:
The Canucks return home for one game as they battle the St. Louis Blues on Monday afternoon. Last season, Vancouver went 1-0-2 against St. Louis, with their only win coming on the road. Game time is scheduled for 4:30 pm PT from Rogers Arena.
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