Vancouver Canucks Gameday Preview #10: The Second Of A Back-To-Back Homestand Against The Edmonton Oilers
The Vancouver Canucks 4–5–0 will wrap up the second-half of their back-to-back weekend homestand with a match against the Edmonton Oilers (4–4–1) tonight. This comes after their 4–3 loss to the Montréal Canadiens on home ice last night. Edmonton, on the other hand, is coming off a 3–2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
Vancouver got off to a hot start last night, maintaining possession in Montréal’s zone and even scoring the opening goal. However, despite establishing a 2–0 lead, the Canucks quickly fell after allowing two power play goals against. By the end of the game, Vancouver only killed one of three penalties taken. This will be something for the Canucks to keep an eye on tonight, as they’ll be taking on a red-hot Edmonton power play featuring two of the best hockey players in the world.
Another thing the Canucks will want to improve on is their work in the faceoff dot. Vancouver finished yesterday’s game with a faceoff win rate of 37.7%, with only Aatu Räty winning more than 50%. The Canucks are currently 31st in the entire league in faceoff win percentage with 42% — only the Buffalo Sabres have registered lower with 41.7%. Edmonton, on the other hand, currently ranks seventh with 53%.
Players To Watch:
Lukas Reichel
Reichel played in his first game for the Canucks last night against Montréal, though this was his first time ever skating with the team. With a game with his new team now under his belt, Reichel may be a little more comfortable. Reichel only ended up playing 15:54 minutes against the Canadiens, but could see some more ice time now that he’s had some time to adjust to Vancouver. While he did skate alongside Brock Boeser and Evander Kane for various points of last night’s match, Reichel will likely be more effective on the wing. Whether he plays in the same role tonight or not will be determined closer to puck drop.
Calvin Pickard
Since the Oilers are also on the second-half of a back-to-back tonight and Stuart Skinner started in Seattle yesterday, it’s likely that Pickard will play against the Canucks tonight. Pickard got the start in Vancouver’s last match against Edmonton, taking the win after saving 14 of 15 shots against. Other than this game, Pickard has yet to register a game in which he has let in less than four goals. If Vancouver is able to keep up their performance from last night’s first period and keep it going throughout the game, they may be able to get some past Pickard early on.
Vancouver Canucks (4–5–0):
Points:
Conor Garland: 3–6–9
Elias Pettersson: 2–5–7
Quinn Hughes: 1–6–7
Filip Hronek: 0–5–5
Kiefer Sherwood: 4–0–4
Goaltenders:
Thatcher Demko: 3–2–0
Kevin Lankinen: 1–3–0
Edmonton Oilers (4–4–1):
Points:
Connor McDavid: 1–10–11
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: 5–5–10
Leon Draisaitl: 5–4–9
Darnell Nurse: 1–4–5
Andrew Mangiapane: 3–1–4
Goaltenders:
Stuart Skinner: 2–3–1
Calvin Pickard: 2–1–0
Game Information:
Start time: 7:00 pm PT
Venue: Rogers Arena
Television: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 650
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