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Canucks win AGAIN and are having best start in franchise history

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Nov 7 2023, 5:53 am
Canucks win AGAIN and are having best start in franchise history

How the tables have turned.

The Vancouver Canucks continue to defy their preseason expectations of being a longshot to make the playoffs with yet another victory against the Edmonton Oilers.

After their 6-2 win on Monday night, the Canucks are now off to their best start in franchise history. They’ve never started a season 9-2-1 before.

The Canucks and the Oilers are easily two of the most surprising teams in the NHL right now ā€“ for entirely different reasons.

Most analytical models projected that the Canucks would miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season in 2023-24.

Not only are the Canucks firmly in the playoff picture ā€“ they currently have the third-best record in the NHL.

Only the Vegas Golden Knights (11-1-1) and the Boston Bruins (10-1-1) have had better starts than the Canucks thus far.

The Oilers, on the other hand, were Stanley Cup favourites entering the season. After this loss, they have a horrid 2-8-1 record. Only the San Jose Sharks have fewer wins (zero) and fewer points (one).

Canucks can’t stop scoring

So much has gone right for the Canucks so far, but their ability to score at ease has to be near the top of the list.

After scoring another five goals against the Oilers on Monday night, the Canucks have now averaged 4.41 goals per game this season. That’s currently the best mark in the NHL.

The stars have been on fire all season long. Quinn Hughes scored his fifth goal of the season, making it more and more likely that he’s going to obliterate his career-high of nine goals.

Not only that, but he had another four points in total against the Oilers. Hughes now has 20 points on the season, which is tied for second in the NHL with Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, and Quinn’s own brother Jack Hughes.

Only Elias Pettersson has more points. He currently leads the NHL with 21 points this season.

Pettersson’s good buddy, Nils Hoglander, continues to highlight the Canucks secondary scoring success. He scored a beautiful goal off the rush midway through the game, his third goal of the season.

Despite spending most of last season in the AHL, Hoglander actually has nine points in 11 career games against the Oilers.

His goal was set up by Sam Lafferty, who has scored a couple of goals recently and now has four points in his last three games. Not bad for a guy who’s currently centering the Canucks fourth line.

The third line is also clicking right now. After going pointless in his first nine games, Pius Suter has now scored goals in three straight contests.

Brock Boeser: Oilers Assassin

While Connor McDavid may give many NHL teams nightmares, it’s now McDavid and the Oilers who may be having nightmares about Brock Boeser.

The 26-year-old scored two goals, had his third-multi goal game of the season, and is now solely second overall league-wide with 10 goals so far.

Only Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews has scored more goals (13) this season.

Boeser has now scored six of his 10 goals this season against the Oilers. He scored four against them in the opener, and added two power play goals against them on Monday night.

His five total power play goals is currently tied with New York Rangers winger Chris Kreider for the league lead.

You can tell that Boeser is absolutely feeling it right now.

Demko playing the best hockey of his career

The final score might have flattered the Canucks, at least that was the case based on their start.

Vancouver was outshot 20-8 in the first period, and it looked like things could get ugly after a hot start from the Oilers. Defenceman Mattias Ekholm had the first goal of the game and the Oilers controlled play early.

However, Demko looked steady and stopped 19 or 20 shots in the first period. By the time the first intermission hit, the Canucks were up 3-1.

With their combination of lethal offence and study goaltending, the Canucks look like one of the most dominant teams in the NHL right now.

It may be early, but one thing is for sure in Vancouver: it’s fun to be a Canucks fan again.

Trevor BeggsTrevor Beggs
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