6 things we learned about the Canucks after opening night

The Vancouver Canucks wanted a great start to the season and they delivered.

The only problem is it lasted just 21 minutes.

A 3-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers evaporated before the end of the second period, and the Canucks went on to lose 5-3.

Was it an epic collapse? Not really. You don’t want to give up 3-0 leads, but you also can’t play lockdown defensive hockey for 39 minutes either. Certainly, this Canucks team shouldn’t try that.

Plus, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are borderline unstoppable.

Here is what we learned, as the Canucks head to Philadelphia for their second game on Saturday.

1. Elias Pettersson is not playing around this year

Elias Pettersson has a different look in his eyes this season.

Focused, motivated, driven — these are all words you can use to describe the 23-year-old.

If the Canucks are going to get to the next level, they’ll likely need Pettersson to get to the next level also.

It’s just one game, but he’s showing all the right signs so far.

Absolutely clinical from Elias Pettersson to open the flood gates for the #Canucks. pic.twitter.com/7DgGWYt2qU

— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) October 13, 2022

Pettersson scored the opening goal, stealing a puck from Oilers rookie Dylan Holloway and deking goaltender Jack Campbell.

But it’s what he did head-to-head with Connor McDavid that’s just as encouraging.

Pettersson’s line controlled the majority of the play (six shot attempts-for, three shot attempts against) in 3:45 of ice time against McDavid. He did that with Andrei Kuzmenko and Nils Höglander on his wings — two players not exactly known for their defensive prowess.

2. Matchup centre?

It’ll be interesting to see who Bruce Boudreau leans on as his matchup centre. Is it Horvat, who has been given that assignment so often in the past? Will it be Miller, who has yet to prove he can be dominant defensively?

Or maybe just maybe, will it eventually be Pettersson?

3. The power play needs to smarten up

The Canucks have all the pieces to put together a great power play. Perhaps they will be great this season, but they failed the first test.

In contrast to an Oilers’ power play that displayed precision, urgency, and a killer instinct, the Canucks were uninspiring.

The Canucks had 11 shots on goal in 12:15 of power play time. That’s simply not good enough.

Far too often the Canucks tried to go through sticks and skates with their passes. They didn’t break down the Oilers’ PK, save for Kuzmenko’s goal off a great pass by J.T. Miller.

4. Kuzmenko fitting in

Speaking of Kuzmenko, he’s showing all the signs that he’ll be an effective player for the Canucks this season. That’s a significant development because he was the biggest wild card coming into this season.

FIRST GAME ✅
FIRST GOAL ✅ pic.twitter.com/RongXxBBin

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 13, 2022

Kuzmenko looked comfortable in all situations, and not afraid to go to the net, as we saw on his first goal from the top of the crease.

5. Canucks fans are on edge about Bo Horvat

Maybe it’s the contract negotiations that have Canucks fans on edge, but people were not happy with Bo Horvat’s game.

Surprisingly no Canuck took more heat from listeners on the post game show last night than Bo Horvat.

Now that he’s due a big contract the tone has changed but where are you at with the Canucks captain?

— Satiar Shah (@SatiarShah) October 13, 2022

One of the most popular players of the past decade in Vancouver, Horvat rarely gets criticized by fans. But that wasn’t the case after Wednesday.

While Horvat wasn’t overly noticeable in the game, he didn’t really do much to warrant much heat either.

He was on for just one non-empty net goal-against, which was the shorthanded goal by Darnell Nurse. The blame for the turnover belongs to Pettersson, who effectively passed into double coverage. Horvat lost his balance trying to steal the puck back and wasn’t a factor on the back check because of that.

6. Schenn and Poolman held their own in top four minutes

After all the experimentation throughout the preseason with Quinn Hughes on the right side, Vancouver’s No. 1 defenceman was back in his familiar spot for opening night — on the left side, paired with Luke Schenn.

Schenn was brought to Vancouver last year as a depth defenceman. He ended up being a top-four blueliner.

That’s where he’s starting this season, and while that’s not ideal for the Canucks, Schenn is still holding his own. No Canucks defenceman played more five-on-five minutes (9:49) against McDavid than Schenn. Shot attempts were 10-10 between the Oilers and Canucks when Schenn was on the ice against McDavid.

This might surprise you, but Tucker Poolman held up also on a pairing with Oliver Ekman-Larsson. In 7:34 of five-on-five ice time against McDavid, the Canucks held a 9-3 advantage in shot attempts.

We’ll give most of the credit to Hughes and Ekman-Larsson for the success of those pairings, but the fact Schenn and Poolman held their own is a good sign, albeit after just one game.

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