Welcome to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
During the season, Wyatt Arndt brings you the most unique post game report with The Stanchies, but because he’s a huge diva, he doesn’t write about preseason games. But not me, a man of the people. I’m right there with you every step of the way, reacting to what goes down in each Canucks’ preseason game, so let’s get into game two!
To start, this one was all Canucks, as they appeared to have the better lineup heading into this game. Each line spent time in the offensive zone and the Flames took over eight minutes to register their first shot on goal.
Carson Soucy drew an interference penalty after a smart play where he chipped the puck out of his end and gave chase afterward. On the ensuing power play, the Canucks got some good looks for Daniel Sprong, who uncharacteristically missed the net twice.
The Flames upped the pressure afterwards, and we saw some more sloppy play from the Canucks when it came to breaking the puck out of their own end. This was something Tocchet expressed some displeasure with following Tuesday’s win over Seattle. It’s just the preseason, but these are the kind of details the Canucks will want to clean up in a hurry.
The home team opened the scoring late in the first period, as Max Sasson threw a pass through the Calgary goal crease that deflected off Dustin Wolf. For the record, I thought Jake DeBrusk redirected it in at first, and replays didn’t really convince me otherwise, but this one stayed as Sasson’s goal:
The Canucks got another power play opportunity early in the second period, but it was quickly negated by a Linus Karlsson high-sticking penalty. Jake Bean scored at four on four to tie the game up at one apiece, and aside from this second period quickly turned into a bit of a snooze fest.
It certainly didn’t help that the Canucks’ preseason-opening matchup against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night brought plenty of fireworks with it as the two teams showed signs of a spirited rivalry, but this game was a bit boring nonetheless.
That was, until Jiri Patera did this:
A classic east-west save. These are the saves that get you excited for hockey season, no matter who’s making the save.
Daniel Sprong showed off his release again, hitting the post after a nice play by Aatu Räty and Arshdeep Bains to create an opportunity off the rush.
Vincent Desharnais took a penalty to give the Flames another opportunity with the man advantage. After that kill, Desharnais made up for it by firing a point shot into traffic that Jake DeBrusk deflected past Wolf to make it 2-1 on his first goal in a Canucks uniform.
The third period started with a bang as Daniel Sprong continued to look dangerous, hitting Phil Di Giuseppe with a cross-ice feed on the doorstep that was blocked in front. Sprong was solid tonight, and showed some good pace to go with his blistering shot.
Elias Pettersson was practically invisible for the first two periods, and looked like a player simply going through the motions. It wasn’t what anyone wanted to see from Pettersson in his preseason debut, but EP40 came out firing in the third. He looked dangerous and created chances for both he and his teammates, and looked like one of the best players on the ice in the third. He hit a post after some strong play from Lekkerimäki in the neutral zone to give Pettersson time and space to shoot.
Shortly after Pettersson hit the post in the Calgary end, Vancouver Giants star Samuel Honzek tipped a puck past Jiri Patera to tie the game up at two.
Dryden Hunt scored the go-ahead goal with just under five minutes to go after Noah Juulsen blew a tire at the Vancouver blue line and allowed Hunt to go in all alone on Patera:
With 90 seconds left, the Canucks summoned Patera to the bench for an extra attacker. Aatu Räty tipped a Daniel Sprong point shot just wide, and after a puck over glass penalty on Calgary, Sprong made no mistake in tying this game up when he got his next chance. Sprong gathered the puck at the Vancouver blue line and picked up a goal to reflect just how good he was.
We got some three-on-three hockey, and it didn’t take long for Pettersson, Hughes, and DeBrusk to connect to finish this one off. This was a great play from Pettersson to pass the puck to DeBrusk rather than trying to force a shot on goal.
4-3 Canucks final
Some takeaways from tonight:
-Quinn Hughes was so clearly a step above everyone else tonight. Good to see.
-I liked Kiefer Sherwood’s game, and am hoping to see him continue to get more opportunities to showcase what he can do.
-Carson Soucy also stood out to me tonight. The Canucks will need him to be a clear number three behind Hughes and Filip Hronek this season.
-Tonight was obviously a great game for Daniel Sprong, whose progress will be interesting to follow. Personally, I didn’t realize he had the kind of footspeed he showed off tonight.
-A strong game for Phil Di Giuseppe, who cut through the opposition on numerous occasions.
What are your thoughts on tonight’s game?
