For their penultimate pre-season game, the Canucks iced a lineup that isn’t far off from what we might see on opening night.
The Sedins were back in the lineup, playing with Loui Eriksson in a Canucks jersey for the first time. Alex Edler and Chris Tanev were reunited after spending some time supporting other defencemen. Luca Sbisa was back after his stint sitting in the press box at the World Cup of Hockey, and he was paired with his expected new defence partner, Philip Larsen, who also played the point on the likely first power play unit.
There are just a few decisions left, with one of the biggest coming down to Jake Virtanen. Will he start the season with the Canucks or will his spot as the 13th forward go to one of the veterans on a PTO: Jack Skille or Tuomo Ruutu? Who will be Antonio Banderas in the 13th Warrior? I watched this game.
- Virtanen certainly helped his cause in this game playing on a line with Sven Baertschi and Markus “Granny” Granlund. The Granny Line created multiple scoring chances and had the best corsi among Canucks forwards. Whenever there was a long shift in the offensive zone, it was almost always the Cookie-Tin-Full-of-Sewing-Supplies Line, suggesting we might see more of the Wrapped-Strawberry-Hard-Candies Line in the regular season.
- First impressions of Loui Eriksson: his hair game is on point.
- Eriksson made a great debut for the Canucks, playing effectively on the power play and penalty kill and scoring two goals. Even considering they were two of the easier goals he’ll score in his career, it was great to see where he scored them from: directly in front of the net. I can see why he grew that mop on top of his head, what with all the dirty areas he keeps going to.
- My offensive expectations for Brandon Sutter this season are very low, since he’ll likely get a difficult deployment at even-strength, but his work on special teams may make up some of the difference. Sutter was on the first power play unit, but he’s also a scoring threat shorthanded, where he has 11 career goals. He showed why, firing a wristshot top corner past Chad Johnson on a shorthanded rush.
- Alex Edler has quietly had a fantastic pre-season. His assist on Sutter’s goal gave him five points in four games, tying him for the team lead in points with Anton Rodin and placing him second in the Western Conference in pre-season points and first in assists. I’m not saying Edler is going to have a monstrous season, but I’m also not not saying that.
- The $5-in-Your-Birthday-Card Line struck next thanks to some stellar work gaining the zone and battling along the boards by Sven Baertschi. Baertschi worked the puck in deep, drawing two defenders in behind the net, then passed to Granlund, who quickly relayed to Virtanen in the slot. Like a designated driver, Virtanen drove it home.
- The Sedins seemed a little out-of-sync at times at even-strength, missing a few passes you would expect them to make. Of course, they’d likely tell me, “A wizard never misses a pass. It arrives precisely where he means it.”
- They were much better on the power play, where they meshed well with Eriksson and Larsen. Eriksson’s first goal of the game came shortly after a penalty expired, as Larsen fed Daniel on the left boards and he walked into the left faceoff circle. Daniel didn’t give a rip, and then he totally did give a rip, ripping a slap shot off Eriksson’s skate and in.
- Eriksson’s second goal was pure good luck. Henrik tried to ring the puck around the boards to Daniel, but Dennis Wideman knocked the pass down. Unfortunately for him, he knocked it down to Eriksson in front of the net, who kicked the puck up to his stick and had a wide open net as Johnson, like a dog whose owner pretends to throw a stick, played the original pass, hugging the post on the other side, staring down Daniel.
- Philip Larsen has gotten a lot of flack online, partly because Troy “The New Hotness” Stecher has stolen all his new-power-play-quarterback thunder. He had a good game against Calgary, however, demonstrating the one skill that puts him up a notch on Stecher: his shot. While he didn’t score, he still showed some velocity and accuracy that I haven’t seen yet from Stecher.
- At one point, Alex Burrows got tangled up with a guy and took him down directly in front of a referee. It was a borderline penalty; astonishingly, he didn’t get called. I guess it’s pre-season for the refs too. I’m guessing Trevor Hanson and Ian Walsh got ripped by Colin Campbell after the game and were ordered to re-watch their “Burrows is the literal devil” instructional video.
- The Flames poured it on in the third period, firing 19 shots on net in the final frame, but Ryan Miller stood tall. He also kneeled tall, because if he stood the entire time it would have been really easy to score on him.
