Here’s what we learned when the Canucks opened a 2-0 lead in the first period, but gave up three power play goals and fell 5-3 in their first preseason game.
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In hindering his field in the race for the roster spots, Travis Green stated the obvious.
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For the Vancouver Canucks coach, it’s not about how he gets out of the door, it’s his push kick in the long seven-game preseason run. Those games will obviously be more difficult and will feature more battle-tested veterans.
Jack Rathbone, Brad Hunt, Olli Juolevi, Danila Klimovich, Will Lockwood, Phillip Di Giuseppi, and others know that the edict of evaluation does not apply to them. They needed to show something Sunday in Spokane, where the Canucks kicked off the audition season with an exhibition test against expansion and the veteran-laden Seattle Kraken.
And no one but Juolevi, whose ears should still be burning after a frank assessment of the field by the bank chief.
“I don’t think any favors were done,” Green said.
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Juolevi was bagged on the opening day bag skid, his game appears to have stalled and he is behind Rathbone and Hunt in the quest for the roster.
On any other night, the first franchise game for the new guys on the National Hockey League block would even be the center of attention in Vancouver, a natural geographic rival for Seattle.
However, the third defensive pairing, the left-side battle between Rathbone, Hunt and Juolevi, along with fourth-line formation possibilities with Lockwood and Di Giuseppi, and pro test veteran Alex Chiasson, speaks to where the Canucks are. with Tyler Motte rehabbing after an off-season upper body procedure.
The Canucks have more offensive ability, youth and depth, but are missing centers Elias Pettersson in prolonged resistance to a contract extension and Brandon Sutter in mysterious fatigue. He’s put JT Miller back in the middle and put versatile forward Matthew Highmore at the pivot position.
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“I He thought our young team held out and did some good things, ”Green said. “Five against five we defended well, but our PK was not excellent. We had some guys who played well at Klimovich and Silovs gave us some good minutes at the net. “
Here’s what we learned when the Canucks opened a 2-0 lead in the first period and got goals from Rathbone, Brock Boeser and Nils Hoglander, but gave up three power play goals and fell 5-3 in their first preseason game. :
It’s bad for the bones
They call it Bones.
It’s a shortened version of his last name and the diminutive Rathbone finally adjusted his game to show some vertigo.
While he seemed a bit overwhelmed with Luke Schenn at first getting knocked down, which resulted in a very low scoring chance and was followed by a turnover and a minor slip, then he did what he does best.
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Rathbone shot out of the penalty area and fired a quick shot off the post.
“It was definitely good and a very good block from Schenner,” Rathbone said. “It’s not every day that you get an opportunity like this and I was able to settle into the atmosphere with the crowd. It helped me keep my head inside the glass with the crowd that was here. It was fun competing against someone else. “
Rathbone followed up with a good power play. He cleverly drew in a defender and then sent a perfect pass to Boeser, who scored a time that deflected Carson Soucy and passed goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer.
“Obviously, I tried to put him in Boeser’s wheelhouse and he has a pretty big wheelhouse,” Rathbone said. “Having the album in your hands is never a bad idea. It worked.”
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Rathbone also scored the only goal of the penalty shoot-out in a display for the fans in attendance.
“He was good,” Green said. “Sometimes you take a penalty, but I like how active I was trying to defend and there were a lot of things that could be seen.”
Silovs steals the show
Arturs Silovs proved that he can adapt his large 6-foot-4-inch frame to the faster-paced NHL.
The lanky 20-year-old Latvian prospect stopped the first 13 shots he faced as the Kraken dominated the first 10 minutes and continued to build his lead to 25-8 by one point in the second frame against a Canucks roster dotted with 10 hopefuls.
Silovs was able to fight several times to deny scoring chances. The goals he was defeated by Riley Sheahan, Jared McCann and Ryan Donato were examples of having his head on the wrong spin, getting hit from the short side on a slapper and a low cross ice advance, respectively.
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Silovs was also shot under the mask and hit in the neck, but stayed in the game. He finished with 24 saves and gave way to Spencer Martin in the third period, who gave up two goals to Morgan Geekie.
Juolevi kill, Lockwood thrill
It has come to this with Juolevi.
When you don’t notice it, it’s a good thing. When it does, it is often for the wrong reason. He had a good early turn of penalties and being prominent there is one of the tickets on the list that he can score. But not moving the puck fast enough, or moving your feet, and then making a minor stumble in the neutral zone will not do the coach good.
Juolevi also went flat in the third period when Jason Dickinson won the draw in zone D against Geekie and the puck went over Juolevi and between Martin’s pads. However, to his credit, Juolevi helped keep the pressure off during a dominant turnaround in the third period when the Canucks pushed for a tie.
Lockwood had a penalty timeout and made it to the Kraken in the opening period, when he slammed Adam Larsson against the late boards and then headed for McCann. There has to be a consistency of effort for the rookie and he came back in the third with another thunderous punch.
As for Hunt, it was a quiet night, but what was noticeable was his exit speed, a good first pass and a heavy hit in the third period.
NEXT GAME
Monday
Calgary Flames vs. Vancouver Canucks
7 pm, Abbotsford Center, TV: NHL.com, Radio: 650 AM
Reference-theprovince.com