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When/ The place: Wednesday, 7 p.m., Rogers Enviornment
TV: SN Pacific, CBC. Radio: Sportsnet 650
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The thrill: Common-season opener for Pacific Division rivals. Excessive-octane Oilers speaking Stanley Cup. Revamped Canucks speaking playoffs.
The historical past: The Canucks went 1-2-0 in opposition to the Oilers final season, together with constructing a 3-0 lead and dropping the season opener 5-3 in Edmonton. They had been outscored 11-10 within the season collection and allowed 4 power-play targets on eight probabilities. They scored simply two power-play targets on a dozen alternatives.
The hope: The Canucks have six new penalty killers to prop up the NHL’s worst unit final season that functioned at simply 71.6 per cent effectivity.
The concern: Canucks parade to the penalty field. Oilers unleash vaunted energy play that operated at historic 32.4 per cent final season, topping the 1977-78 document set by the Canadiens.
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The highest weapons: Canucks centre Elias Pettersson had a profession excessive 102 factors (39-63) final season, completed tenth in league scoring, tied for lead with 5 shorthanded targets, and received’t escape the microscope to steer by instance and ponder contract extension.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid earned the Hart Trophy in 2022-23 with a league-leading 64 targets, 89 assists and 153 factors. It’s not a stretch to recommend he may very well be the primary participant since Pavel Bure (1992-93, 1993-94) to have back-to-back 60-goal seasons.
The wounded: Canucks: Carson Soucy (knee), Ilya Mikheyev (knee), Guilliaume Brisebois (undisclosed). Oilers: Ryan McLeod (undisclosed), Mattias Ekholm (hip), Sam Gagner (hip), Ryan Fanti (hip).
The quote: “We’re all the time studying. Recreation administration is one thing we’ve got to proceed to press. Can we do it persistently? We are able to’t be unstructured. We are able to’t play 6-5 video games.” — Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet.
The prediction: Canucks play with construction, rating twice on the ability play, enable one PP objective and empty-netter seals 4-2 victory.
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