Wednesday鈥檚 NHL preseason game between the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers began with face-off between stars Connor McDavid and Elias Pettersson, and the rest of the game felt, at times, like a game of 鈥榗an you top this鈥� between the franchise players.
McDavid made jaws drop in the second period after zipping by Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes en route to a breakaway goal, but Pettersson ultimately had the last laugh a pair of power plays including the game winner at 9:45 of the third.
馃毃 CONNOR DID THE THING 馃毃 pic.twitter.com/l9cT5fJSr5
鈥� Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 6, 2022
McDavid also added an assist, but the Canucks outshot the Oilers 31-21 in the contest. Part of the shot disparity was the difference in the penalty box. Vancouver went three for eight with the man advantage, while the Oilers had just two power plays and were unsuccessful.
PETEY ONE-TIMER FOR THE LEAD 馃檶 pic.twitter.com/tbYk96Jx4h
鈥� Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 6, 2022
Horvat finds an open EP40 馃幆 pic.twitter.com/PzTA5To81s
鈥� Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 6, 2022
The Canucks also got goals from Nils Hoglander, Tanner Pearson and Connor Garland. Edmonton goal scorers included Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and James Hamblin.
Hoglander scored the lone goal of the opening frame, with McDavid replying at 7:05 of the second. Hyman made it 2-1 Edmonton but Garland tied the game up at two after two.
G sneaks one by 馃毃 pic.twitter.com/dtvYJiBMxM
鈥� Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 6, 2022
The third period saw the offensive floodgates open with the teams trading goals until Pettersson scored twice on the power play. He also led all players with seven shots on goal. Spencer Martin made 17 saves to earn the win, while Stuart Skinner stopped 26 shots in the loss.
Horvat picked up three assists, while Garland, Pettersson, Hughes and Oliver Ekman-Larsson all had multi-point games. Edmonton defefenceman Markus Niemelainen also had a two-point night.
Elias Pettersson and Connor McDavid face off to open todays 鈦�@NHL鈦� preseason game at 鈦�@AbbyCentre鈦� pic.twitter.com/9H4izOfkIB
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) October 6, 2022
Abbotsford鈥檚 Jake Virtanen played a regular shift with Edmonton and picked up one assist and two shots on goal.
The game marked Vancouver鈥檚 first win this preseason. The Canucks close out the preseason on Friday (Oct. 7) against the Arizona Coyotes in Vancouver.
鈥淚鈥檓 just trying to play hard and do my part.鈥�
鈥� Rink Wide: Vancouver (@rinkwidepodcast) October 6, 2022
鈥� Elias Pettersson on the result versus the #Oilers + the hit on Nils H枚glander and the one he took from Markus Niemel盲inen. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/D1Axog7aZI
It was announced that a sell-out crowd of 7,000-plus attended the game. The Vancouver Canucks did play at the Abbotsford Centre last September and posted a 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames. The AC also hosted a Canucks vs. Ottawa Senators preseason game in 2019.
For more on the team, visit canucks.com.
鈥淭hey worked really hard, they wanted to win鈥hen Petey gets that shot going, he鈥檚 pretty dangerous & the power play can be dangerous.鈥�
鈥� Rink Wide: Vancouver (@rinkwidepodcast) October 6, 2022
鈥� Bruce Boudreau on Elias Pettersson & the #Canucks鈥� PP in their 5-4 win over the #Oilers. pic.twitter.com/5fTu3ZLADZ
