Canucks at Flames
Elias Pettersson enjoyed an NHL debut to remember and the Vancouver Canucks hope for a repeat performance Saturday as they attempt to complete a sweep of their season-opening home-and-home series when they visit the Calgary Flames. The 19-year-old Pettersson opened the scoring with the first shot of his career and added an assist as Vancouver posted a 5-2 home victory over Calgary on Wednesday.
Pettersson, whose parents traveled from Sweden to attend his first NHL game, received a standing ovation from the crowd in Vancouver after converting during a 2-on-1 rush in the first period. "I blacked out, I was so happy," the 2017 fifth-overall draft pick told reporters. "I didn't think it was real. That's a feeling I'll never forget." While the Canucks won their fifth consecutive season opener, Calgary dropped its first game under coach Bill Peters as it allowed four third-period goals - including three in the first 5 minutes, 46 seconds of the session. James Neal notched an assist in his debut with the Flames after leading expansion Vegas to the Stanley Cup Final last season.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC, Sportsnet 360, CITY; Sportsnet West (Calgary)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (1-0-0): Vancouver received goals from five players - all under the age of 25 - in its season opener, which was its first game without Henrik or Daniel Sedin in the lineup since April 2000. Pettersson joined Curt Fraser, Thomas Gradin and Jason Jaffray as the only players in team history to record multiple points in their NHL debut. Nikolay Goldobin matched Pettersson with a goal and an assist Wednesday while Loui Eriksson set up a pair of tallies after notching only 13 assists in each of the last two seasons.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (0-1-0): Calgary hopes to get its special teams going Saturday after an 0-for-7 performance on the power play in the season opener. "The power play is crucial, it wins and loses you games," Neal told reporters. "We were getting stuck at the line, we weren't coming with enough speed and we were getting frustrated, and it was sucking energy out of us and deflating our bench." Sean Monahan, who led the team with a career high-tying 31 goals last season, scored Wednesday and Matthew Tkachuk also tallied to move within two points of 100 in the NHL.
OVERTIME
1. Flames C Dillon Dube registered two shots and a minus-1 rating in his NHL debut Wednesday.
2. Vancouver D Derrick Pouliot, who posted a game-best plus-4 rating Wednesday, has scored five goals in 139 NHL contests - with all being game-winners.
3. Calgary D Travis Hamonic finished the game despite suffering an apparent facial injury during a first-period fight with Vancouver's Erik Gudbranson in the season opener but missed Thursday's practice.