Oilers at Canucks
Different season, same result. The Edmonton Oilers fell flat on their face in their home opener against the rival Calgary Flames, and will try to rebound Saturday night as they travel to Vancouver for a date with the Canucks. Vancouver looked solid at both ends of the ice in a season-opening 4-2 triumph over the Flames, and now gets to host an Edmonton team that was routed 5-2 despite Calgary making its top defenseman, Dennis Wideman, a healthy scratch.
The same problems that plagued the Oilers during a miserable 2013-14 campaign were evident Thursday night. Edmonton peppered Calgary netminder Karri Ramo with 40 shots but was only able to beat him twice, while the defense allowed Calgary too many quality scoring chances and netminder Ben Scrivens struggled. The Edmonton power play was the team's only saving grace against the Flames, converting two of three opportunities on the evening.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC
ABOUT THE OILERS (0-1-0): Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins doesn't believe the final result was indicative of his team's effort level Thursday. "That's a frustrating way to start the season," he told reporters. "I thought we had a ton of good in our game ... our power play was excellent. I'm not going to walk out here and say we played (poorly), because we didn't. But we lost the game and that's unacceptable." Eakins was pleased with the performance of offseason addition Teddy Purcell, who scored a first-period goal and finished with four shots.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (1-0-0): Vancouver controlled play in the win over the Flames, but was far from perfect - particularly in the faceoff circle, where the hosts won just 39 percent of the draws. Star center Henrik Sedin was one of the worst offenders, winning just eight of the 22 faceoffs. "We've had a couple of games like that," new coach Willie Desjardins said following the victory. "It's starting to be more than one game. It's an area we have to focus on. We have to be better, for sure."
OVERTIME
1. Vancouver won three of five meetings a season ago, though the Oilers prevailed in the last two.
2. The Canucks ranked 10th in faceoff winning percentage in 2013-14 (51.4 percent), while Edmonton was 21st (49 percent).
3. Edmonton went just 13-22-6 away from Rexall Place last season, recording the fewest road wins in the Western Conference.