Quadrelli Report: Vancouver Canucks split wins with Flames in preseason action

Last night the Vancouver Canucks were in split-squad action. They won their game in Calgary by a score of 3-2, and lost the game in Victoria by a score of 4-3.

Last season, I had the three takeaways articles after almost every Vancouver Canucks game after I began writing at The Canuck Way. This will be similar, just with a more personal touch to it. Let’s get into the first post-game report of the preseason.

Brogan Rafferty, PP1 Specialist?

When the Canucks signed right-handed defenceman Brogan Rafferty at the end of last season out of Quinnipiac University of the NCAA, they wanted to get some good looks at him. Unfortunately, since he came so late in the season, the Canucks were only able to suit him up for two games.

More from The Canuck Way

• Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
• What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
• Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
• Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
• 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg

In those two games, however, Rafferty showed great poise, and seemed to be doing everything right. There was a memorable shift with Quinn Hughes, where the two worked the puck nicely in the offensive zone.

The Canucks got an early power play and Rafferty got an opportunity to further show off his skills. He began the man advantage off well, registering a shot that tested the Calgary goaltender early on. He turned the puck over later on that shift trying to pull of an infamous Canucks power play drop pass.

Later, Rafferty made a nice defensive play when the Flames found themselves on a shorthanded two on one. Rafferty waited the perfect amount of time before dropping to the ice to block the pass. Rafferty was one of the few noticeably solid Canuck defencemen last night, and I’m sure the team would like to get a further look at one of their young defencemen.

Although he will likely start the year in Utica with the Comets, it’s good to see Rafferty have a solid game like he did last night.

Not the win you would expect

The Canucks, in short, iced a less than ideal lineup for their other game in Calgary, while the Flames put the majority of their main roster players on the ice in front of their home fans.

The Flames sent a few of their regular players to Victoria, and that included Austin Czarnik, who, for some reason, has given the Canucks loads of trouble in past preseasons. Last year, Czarnik scored a hat trick in a preseason game against the Canucks, and last night, he came within just one goal of doing just that once again.

Not to take anything away from the Flames players who were in Victoria or the Canucks players who were in Calgary last night, but that result was not one that you would have expected if you looked at the pregame lineups. Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan taking shots at Richard Bachman just didn’t sound like it would end well for the Canucks.

Luckily for the Canucks who were in Calgary, it would seem that Jake Virtanen is playing with a chip on his shoulder after his conditioning was a hot topic of discussion after the first day of training camp. Virtanen scored two goals in Calgary, including the overtime winner, which was a thing of beauty.

In the game in Calgary, the Canucks were outshot 38-13. If it weren’t for Bachman’s performance in goal, Virtanen would have never gotten the opportunity to be the overtime hero and complete the comeback for his team.

A tough start for Gaudette

Everyone was keeping a close eye on Adam Gaudette tonight, and unfortunately for the 2018 Hobey Baker Award winner, he didn’t have the start he had hoped for. Many have wondered if Gaudette is ready for the role of third-line center for the Canucks, and if you watched the first period of that game alone, then your answer would almost certainly be no.

He did some things well, won some draws, pushed opponents off the puck, but there were numerous times where Gaudette turned over the puck at an inopportune time. Gaudette’s performance last night is one that he will look to improve on the next chance he gets to slot into the lineup.