Vancouver Canucks: 3 takeaways from loss to Los Angeles Kings

The Vancouver Canucks put a good effort tonight but it wasn’t enough as they fell to the Los Angeles Kings 7-5 in Salt Lake City.

Do you remember the 21st night of September?  That is the opening line of the famous Earth, Wind and Fire song September. While there isn’t anything worth remembering on this 21st night of September for the Vancouver Canucks — a 7-5 loss to the Los Angeles Kings — it was still a pretty to watch and a fun game to cover for my first post-game report for The Canuck Way.

The Canucks got goals from Adam Gaudette (he scored twice), Tanner Pearson, Josh Leivo and Tyler Graovac. Zane McIntyre was between the pipes for the first two periods and Richard Bachman played in the third period.

Shots were 39-29 in favour of the Canucks. It was a good effort by the Canucks all around, but they just couldn’t come away with the W. Now, let’s dive into three takeaways from tonight’s game.

3. A familiar face dominates the Canucks

Ben Hutton signed a one-year contract with the Kings on Tuesday and made his preseason debut for the Kings tonight against his former team.

He was an interesting figure during his time in Vancouver. Hutton had a good rookie season but struggled to replicate that success over his next three years. Of course, there were was consistency issues and he was one of the whipping boys on Canucks Twitter. The team had no choice but to move on from him.

Hutton got the second assist on a goal from Jaret Anderson-Dolan and later scored a goal on a slapshot that eluded McIntryre.

Hutton was also taking part in battles along the boards, taking pucks away and getting a little physical which included shoving Elias Pettersson into the boards.

Fans on Twitter were making jokes about Hutton’s two-point game against the Canucks.

https://twitter.com/Nucks_Hockey/status/1175579198661918720

It felt weird seeing Hutton in a Kings jersey and I think he had a good game. He just might find his game in L.A, who knows?

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

2. Goalies have a rough night

McIntyre and Bachman proved that they belonged in the AHL as they gave up a total of seven goals on 29 shots.

To be fair, they weren’t going to make the team anyway. However, the Canucks put in a good effort and could have won the game if the goaltending was better. Plain and simple. McIntyre and Bachman were giving up goals that they would regularly stop.

One of them was the second goal because I think McIntyre should have caught the puck in his glove for example.

Fans were not happy with the goaltending from McIntyre and Bachman Hopefully we get to see more of Jacob Markstrom and Thatcher Demko for the rest of the preseason.

1. Brock Boeser is Back

Brock Boeser signed a three-year bridge deal on Monday, and he played his first preseason game tonight. It was certainly nice to see him back in the lineup.

Boeser did not disappoint in his first game back with the Canucks.  He showed confidence with the puck and controlled it quite well. He had some good chances, especially on the power play as he returns to in his “sweet spot.”

It was good to see him play with Pettersson and Quinn Hughes again. They looked dangerous cycling the puck on the power play, getting chances in front of the net and on the rush.

For Boeser, he had plenty of chances in this game but unfortunately couldn’t score. His shot release was on display once again — one-timers, wrist shots and snap shots.

Up next for the Canucks is the Ottawa Senators. The two teams will play each other in Abbotsford on Monday. Puck drop is at 7 PM.