Canucks: A 2-game series versus the Oilers starts tonight

Losing their previous two games against the Winnipeg Jets, the Vancouver Canucks will look to rebound against the Edmonton Oilers tonight. The only problem, though, is that they’ll have to go through Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to do it — two of the best players in the National Hockey League right now.

It’s a two-game series with both head-to-head matchups taking place at Rogers Arena in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Canucks will be rocking their Reverse Retro jerseys with the potential of Edmonton wearing theirs (the white Oilers jerseys would look good against the Canucks gradient colour scheme).

Unlike Vancouver, the Oilers have won three straight games and they’re doing it in style. Their latest string of victories coming against the Winnipeg Jets and two games against the Calgary Flames — the latter victory being a 7-1 beatdown on Jacob Markstrom and company.

Despite the lack of wins coming for Vancouver, the Canucks have done a considerable job cleaning up their game and playing like a real team. The numbers they’ve been putting up on a night-to-night basis the past couple of games would indicate they’re on the right track, but at some point that isn’t enough. The only thing that matters is winning, and regardless of how “pretty” Vancouver’s numbers have been, those wins aren’t happening, and that’s a problem.

In order to win this series and start climbing the North division standings, the Canucks need to do two things: Re-create magic on the man-advantage and shut down the world’s best player. Do that, and winning should be easy… Getting the power play going again is one thing, but everyone knows stopping McDavid from getting on the scoresheet is something else entirely.

Players to watch:

Elias Pettersson: The 22-year-old scored twice in the Canucks last game and has been one of the team’s more consistent players since his slow start to the season. He’s hit more posts than any current Canuck. That luck will turn around soon enough. What’s a better time to do it than against McDavid and the Oilers?

Connor McDavid: His latest performance would indicate that he’s good enough to beat an entire team by himself. He scored five points (3 goals, 2 assists) on the Flames last game and has 10 points in his last five games played. Will he have that same energy tonight or will the Canucks be able to tire him out?

Olli Juolevi: The Finnish defenceman has really started to find his game at the NHL level. Still, just a single goal through 14 NHL games, but what Juolevi lacks offensively he makes up for with his solid presence in the defensive end.

Jesse Puljujarvi: The young forward has been playing next to McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Pointless in McDavid’s five-point night, but with two goals in his last three games, he’ll be looking to pot another goal.

Final predictions:

1. The Canucks finally break through and play a game that reminds people of who this team can be. Power play goals, an effective penalty kill, strong even-strength play, and good goaltending due to better defensive play.
2. The “Lotto Line” combines for seven points with Pettersson, Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller all scoring at least one goal each.
3. McDavid doesn’t register a point.

The puck drops at 7:00 PM tonight on Sportsnet. Make sure to return to The Canuck Way to read the post-game report tomorrow!