Canucks: Three takeaways from 3-2 preseason win over Winnipeg Jets

#3 Oliver Ekman-Larsson helps power play impress but not capitalize

The Canucks went zero for six on the power play.

That does sound bad but despite not capitalizing on the man advantage, they looked good for the most part.

This was evident on the first power play as the Canucks were moving the puck well and managed to get four shots on goal and hit two posts.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson was one of the players who struck iron.

Ekman-Larsson did a great job of quarterbacking the power play from the blue line. He was making quick and clear passes and shooting it on the net through traffic.

Green shared his thoughts on Ekman-Larsson’s preseason so far.

” I think both games he’s played well, his intensity level is probably higher than I knew it was,” said Green. “He looks energized, hungry to win, and ready to play.”

With Hughes and OEL, it will be great to have two puck-moving defencemen on both units. That is something the Canucks haven’t had in a long time.

The power play’s passing and traffic in front of the net looked great.

However, there were cases where the power play looked sluggish particularly on the four-minute double minor.

Other notes

• Vasily Podkolzin only managed 9:15 total ice time. He didn’t really do anything noticeable but he’ll be fine. He’s still adjusting to the North American game.
• Alex Chiasson played with hardly any energy and looked slow. He looks like he could be cut from his PTO. Chiasson is a power-play specialist that likes to be the net-front presence but he hasn’t impressed.
• Speaking of cuts, the Canucks have cut 16 players. You can see the whole list here.  One of the names that haven’t been cut is Danila Klimovich. Maybe the Canucks want to see another game of him before sending him to the QMJHL or Abbotsford.

The Canucks welcome the newcomers to the NHL, the Seattle Kraken to Rogers Arena on Tuesday. Puck drop is at 7 PM.