Edmonton Oilers (1-0-0) @

Vancouver Canucks (0-0-0)

Rogers Arena - Vancouver, BC

8 PM MDT

TV: CBC, Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: Nucks Misconduct

EDMONTON OILERS PROJECTED LINES

Patrick Maroon - Connor McDavid - Leon Draisaitl

Milan Lucic - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Zack Kassian

Drake Caggiula - Ryan Strome - Jussi Jokinen

Jujhar Khaira - Mark Letestu - Iiro Pakarinen

Oscar Klefbom - Adam Larsson

Kris Russell - Matt Benning

Darnell Nurse- Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Laurent Brossoit

VANCOUVER CANUCKS PROJECTED LINES

Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Thomas Vanek

Sven Baertschi - Bo Horvat - Loui Eriksson

Sam Gagner - Alex Burmistrov - Brock Boeser

Markus Grandlund - Brandon Sutter - Derek Dorsett

Alexander Edler - Chris Tanev

Michael Del Zotto - Erik Gudbranson

Ben Hutton - Troy Stecher

Jakob Markstrom

Anders Nilsson

HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

• The Oilers took care of their provincial rivals in Calgary by a 3-0 score on Wednesday night. All three goals were scored by Connor McDavid, including an empty net goal that sent hundreds of hats towards the ice late in regulation. They’ll try to keep the good times rolling in Vancouver tonight, where the Canucks will face a tall task in their season opener.

The Oilers are saying

It’s faster, it’s bigger, it’s stronger, it’s more intense. The consequences for making or not making plays get amped up in the regular season. He has the first one under his belt, the nerves should come down a little bit.”

Source

• That’s Oilers head coach Todd McLellan on the debut of Kailer Yamamoto.
• Yamamoto’s debut saw him earn just six and a half minutes of ice time. Zack Kassian will replace Yamamoto on line two tonight. Impending Chris Kelly signing in 3...2...

The Canucks are saying

He’s the fastest in the league for sure...If you’re flat-footed and you’re sitting there and he’s flying at you at 100 miles an hour, it makes your job pretty tough. That’s why all five guys need to be on the same page in our neutral zone forecheck when they have the puck. It’s a combination of us as defencemen and the centres trying to slow him down.

Source

• That’s Canucks’ defenceman Chris Tanev on looking after Connor McDavid.

• You can’t stop McDavid. You can however, toss things at him in the hopes it will slow him down.

Have some of this

DEPTH

What, me worry?

The Edmonton Oilers began their season with Leon Draisaitl on the top line alongside Connor McDavid. You’ll not be surprised to know that the top line was where Edmonton’s scoring came from. McDavid clocked in with three goals, Draisaitl had two assists. You don’t need secondary scoring when McDavid puts all of the pucks in the net by himself. Let’s see if lines two, three, or four can get in the action tonight.

• ACTION: Some new faces in Vancouver’s lineup this year, most notably Thomas Vanek. Vanek looks to spend time on the first line with the Sedin brothers tonight. Former Oiler Sam Gagner will also be in the mix with Vancouver. Gagner had a rejuvenated 2016-17 with Columbus where he put up fifty points (18-32-50) in 82 games. Gagner’s play earned him a three year contract with the Canucks. Speaking of former Oilers, goaltender Anders Nilsson has a two year deal with the Canucks as well.
• Travis Green will make his regular season coaching debut behind Vancouver’s bench tonight. He’ll always be the Islander in the silly uniform to me.
• Somewhat surprising that forward Jake Virtanen was the extra in Vancouver’s skate yesterday.
• Cam Talbot has yet to allow a goal in sixty minutes of regular season play. (1-0-0, 1.000SV%, 0 GAA) He’ll try to double that amount as Vancouver will debut with Jakob Markstrom.
• The Oilers will be missing defenceman Andrej Sekera (out til December/January) as he recovers from ACL surgery. The Canucks will be without winger Brendan Gaunce (shoulder).