GAME RECAP: Canucks 4, Oilers 1 (Preseason)

VANCOUVER, BC – Next time the Oilers take to the ice, they'll be playing for points.

Despite Evan Bouchard finding the scoresheet on Friday night, the Edmonton Oilers couldn't end the preseason on a winning note, falling 4-1 to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena in their final exhibition tune-up before the start of their regular season.

The Canucks scored three straight goals over the first two periods, taking a 2-0 lead off tallies from Quinn Hughes and Carson Soucy before forward Arshdeep Bains scored his second PPG of the preseason against Edmonton in the middle frame to give the hosts control of the game with a 3-0 lead.

Evan Bouchard cut the deficit to two with a quick snipe off a faceoff set up by Viktor Arvidsson with 7:46 left in the second period, but the Oilers weren't able to crack Canucks' netminder Arturs Silovs any further, with DeBrusk sealing the 4-1 victory after adding an empty-netter with just under two minutes left in the final frame.

"I know it's a big change going from playing in a Stanley Cup Final Game Seven to exhibition, and I think guys' hearts are in it, but it's just not quite the same, understandably," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "But now we're hitting the regular season and we need to pick it up."

With their preseason concluded, the Oilers will solidify their opening-night roster by Monday's deadline at 3:00 pm MT before they officially begin the regular season on Oct. 9 against the Winnipeg Jets.

"Obviously, it's preseason, but at the same time, this was our last test before the real thing," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "We're going to need to dial that up and focus on those little things a little more."

"A few games we could've defended a little bit better, but I think it was good just to kind of get our timing back, get our feet under us and find that chemistry again. I know we'll be prepared on Wednesday."

FIRST PERIOD

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins rang a wrist shot off the crossbar for Edmonton's best chance on the first of two early looks with the power play that Vancouver killed off despite the Oilers' top unit showcasing some nice puck movement.

The Oilers had a 7-1 advantage in shots when the Canucks began to turn the tide midway through the frame, starting with Daniel Sprong forcing Stuart Skinner into a quick save off his fast deflection between the hashmarks that came from a nice combination between Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson.

Ultimately, it was Canucks' captain Quinn Hughes who'd break the deadlock with 9:11 left in the opening frame, sifting a shot through two layers of traffic from the blueline before it caught a piece of Zach Hyman and hit the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

Brock Boeser struck the crossbar on an open chance less than a minute later, but the Blue & Orange's top line almost orchestrated the tying goal when Connor McDavid started a pretty passing play with a spin pass to Nugent-Hopkins, who one-tapped it in front for Hyman for his in-close chance to be stopped by the right pad of Silovs.

Despite their opportunities, the Oilers would fall behind 2-0 after giving up another clean look – this time to Carson Soucy at the top of the circle that he tucked stick side on Skinner with less than three minutes to go in the first period. Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk produced the assists as the Canucks took their two-goal lead into the intermission thanks in large part to a few defensive miscues by the Oilers in the opening 20 minutes.

"I think just the little breakdowns need to stop right now," Nugent-Hopkins said. "Obviously, we can't put ourselves behind the eight ball like we did last year. It's too tough when it comes down to crunch time, and I think those little details go a long way and we're a fast team. Sometimes, we don't give ourselves the best opportunity to play fast when we're just kind of playing around the neutral zone and not putting pucks in and pressuring their defence."

SECOND PERIOD

It was all Canucks early in the second period when Tyler Myers had a wrist shot kicked away by the right pad of Skinner on another open look from the slot, keeping the deficit only two only a few minutes into the frame.

Edmonton's second line of Skinner, Draisaitl and Arvidsson looked dangerous with the second pair of Nurse and Emberson on a shift soon after when the puck was worked up to the point for Emberson, who let go of a long wrist shot that was mishandled by the Vancouver netminder before the rebound fell to Arvidsson for a backhand that was foiled by Silovs' slight touch with the glove.

The Oilers' penalty kill stopped the Canucks on their first assignment six minutes into the frame, but after Adam Henrique was given the extra penalty following a scrum that came off a heavy hit near the benches from Darnell Nurse on Keifer Sherwood, it was Arshdeep Bains who'd take a pass from Danton Heinen that went through Nugent-Hopkins before the Surrey, BC product put it off the post and in for the 3-0 lead.

On Bains' goal, Edmonton's PK allowed its seventh goal on 23 penalty kills this preseason, while its power play dropped to 0-for-4 on Friday after failing to convert with 25 seconds of five-on-three during the period's second half.

Nurse was able to spark something in his team with his hard hit on Sherwood minutes earlier, and the Blue & Orange would get on the board before the break on a quick face-off win by Arvidsson that allowed Evan Bouchard to walk in and wire the 3-1 goal top shelf on Arvidsson.

With 20 minutes of pre-season hockey left, the Oilers trailed by two with a slim 19-17 lead in shots.

THIRD PERIOD

Noah Philp came off the bench and rocketed into the offensive zone before taking a back-pass from Connor Brown and sending a high shot off the chest protector of Silovs, failing to beat the shot-stopper who's expected to be the No. 1 netminder for the Canucks to begin the season with Thatcher Demko out indefinitely due to injury.

With Janmark in the box later in the period, Philp rushed up ice and dished it to Nugent-Hopkins for a short-handed chance that the longest-tenured Oiler couldn't handle in the left circle before it escaped into the corner, signalling an uphill battle for the Blue & Orange to get back into the game.

The Oilers pulled their netminder with over two-and-a-half minutes to play and couldn't generate any chances, leading to DeBrusk sealing the 4-1 victory with a shot off the right post and into the empty Edmonton cage.

After finishing the preseason 3-5-0, the Oilers will need to bring their A-game this coming Wednesday to avoid having another slow start like last season. Nugent-Hopkins said the group is very cognizant of the importance of starting the season strongly, having the experience last year while understanding the strength of home ice in the playoffs.

"You want home ice. There's no question about that," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We don't want to look too ahead of ourselves either at the same time, but we know the goal and we know what we have to do to get there. It's going to start with the next month or so."