I Watched This Game: Canucks cap off camp by capping the Kraken

The Vancouver Canucks ended the preseason on a positive note.

For the first time in the preseason, the Canucks and their opponent actually resembled NHL lineups, giving fans a read on what they’ll actually look like this year.

For this one night, at least, the Canucks looked like a winner.

“It was the response that we were looking, for sure,” said head coach Manny Malhotra. “This was a very process-driven game. Obviously, you’re never wanting to fall behind by two, but not losing focus on playing the right way.”

The Canucks had to erase a couple of Seattle Kraken leads to get the win, which isn’t ideal, but it at least provided a demonstration to the players that what Malhotra wants from the team can be successful.

“I think tonight was just a good example of just sticking to what we know and what Manny preached on us throughout the entire camp,” said Zeev Buium. “It obviously worked pretty well.”

As much as the Canucks have made it clear that the success of this season is more about process than results, there’s something to be said for a good result to hammer home that the process is good too.

“A great way to cap off camp is they put it all together,” said Malhotra. “The process of it: defensively, we closed plays out quickly, which is one thing we talked about; our breakouts, from last game to tonight, were night-and-day cleaner, which allowed us to play on the offence a little bit more.

“And then offensively, some really good rotations, but our willingness to get to the inside and create havoc around the net.”

A coach can give a player all the praise in the world for doing the little things well and getting the details right, but that praise can start to land on deaf ears if those little things and details don’t occasionally lead to goals and wins.

The Canucks might not win many games this season, so it’s important to take advantage of those wins to cement the systems and culture for the future. It gives a coach a chance to say, “See? When you do X, Y, and Z, it works.”

I saw it work when I watched this game.

we love an early lead 🙂‍↕️

clean-up on Aisle 74 😏

From the source DeBrusk and Boeser with the double-doink on the power play. #Canucks

Nice combination play by the top line. DeBrusk wins the puck on the forecheck, Lekkerimäki makes a slick pass into the inside, and Pettersson finishes with a lovely backhand. #Canucks

the claws are out‼️

Strong work by Willander on the entry to hold onto the puck and let the power play get set up, then Karlsson with the backdoor feed to an activating Buium. #Canucks

From the source That's a nice clean hit by Pettersson on Wright, and it draws an instigator-by-any-other-name penalty. #Canucks

From the source This is some exceptional puck movement by PP1 to create this DeBrusk butt-goal, made possible by several strong retrievals to keep possession alive. #Canucks

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