Depth shines through on Saturday night to push Canucks to 2-0 start to season

In Wednesday's season opening 8-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks stars shined brightly. Brock Boeser scored four goals while Elias Pettersson and JT Miller each had four point nights. In Saturday's rematch in Edmonton, it was the other end of the line-up that carried the Canucks to victory. From the back-up netminder to the grinders and role players, the Canucks dug deep to hold off the Oiler attack. And as a result, the Canucks are out of the gates with a pair of wins over their divisional rivals to start this National Hockey League season.

Here are some thoughts and observations about Saturday's 4-3 victory:

*The Canucks got their final three goals from Nils Höglander, Jack Studnicka and Sam Lafferty. That's the one each from the entire fourth line -- at least the way the Canucks opened the hockey game. That won't happen often over the course of a season, but it happened on Saturday and it was exactly what the Canucks needed. It wasn't that their best players played poorly -- not at all -- but depth forwards stepping up at key moments didn't happen at all in the preseason leaving some to wonder if this would be another season where offense at the bottom of the line-up would be hard to come by. Well, through two games, the Canucks already have goals from Conor Garland, Dakota Joshua and now Höglander, Studnicka and the third period winner from the newcomer Lafferty. Two games, nine of the 12 forwards to dress for Vancouver have found the back of the net -- the only ones that haven't yet are Anthony Beauvillier, Pius Suter and Phil Di Giuseppe.

*Nils Höglander had a goal and set up Lafferty's winner 2:56 into the third. He has three points through his first two games of the season after registering just nine points in 25 NHL games last season before being dispatched to Abbotsford. A week ago, he looked like he might be the extra forward to start the season, but injuries and cap manipulation allowed him to crack the season opening roster. And he's seized the opportunity and run with it. He only played 8:14 on Saturday, but left his mark on the hockey game. In addition to his two points he also had three hits. But perhaps the biggest indication that he is gaining Rick Tocchet's trust is that he was out for a 34 second shift with four minutes to play and the Canucks clinging to a one-goal lead. That represent progress for a player who has struggled at times with his attention to defensive details. But not on Saturday night.

*Clearly the Canucks were playing with fire getting outshot 40-16 and out-attempted 88-33. If they play that game 10 times, they may only win once. But they found a way to gut it out on Saturday and much of it was due to back-up Casey DeSmith who held his own against one of the most-formidable offensive attacks in the NHL. Sure, there were a few too many wild scrambles around his crease, but in a 3-3 tie heading to the third period, it became a question of who would blink first. And Stuart Skinner blinked allowing the Sam Lafferty goal. DeSmith was under seige for most of the third period and found various ways to prevent the Oilers from scoring. Oh sure, he got some help from the posts along the way, but his job is to keep pucks out of the net and when the chips were down he did just that. He has now turned in three really solid performances in Canucks colours -- two in the preseason and this one when the team was playing for keeps. That should help his confidence as well as the belief in him of his teammates and coaching staff when he next gets the tap on the shoulder.

*The Canucks opted to shorten their bench in the third period going with just four defensemen for most of the final period. Ian Cole logged 10:14 of the final frame while Filip Hronek played 9:36 (and would have played more if not for a high-sticking penalty on Zac Hyman midway through the period). Akito Hirose played just 1:09 of the third period and only six seconds of the final 15:50 while Noah Juulsen was limited to one 40 second shift over the final 11 minutes. The Canucks got away with this one, but Carson Soucy can't get back quickly enough to shore up the team's defensive depth and penalty kill.

*The Canucks didn't get their second win of the season until their ninth outing last year -- and they didn't pick up their third win until the 11th game of the season. The Canucks will spend Saturday night in Edmonton and fly to Philadelphia on Sunday. With back to back victories over the Oilers, they have the chance to go three for three to start the season when they face the Flyers on Tuesday. That is Philadelphia's home opener after games in Columbus and Ottawa to start their schedule. So prepare for more player introductions and a drawn out pregame ceremony before the 3pm Pacific time (yes, 3pm) puck drop. This will be the final home opener the Canucks will be involved in this season.