Boeser's big night sparks Canucks to opening night romp over Edmonton

Brock Boeser had the first four goal game of his National Hockey League career helping the Vancouver Canucks to an 8-1 win over Edmonton on opening night at Rogers Arena.

Here are some thoughts and observations following the one-sided affair:

*Boeser, who finished with a disappointing 18 goals last season, scored once in the first period, twice more in the second and another in the third. His previous high was three goals in a game (on three occasions) last occurring nearly four years ago on October 30, 2019 in Los Angeles. He also needed 12 games last season to score his first goal of the season after suffering a hand injury in training camp and scored a pair against the Kings.

*JT Miller took on the match-up against Connor McDavid and more than held his own. In 9:13 head to head at even strength, the Canucks outshot the Oilers 5-3 and outscored them 3-0. Miller finished the night with a goal and three assists -- one of three Canucks along with Boeser and Elias Pettersson to record four-point nights. McDavid finished the night with one assist in 20:13 of ice time. He had two shots on goal and was -3 in the game.

*without question, the turning point of the hockey game was the Oilers power play to start the second period. With fresh ice and trailing 2-0, Edmonton's vaunted power play had a chance to get the team on the scoreboard and cut into the Canucks lead. Instead, the Canucks used active sticks and took away passing lanes effectively killing the penalty. Two minutes later Boeser scored his second of the night. Instead of it being a 2-1 hockey game with plenty of time remaining, the Canucks extended their lead to 3-0 and three minutes after that made it a 4-0 hockey game.

*the Canucks won the special teams battle going away. Vancouver finished the night three for six with the man-advantage getting goals from Boeser, Pettersson and Miller. the Canucks scored three times on 13 shots on the power play. The Oilers, on the other hand, went one for four registering seven shots on goal with the man-advantage. Edmonton is going to score power play goals, so the Canucks have to feel significant satisfaction holding the Oilers to one PPG and outscoring them by two on the night. Pettersson scored just six power play goals all last season and none until Rick Tocchet took over behind the bench. So it was a good sign to see him score with the man-advantage on opening night.

*Filip Hronek followed up a strong preseason with another solid performance on Wednesday night. He and Ian Cole shared the team lead in ice time at 22:01. With Hronek on the ice at evens, the Canucks controlled 60% of the shot attempts, held an 11-6 edge in shots on goal and a 4-0 advantage on the scoreboard. The right-handed newcomer led all Canucks skaters in short-handed ice time at 2:44. He also chipped in with a pair of assists. Overall, it was a very strong performance from Hronek and a very good sign for the Canucks.

*Sam Lafferty, with one practice under his belt since Sunday's trade from Toronto, played 18 minutes even, killed penalties, had four hits and drew a first period penalty on Brett Kulak by taking the puck hard to the Edmonton net. He also assisted on Dakota Joshua's goal that rounded out the scoring. The only downside to his night was his performance in the face-off circle where he won just three of 15 draws. He likely won't have to take so many when Teddy Blueger returns to the line-up and Lafferty can slide to the wing.

*Elias Pettersson started the season with 1+3 and Quinn Hughes had 3A and both felt like secondary stories on the night. The Canucks will certainly take more 'quiet' seven point contributions from those two as the season unfolds.

*The Hockey News 3 Stars

1) Brock Boeser

2) JT Miller

3) Elias Pettersson 

The Stat That Stands Out: Brock Boeser had a team-high eight shots on goal. All eight of his attempts on the night hit the target and four of them found the back of the net.