The Flames head to BC for the second game of their back-to-back to face the Vancouver Canucks.

This isn't as mighty of a team as the Oilers: last season their offense ranked 23rd.

The big news coming out of Van-city is signing of Brock Boeser to a seven-year deal. The 28-year-old has never scored less than 49 points in his eight seasons in the league, all with the Canucks.

He will be playing on the top line alongside Jake DeBrusk, a former first-rounder who is on a four-season 40-point streak and Elias Pettersson, who with the exception of last year, has never scored less than 68 points in each of the five 82-game regular seasons he’s played.

While the Canucks power play was ranked close to the middle of the pack at 15th, DeBrusk proved to be a lethal weapon as he scored 14 goals on special teams, which was tied for fourth-most in the league.

Second line forward Conor Garland who recorded his second 50-point campaign last season is also no slouch.

The biggest threat for Calgary will be captain and former Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes. Despite an injury-plagued season, he led the team in scoring and has his eyes on some more league hardware this season.

The Canucks defence will also now feel major effects of trading off Carson Soucy to the New York Rangers on March 7.

During the season, Soucy’s pairing with Noah Juulsen produced the lowest Goals Against (GA) and his pairing with Tyler Myers produced the lowest Expected Goals Against (xGA) the Canucks. Each of these pairings lasted more than 259 minutes on the ice last year.

Vancouver’s defence went from 13th to 15th since Soucy's trade to the end of the season. The fall wasn’t that big considering the end of the season was just around the corner, but with a full season ahead, the Flames need to capitalize on this not just in this game, but in their season series.

Did I also mention Juulsen walked away in the off-season?

They do have Marcus Pettersson who they acquired from Pittsburgh as their leading shot-blocker in 4v5 penalty-killing situations. A PK unit that was ranked third last year.

Tyler will be shot-blocking on their second PK unit.

On the bright side, this will be a perfect early season test for the Calgary power play and an attempt to better their 1-of-4 showing on the PP against the OIlers.

Thatcher Demko is expected to be in net for Vancouver's season opener. He produced a 10-8-3 record last season with a save percentage of 0.889.

Word on the street is Devin Cooley will in net for Calgary.

Bottom Line

After pulling off an outstanding win against Stanley Cup favorites Edmonton, this Flames team has shown they can do anything they put their mind to.

Looking forward to another win.

To read about Calgary's amazing win over Edmonton in the season opener, click here.