GDB -3.0 Wrap Up: Connor McDavid’s overtime winner leads Oilers to first pre-season victory

PRESENTED BY BETWAY

Things worth mentioning…

• Quinn Hughes opened the scoring for the Canucks with a power-play goal in the second period. That was the only goal that Stuart Skinner allowed, as he stopped 21 of 22 shots in the win. Skinner’s best stop of the game came in the third period when he denied Elias Pettersson on a two-on-one to keep the score tied at 1-1.

• The Oilers tied the game a few minutes after Vancouver opened the scoring. The Canucks had killed off a few power-play opportunities but the Oilers finally busted through when Leon Draisaitl fed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the slot and he snapped a shot past Casey DeSmith.

• There were a handful of notable performances in this game from depth forwards. Connor Brown was very noticeable in the early parts of the game and seemed to be moving around the ice very well, which is encouraging given he’s coming off of a serious ACL injury. The numbers backed up the eye test as well, as Brown led all Oilers with an 18-to-8 shot attempt differential at even strength. Lane Pederson and Warren Foegele had a few shifts together and the duo was effective in Vancouver’s zone.
• The blueline saw Darnell Nurse play alongside Evan Bouchard, new off-season addition Ben Gleason play with Vincent Desharnais, and Bakersfield Condors Markus Niemelainen and Phil Kemp form the third pairing. The Nurse and Bouchard top pairing had some solid chemistry, while Gleason stood out as a very effective puck mover.
• One final note, we have an update about how much it costs to buy drinks at the game this season…