FINAL SCORE: VANCOUVER CANUCKS 3, EDMONTON OILERS 2

After a mind-blowing 3-0 shutout in Game One to kick off the season, the Edmonton Oilers fell prey to the league-wide Starting Goalie Curse on Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks.

Cam Talbot allowed three goals on seven shots in the first 20:32 of play, getting himself yanked and ultimately leaving the team trailing for the remainder of the game against their other Western Canadian rivals.

He wasn’t nearly as poor as the other struggling starters that mysteriously collapsed on Saturday night around the league. Henrik Lundqvist allowed five goals on 17 shots in 20 minutes of play, Robin Lehner allowed four on 16 through 27 minutes, and Carey Price allowed four on 14 through 20 minutes of his own — and that’s just the starters that were pulled (five others allowed five or more goals but stayed in the game).

Still, it put the Oilers in a position from behind, and even their best efforts — including a lights-out relief effort from Laurent Brossoit — weren’t enough to help them come back and win.

Ironically enough, Edmonton was the first team out of the gate on Saturday, with Kris Russell getting on the board just over a minute into the game. Kris Russell jumped into the play with surprising efficiency, snapping a puck past a screened Jacob Markstrom to give Edmonton a quick lead in the game.

Things disintegrated from there, though, with Talbot allowing Vancouver to jump to a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals from Bo Horvat and Brandon Sutter just two minutes apart.

After giving up a third goal — Horvat’s second of the night — just 30 seconds into the second frame, Talbot’s night was over.

From there, the two teams reversed positions; Edmonton brought in Brossoit in relief of the faltering Talbot, and eventually Vancouver’s defense went its traditional route and slowly left the building during the final frame of play.

Edmonton got on the board a second time in the third period, capitalizing on one of their five power-plays when Maroon managed to find Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with a perfect backhand pass from behind the net. Nuge fired the puck home before Markstrom could blink, and Edmonton managed to narrow the lead to just one goal.

They would ultimately be unsuccessful in their quest to force an overtime situation, as Markstrom put up a stellar performance in the final minutes of the game to maintain Vancouver’s lead, but it was overall an exciting contest between the two rival franchises. With plenty of physicality and a few exciting saves, fans got their money’s worth from both ends of the ice — even if Oilers fans didn’t exactly get the outcome they wanted.

It’s almost painful to admit it, since I’m a firm believer that every player has areas of their game that can be improved upon — but Connor McDavid really, truly can do it all.

From his solo back check effort on the Michael Del Zotto breakaway to his chippy play in the third period, his offense is far from the only part of his game that makes him shine. Although he didn’t manage to record a point in this particular contest, McDavid remained the best player on the ice by a long shot.

It’s also worth pointing out that Oscar Klefbom really is the team’s most talented defenseman. Although McDavid finds the right place to makes plays no matter who is on the ice with him, Klefbom was one of the most noticeable players in terms of always making that just a bit easier for the captain. Draisaitl does an excellent job of this, and Patrick Maroon did his thing, but Klefbom truly was the blue liner Edmonton has been praying for for over a decade.

Finally, I need to spend a moment talking about Laurent Brossoit.

Brossoit always makes me just a little bit nervous, because he seems to constantly be just one or two inches off center when he squares up to the shot. It’s just enough off of his optimal positioning that, although he’s never in need of a wildly desperate maneuver to corral the puck, he always seems to be just a little bit surprised when he makes the save; at some point, I have this sinking feeling it’s all going to come crashing down.

Tonight, though, he was rock solid. If he’s got a regression in his future, it certainly didn’t come during this game. He denied a number of grade-A chances from Vancouver, and played a big part in why Edmonton came so close to taking the game back.

I mean, look at this:

I’m sure someone wants me to talk about Kris Russell’s effort, but there’s nothing new to say there. One player who did stand out as markedly improved, though, was Jake Virtanen; after a tough 2016-17 campaign at both the NHL and AHL levels, he was noticeable all night for the Canucks. As he matures, he could become a bigger pain for Edmonton with his driven offense and enthusiastically physical presence.

Vancouver still really doesn’t get that whole ‘protect your lead’ thing (what else is new?) and their defense remains a significant work in progress. If the first 20 or so minutes hadn’t gone like they did, this could have very easily been a different outcome.

This was a fun game to watch, even though I’m sure all you readers were hoping for something very different. I’m glad I got to tune in with you guys so Baggedmilk and company could raise some money for a good cause tonight!