Focus on Flames players fares better than goals
VANCOUVER — Friday marked the 34th birthday of the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik.
(Kevin Bieksa promised postgame cupcakes and candles for the Vancouver Canucks stars.) Also noteworthy?
Off-season splash Ryan Miller was making his debut for the new employers.
As if the affair needed more oomph, the Canucks trotted out a lineup that featured many of their regulars.
The Calgary Flames, by contrast, had only a handful of regulars on the premises.
Hardly seemed fair — but in a good way.
“It’s going to be a great test for our players,” Flames coach Bob Hartley was saying before the match. “We have lots of players … they have to make statement. We have four (pre-season matches remaining after Friday), so the evaluation process is moving on quite rapidly.
“Many of those young players have been unbelievable in the games, in the intrasquad games — they had great camps … but at the same time, we have to trim down the roster eventually. So this is a big game.
“Why? Because look at their lineup. This is pretty close to an NHL lineup. It’s going to be a great gauge for us.” And it was. The Canucks, riding a dominant second period, stomped past the Flames 3-0 in National Hockey League pre-season action at Rogers Arena.
Outshooting the travellers 19-6 in the middle frame, the Canucks got power-play conversions from Lin- den Vey and Jannik Hansen. Radim Vrbata connected on the man advantage in the third period.
The Calgarians, on 18 shots, were unable to solve the netminding of Miller and Joacim Eriksson. No matter. Because what the Flames wanted, of course, were looks.
At Sam Bennett, making the second pre-season appearance of his career. (Gritty and good. Tremendous puck-handling on display again.)
At Karri Ramo, making his first pre-season appearance after shaking a lower-body ailment. (Solid, but hardly tested in his short night.)
At anyone else who cared to make an impression. (And speedy Paul Byron, in particular, did. Plenty of jump.) In the morning, Hartley talked about Bennett, who’d dazzled the previous night in his Saddledome debut. The Flames coach tried to find a balance between excitement and caution when discussing the 18-year-old. Not an easy task. “For a first game from a rookie … I’ve been in this league for quite some time, I can’t remember seeing a dominant performance like this,” Hartley had said of Thursday’s contest in Calgary. “I felt he was our best forward in (that) game. But now it’s his second game in two nights, facing a much more mature NHL team … and on the road.”
Bennett, on Friday, operated between Jiri Hudler and Byron.
Hartley orchestrated a quick onthe-fly change to get Bennett’s trio out against the Sedins. As a test, that’s a steep one. But, only 90 seconds in, Byron whipped the puck to an all-alone Bennett. Deking, the Flames youngster was foiled by Miller.
Then, with five minutes before the intermission, Bennett & Co. bottled up the hosts.
A couple of shifts later — with Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins getting the last change — the Sedins rolled out against Bennett in Flames territory. And, to exit the zone, Bennett swung past Daniel Sedin with a sweet bit of stickhandling.
It’s fair to say, however, that the kid had less bounce in the second half of back-to-back contests.
Ramo handled the opening 20 minutes, blocking all eight shots.
And reliever Doug Carr was hardly eased into action.
By the time the Canucks had outshot the Flames 12-0 midway through the second period, they were ahead 2-0.
When Brandon Bollig went off for interference at 6:34, Vey cashed in.
When Markus Granlund went off for high-sticking at 8:33, Hansen cashed in.
C-NOTES: Herald’s three stars: 1. Vancouver C Henrik Sedin (birthday boy bags three power-play helpers); 2. Vancouver C Linden Vey (newcomer scores once, wins his share of draws); 3. Calgary LW Paul Byron (shows off wheels, best of the guests) … C Markus Granlund, with an unspecified injury, left the game and did not return.