Räty and Sprong stood out in the Canucks’ loss to the Flames

Right at the start, Vilmer Alriksson set up Phil Di Giuseppe for a partial breakaway after a nice cross-ice feed. It was nice to see Alriksson given another chance in preseason, even though he could have easily moved to his junior club.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki made a nifty one-touch pass at the blue line that not only allowed the Canucks to win the zone, but also gave them their first power play of the game when Lekkerimäki drew a tripping penalty on the play. Aatu Räty had the best chance of gaining the man advantage when he sent a one-timer low blocker flying to Dan Vladar.

The Flames scored first on the next shift when Brayden Pachal fired a point shot that Arturs Silovs had difficulty catching in traffic. 1-0 Flames.

Ty Mueller caused a turnover after he intercepted a bad pass to Mackenzie Weegar and went on a breakaway. Weegar caught up to Mueller and deflected the 2023 fourth-round pick’s shot wide.

Ryan Lomberg took advantage of a broken play that once again started with a point throw to Silovs to make it happen 2-0 Flames.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki jumped on a loose puck after Daniel Sprong released the puck in the high slot after solid work along the boards. 2-1 Flames.

This is Lekkerimäki’s first goal in Canucks colors and another strong play from Daniel Sprong, who continues his already strong preseason. And yes, STRONG preseason. No SPRONG preseason. Be better.

Dan Vladar made numerous saves as the quarter progressed after another strong transition from the Räty line. Räty was robbed by Vladar on a tap-in after Vincent Desharnais served him with a point-blank cross-ice feed.

The pace was good in this game – anything better than what we saw in Seattle on Friday night – as the Canucks trailed at the first intermission.

The Flames pulled ahead by two at the end of a power play just before halftime of the second period after Blake Coleman made a point shot that seemed to beat Arturs Silovs in slow motion. 3-1 Flames.

Point shots continue to be a bit of a problem for Silovs.

The Nils Höglander-Aatu Räty-Conor Garland trio continued to be the Canucks’ best team and were rewarded for their efforts after Höglander used Garland in a two-on-one with Räty. Garland held the puck, kicked him in the leg and passed it unnoticed to Räty, who had all the time in the world to take the perfect shot to beat Dan Vladar and score him 3-2.

The Flames moved forward after the release… you guessed it, another point shot! This time it was Adam Klapka who spun around at the top, realized he didn’t have much room to maneuver, and let loose a wrister that found its way past Silovs.

The Canucks entered the third period trailing by two, with Devin Cooley and Nikita Tolopilo getting to the crease for the Flames and Canucks, respectively.

Akito Hirose left the game at the start of the third period after falling awkwardly onto the boards after Adam Klapka completed his check on the 25-year-old defender.

Aatu Räty almost scored his second goal of the game as he cruised to another two-on-one win. He thought about shooting the whole time but hit the crossbar. Add this to his highlight reel that night.

The Canucks had over three minutes of uninterrupted power play time and we got another great look at Daniel Sprong, who had another strong game of his own. They didn’t manage to score, but Sprong looked dangerous enough to make me realize he’ll be a real threat on PP2, if not PP1, this season.

4-2 Flames final.

Some takeaways from tonight:

-The NHL preseason is far too long. Start the season now!
-Aatu Räty impressed once again and he could be just the right-handed center this team needs…so to speak. It’s so much fun to watch his stick play. More players should do this so I never have to listen to strong arguments for the team faceoff again.
-Another evening where I would have liked to have seen more of Sammy Blais. I don’t think he’ll make this team at this point.
-The Canucks are perfect with 13 penalty kill opportunities so far this preseason. This means they are on track to achieve a 100% PK rate this season.

What is your immediate reaction to tonight’s game?