Boeser scores twice in third period, Canucks win opener against Oilers

EDMONTON -- Brock Boeser scored two goals in the third period for the Vancouver Canucks in a 5-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Wednesday.

Braden Holtby made 28 saves in his Vancouver debut, Nils Hoglander scored in his NHL debut and Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist. Tanner Pearson and Quinn Hughes each had two assists in the season opener for both teams.
"I was pretty excited coming into a new year and getting a fresh start," Boeser said. "I think our team played a really good hockey game for our first game of the year and we have to build off it. We have to make some adjustments in some areas. We made some mistakes, but overall we did a good job tonight."
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Kailer Yamamoto, Darnell Nurse and Adam Larsson scored for the Oilers, who were 0-for-4 on the power play. Mikko Koskinen made 30 saves.
"I want to see improved puck play getting out of our zone," Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said. "We gave up two goals off pucks we played on the wall and didn't get it out. Just some poor puck play led to a lot of chances against."
Horvat gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 15:32 of the first period when he was left alone in the slot on a rush, but Yamamoto tied it 1-1 on a one-timer at 5:39 of the second off a pass from Leon Draisaitl.
Vancouver restored its lead on Hoglander's first NHL goal at 17:19 of the second, a rebound of Pearson's shot to make it 2-1.
"I couldn't believe it when the puck went it," the 20-year-old forward said. "I was in the moment and I was happy to see the puck going in. It feels good. I think we played a good game and it feels really good."

Nurse scored 10 seconds into the third period to tie it 2-2, but Adam Gaudette one-timed a pass from Antoine Roussel at 1:53 to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead.
Boeser made it 4-2 at 3:44 after Hughes sent the puck to the slot from just inside the blue line while down on the ice. Boeser was alone in the slot and shot it past Koskinen.
Larsson scored on a shot from the top of the left circle at 8:18 to make it 4-3, but Boeser scored again at 13:46 on a rush down the right wing for the 5-3 final.
"I'm really happy with our game. It was a good start to our season," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "I like how we responded in certain parts of the game. Obviously when they scored, we bounced back. It was a nice win."

Oilers center Connor McDavid hit the crossbar as time expired in the third period; he had five shots on goal in a team high 26:24 of ice time.
"I think it just comes down to us, a lot of those goals are mistakes by us," Yamamoto said. "They're all correctable and once we do that, we'll be good. It's the first game. We haven't played in a few months. It's going to take a little bit of time.
"I think it's coming along. I think we learned a lot in this training camp. We can only get better from here. I think we'll be good; we've just got to keep working on it."
NOTES: Hoglander (20 years, 24 days) is the fifth youngest player in Canucks history to score in his NHL debut; defenseman Rick Lanz (19 years, 24 days) holds their record, set Oct. 10, 1980. … Vancouver defenseman Olli Juolevi played 10:16 in his regular-season debut; he made his NHL debut last season on Aug. 7 in Game 4 of the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers against the Minnesota Wild. … Defenseman Travis Hamonic, who signed a one-year contract with the Canucks on Tuesday, had an assist and was plus-2 in 19:55. … Forward Dominik Kahun had an assist and four shots on goal in his Oilers debut.