GAME RECAP: Oilers 2, Canucks 1 (Preseason)

VANCOUVER, BC – The Young Guns came out firing against a strong Canucks squad and left the last ones standing after  60 minutes of hard-fought pre-season hockey on the West Coast.

Backstopped by a 25-save performance from Tristan Jarry and tallies from Isaac Howard & Quinn Hutson, the Edmonton Oilers earned an impressive preseason 2-1 victory over a near full-strength Vancouver Canucks on Thursday at Rogers Arena.

"I thought the kids played great in front of me," Jarry said. "They worked their butts off in both zones. They were doing everything right, and they implemented everything we've been going through in practice tonight. I think they did a great job.

Leading a mostly AHL-focused lineup from the Blue & Orange, Howard finished with a goal & an assist, opening the scoring 3:58 into the first period before picking up the primary helper on Hutson's tally that doubled Edmonton's advantage before the five-minute mark of the middle frame.

The Canucks cut the lead to 2-1 on the power play only 1:33 later, but that would be all the hosts could muster against a resilient Jarry between the pipes for the Oilers and some terrific penalty-killing and defending over the final 40 minutes of regulation.

Forward Viljami Marjala and defenceman Tomas Cibulka both picked up assists.

The Oilers improve to 3-0-0 in the preseason and will wrap up their exhibition schedule on Saturday with their final tune-up against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place.

HOW IT HAPPENED

A step up in competition against a near full-strength Canucks lineup on Thursday was the perfect opportunity for some of the Oilers’ less experienced players to rise to the occasion in some of their final exhibition tune-ups before being reassigned to either the AHL or their respective junior teams.

Isaac Howard, making his third pre-season appearance this exhibition campaign, is one of the players fighting hard to extend his stay in Edmonton in hopes of locking down a full-time spot with the club this season, and the 22-year-old was ready to make it happen on Thursday by opening the scoring for the Oilers 3:58 into the first period.

Defenceman Tomas Cibulka helped keep the puck in at the blueline before feeding Howard in the right circle to deliver the opening goal on a snap shot that beat netminder Nikita Tolopilo just before the four-minute mark of the opening frame.

Not long after, Connor Clattenburg marked his pre-season debut with a crushing check on Filip Hronek near the penalty box to set the physical tone and send the defenceman toppling to the ice.

The 21-year-old Clattenburg didn’t participate in Rookie Camp earlier this month as he recovered from an injury, but the marauding forward was out there deploying his physical brand that’s quickly making a name for himself in Edmonton and putting the rest of the League on notice.

Between the pipes, the task was a tall one for netminder Tristan Jarry, who was sharp in the opening 20 minutes by stopping all seven shots he faced, including his first big intervention by bailing out teammate Ty Emberson when the puck bounced off his stick along the boards to create a wide-open chance in front for forward Jake DeBrusk.

Seeing the effort being put in by some of the younger and less-experienced players in front of him, Jarry felt motivated to match their compete level and turned in a terrific performance from the Oilers' blue paint.

"It's awesome to stand back there and see that effort," he said. "I think no matter what was happening, whether it was a breakdown or whether it was an odd-man rush, everything was a hard-working mistake, or if it turned out good, they were just working hard."

Jarry is working to have a bounce-back year in Edmonton – a process that began for the 31-year-old this offseason with the help of Goaltending Coach Peter Aubry after the two got the chance to slow things down and evaluate over the summer.

"Just working with Pete over the summer, it was a big summer for me," he said. "They obviously wanted me to come in and work hard, and I think I was able to do that. Pete and I had a good summer learning from each other and getting to know each other a lot better. I think just being able to do that without the pressure of the season went a long way."

Howard was involved on Edmonton's second goal that came 4:28 into the middle frame, pouncing on a loose puck at Vancouver's blueline and taking it to the net himself to create an easy tap-in for Quinn Hutson on the rebound that came off the left pad of Tolopilo.

Viljami Marjala picked up the secondary helper to give the Finnish forward points in back-to-back games following his OT winner in Winnipeg on Tuesday night.

Hutson led all AHL rookies in goals last season with 30 and finished second in points among all Condors skaters with 60 points in 63 games, with the North Barrington, IL product looking to take another step this season after netting his first NHL goal in his debut last season against the Boston Bruins.

The Canucks did get on the board through the power play 1:33 later, but the penalty kill would hold it down the rest of the way after that – along with the rest of this younger and less-experienced group holding their own against a stronger Canucks' lineup that was only missing a few NHL regulars.