PREVIEW: Oilers at Canucks

The Edmonton Oilers head to the West Coast to complete a home-and-away series with the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Thursday.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 8:00 PM MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 880CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canucks

VANCOUVER, BC – Looking for a more complete effort on the Coast.

After fighting back from three goals down to earn a point in Tuesday's 6-5 overtime loss to the Canucks, the Oilers will try to split their season-opening series with their Pacific Division rivals on Thursday when they hit the road for a rematch at Rogers Arena.

Evan Bouchard had a record night with a hat trick and two assists for five points, and Vasily Podkolzin scored twice, including one on the power play with 42.5 seconds left in regulation after the Canucks scored three in 4:05 to take a 5-2 lead early in the third.

The Oilers started strong and carried the bulk of the possession through 40 minutes, but a few costly mistakes led to odd-man rushes for the Canucks and Evan Bouchard scoring his first of two goals to keep it 2-2 after two periods.

Goaltender Tristan Jarry finished with 17 saves on 23 shots, getting into some tough situations but still feeling like he needed to make a few more saves for his team.

“I think for myself I have to be better in those aspects, too,” Jarry said. “Just talking about my game, I need one or two of those. I think that’s the game changer there and that puts us in a better place.”

In overtime, defenceman Ryan Shea was forced off the puck along the boards by Paul Cotter – the main contributor in Tuesday's loss with two goals for the Canucks – before Max Sasson backhanded home the winner.

For Bouchard, it's not a matter of bad habits creeping back in, but about everyone committing to a new way of playing to limit chances against.

"I think it's just about buying in, less thinking, and it’s new," Bouchard said. "You're gonna have some hiccups, but there are little things that aren't the system's fault. Whether it was a bad pinch or giving up odd-man rushes like we did tonight, it's not going to go well.”

Having set the standard during Training Camp & Preseason, Head Coach Mike Babcock says his team still has plenty to learn early in the season as they adjust to new tactics and systems.

“I didn’t think for one second it was going to be easy,” Babcock said. “Tonight was an indication that we have serious work to do, and so we’re just going to have a look at it tomorrow and show the players and clear it up.

“But playing like that -- we started fine -- but playing like that and getting away from what we’re supposed to do is unacceptable for us, so we have to set a better standard for ourselves.”