Conor Garland of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates after scoring a goal during the first period against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena. The Canucks won 8-1 on Oct. 11, 2023 in Vancouver.Derek Cain/Getty Images
Brock Boeser had his first career four-goal game and led the Vancouver Canucks to an 8-1 rout of the Edmonton Oilers in the season opener for both squads on Wednesday night.
Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, along with four assists, and Dakota Joshua added the others for Vancouver.
Thatcher Demko stopped 21-of-22 shots he faced, while Casey DeSmith made five saves.
Leon Draisaitl scored the consolation goal for Edmonton, extending his point streak against the Canucks to 19 games.
Oilers netminder Jack Campbell was pulled in the second period after the fourth goal, which he gave up on just 16 shots.
However, Stuart Skinner didn’t fare much better in his place, giving up another four goals on 17 shots.
Boeser finished his night with an easy tap-in after Quinn Hughes’s shot hit Miller and fell to the waiting forward 5:43 into the third period.
After racking up his first three assists, Miller turned goal scorer when he fired in a wrist shot from near the point to make it 7-1 at 6:56 of the third.
The Canucks opened the scoring at 8:06 in the first, with Garland getting on the end of a Petersson pass that eluded Edmonton blue liner Brett Kulak.
Vancouver doubled its lead just over three minutes later when Phillip Di Giuseppe pressed hard on the forecheck, with Miller claiming the loose puck and flipping it to Boeser and he buried it past Campbell.
The goals came in quick succession as Boeser completed his hat trick at 7:30 of the second period after a shot hit him in the leg and trickled in.
Joshua put a cap on the scoring barrage when Sam Lafferty broke free down the right wing at 14:48 in the third period and slid it across to Joshua. The centre took two cracks at it, burying it past Skinner.
Notes
The Vancouver Canucks held a pre-game ceremony to mark Hughes being named captain for the 2023-24 NHL season ... Boeser’s hat trick was the first to start the season for the Canucks since Greg Adams in 1987.
Up next
The Canucks and Oilers face off in Edmonton on Saturday.