Bains makes case to be full-time Canucks player in Vancouver's 4-1 pre-season win

VANCOUVER - Forward Arshdeep Bains made a pitch to be on the Canucks' opening night roster, scoring on the power play and adding an assist as Vancouver defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 in the final NHL pre-season game for both teams Friday night.

Quinn Hughes, Carson Soucy and Jake DeBrusk, into an empty net, also scored for the Canucks (3-2). Elias Pettersson had two assists.

Defenceman Evan Bouchard scored for the Oilers (3-5)

Vancouver goaltender Arturs Silovs stopped 28 shots.

Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner made 22 saves.

Bains, a 23-year-old who grew up in Surrey, B.C., on Vancouver’s outskirts, is one of several players on the bubble as the Canucks make their final roster decisions.

He played five games with the Canucks last year but didn’t register a point. In 59 games with Vancouver ‘s American Hockey League farm team in Abbotsford, B.C., the six-foot, 184-pound left-winger had 16 goals and 39 assists.

He one goal in three previous exhibition games this year.

With centres Pius Suter and Dakota Joshua both out with injuries there are spots open on the Canuck roster.

Each club dressed a lineup closer to their regular-season rosters with both teams playing their final exhibition game.

Bains gave Vancouver a 2-0 lead at 7:50 of the second period. With about 10 seconds remaining in a tripping penalty to Mattias Janmark, Danton Heinen slid a pass across the front of the net that Bains banged into the open corner.

Bouchard cut the Canuck lead to 3-1 at 12:14. With the teams playing four-on-four, Bouchard was left alone in the slot and beat Silvos with a high shot.

The Oilers had some good looks on two first-period power plays, including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hitting the post, but it was the Canucks who opened the scoring at 10:11. Bains found a loose puck in the Oilers zone and tossed it along the boards to Hughes, whose shot from just inside the blue line beat a screened Skinner.

Vancouver went ahead 2-0 about seven minute later. With all the Oiler players focused on Pettersson along the boards, the Canucks centre passed to Soucy alone in the slot. He beat Skinner with a rifle of a shot to the stick side.

The last time the teams played a game that mattered the Oilers defeated the Canucks in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinal. Edmonton went on to lose Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to the Florida Panthers.

NOTES: Joshua is still recovering from off-season surgery to remove a tumour related to testicular cancer, but is back with the team … Canuck forward J.T. Miller played his first game of the exhibition season after taking a knock during training camp. … The last time the Oilers lost in the Stanley Cup final was 2006. The team missed the playoffs for the next 10 years. … Forward Connor Garland was one of the Canuck scratches.

UP NEXT: The Canucks open their regular season with home games Wednesday against the Calgary Flames and Friday against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Oilers open the season with a four-game homestand facing the Winnipeg Jets Wednesday, Chicago Blackhawks Saturday, Calgary Oct. 13 and Philadelphia Oct. 15.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.