Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the club has re-assigned defencemen Troy Stecher and Tom Nilsson to the AHL Utica Comets.
Stecher, 22, has appeared in three games with the Canucks (0-0-0, 2 PIM) and in four games with the Comets (0-1-1, 4 PIM) this season. He was named the third star of the game in two of his three NHL appearances including his NHL debut on October 25 vs Ottawa. In 2015.16, the 5-10, 181-pound defenceman completed his junior season with the University of North Dakota, helping the Fighting Hawks to their eighth NCAA Championship while being named to the All-Tournament Team.
A native of Richmond, British Columbia, Stecher was signed by Vancouver as a free agent on April 13, 2016.
Nilsson, 23, appeared in 37 regular season games with Frolunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League in 2015.16 where he registered seven points (1-6-7) along with 34 penalty minutes. He also registered a goal and an assist (1-1-2) in seven playoff games. In 2014.15, the 6-0, 190-pound defenceman tallied six points (1-5-6) and 26 penalty minutes in 44 games as a member of the AHL Toronto Marlies.
A native of Tyreso, Sweden, Nilsson was originally selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fourth round, 100th overall, at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
VANCOUVER, BC – OCTOBER 25: Henrik Sedin #33 and Daniel Sedin #22 of the Vancouver Canucks skate up ice against the Ottawa Senators during their NHL game at Rogers Arena October 25, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Ottawa won 3-0. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
By Andrew Chernoff
October 25, 2016
Vancouver (4-2-1=9 pts) played the first game of a three game homestand tonight at Rogers Arena against Eastern conference opponent, Ottawa Senators (4-2-0=8 pts), and were shutout 3-0 for the first time this season.
Vancouver came into the game with a home record of 4-0-0, looking for their fifth consecutive home win of the young season. It was not to be.
Vancouver suffered their third straight loss, second consecutive regulation loss of the season.
The Canucks sit tied with three other teams for 5th place in the NHL and are in 2nd place in the Pacific division, with 9 points.
Canucks starting goalie Ryan Miller, stopped 25 of 27 shots in the game.
Miller, after three game starts, has a 1.97 GAA and a .933 SV%. He is now 1-2-0 for the season.
Defenseman Tory Stecher and forward Jayson Megna were in the lineup tonight, making their regular season debuts.
VANCOUVER, BC – OCTOBER 25: Troy Stecher #51 of the Vancouver Canucks steps on the ice for his first NHL game against the Ottawa Senators at Rogers Arena October 25, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
Stecher had 22:35 of time on the ice, while Megna had 11:19 for the game.
In the first, Ryan Dzingal, with his 3rd goal of the season would put the Senators up on the scoreboard first, at 7:38, assisted by Derick Brassard (3) and Marc Methot (2). Ottawa up 1-0 after one period.
Troy Stecher had the second most minutes played for Vancouver in the opening period of his first regular season game in the NHL, with 7:58, right behind his defensive partner, Alex Edler who registered 7:59 of playing time.
The middle frame had no scoring, so the period ended as did the first, 1-0 Senators.
In the third, Ryan Dzingal would score his second of the game, assisted by Bobby Ryan (2) and Chris Wideman (3) at 2:12, to give the Senators a two goal lead, up 2-0.
Canucks pulled Miller with 3:13 left on clock, for a sixth attacker.
The game would be sealed for Ottawa, with an empty-net goal by Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1), making it 3-0 Senators, assisted by Mark Stone (4) at 17:41.
Ottawa the victors going away 3-0.
In brief:
Canucks trailed 1-0 after one; 1-0 after two.
Vancouver outshot by Ottawa 28-22 in the game.
The Vancouver penalty kill was 1 for 1, with 0 shots against; 0 shots for; 0 shorthanded goals for; the power play was 0 for 1, with 0 shots for, 1 shot against and 0 shorthanded goals against.
Next Game: Oct 28, 2016: Edmonton vs Canucks at Rogers Arena @7 p.m. PST
Canucks Post Game Notes
Regular Season Game 7, Home Game 5
Final Score 1 2 3 OT SO F
Ott 1 0 2 – – 3
Van 0 0 0 – – 0
Records:
Ott: 4-2-0 (Road: 1-1-0)
Van: 4-2-1 (Home: 4-1-0)
Stats:SF SA PPPKPIM CF CA SCF SCA HITS
Ott 28 22 0-1 1-1 2 49(42) 47(45) 15(13) 27(25) 18
Van 22 28 0-1 1-1 2 47(45) 49(42) 27(25) 15(13) 19 5v5 stats in parenthesis for CF & CA SCF=scoring chances for; SCA=scoring chances against.
Troy Stecher and Jayson Megna are the latest two players to make their debut for the Canucks in the last year. The other 19 are:
Ben Hutton, Brendan Gaunce, Andrey Pedan, Jared McCann, Alex Friesen, Jake Virtanen, Hunter Shinkaruk, Alex Grenier, Nikita Tryamkin, Markus Granlund, Richard Bachman, Matt Bartkowski, Brandon Sutter, Taylor Fedun, Emerson Etem, Adam Cracknell, Jack Skille, Loui Ericksson, Philip Larsen.
Loui Ericksson led the Canucks with 4 shots; Jack Skille and Sven Baertschi had 3 shots.
Erik Gudbranson led all Canucks with 4 hits; Alex Edler and Jake Virtanen had 3 hits.
Luca Sbisa had 3 blocked shots.
Vancouver had 9-blocked shots; 8-giveaways; 5-takeaways, 15-shot attemps blocked and 10-missed shots, in the game.
Corsi Tidbits:
Canucks had 7 players with a positive Corsi For (All Situations):
Troy Stecher +6; Alex Edler +5; Jake Virtanen and Brendan Gaunce +4.
Vancouver had 9 players with a positive Corsi For (5-on-5):
Troy Stecher +7; Alex Edler +6; Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin +5.
Defensemen:
All Strengths:
Philip Laresen: CorsiFor +9, CorsiAgainst -15: for a -6 Corsi
Ben Hutton: CorsiFor +11, CorsiAgainst -17: for a -6 Corsi
5 on 5:
Ben Hutton: CorsiFor +9, CorsiAgainst -13: for a -4 Corsi
Philip Larsen: CorsiFor +8, Corsi Against -11: for a -3 Corsi
Forwards:
All Strengths:
Bo Horvat: CorsiFor +9, CorsiAgainst -16: for -7 Corsi
Sven Baertschi: CorsiFor +9, CorsiAgainst -15: for -6 Corsi
5 on 5:
Bo Horvat: CorsiFor +9, CorsiAgainst -15: for -6 Corsi
Sven Baertschi: Corsi For +9, CorsiAgainst -15: for -6 Corsi
By Andrew Chernoff
