Jamie Oleksiak didn't register a point for the Canucks last night, but the Oilers bench got a long look at him anyway.
The defenseman stepped in for his teammates right in front of the Edmonton bench during a 2-1 preseason loss, with an official's arm already in the air nearby.
Grady Sas summed up the reaction on X. "The Canucks have missed a lot of this over the last few years," he wrote.
Oleksiak finished with a minor penalty, went minus-1 and logged 17:02.
No shots on goal, either. Nobody replaying the clip this morning cares.
The Oilers didn't exactly keep it tidy. Five different Edmonton players took minors, including Connor Clattenburg and Spencer Stastney.
Vancouver's only goal came on the power play, a Linus Karlsson finish with Zeev Buium and Jonathan Lekkerimaki drawing the helpers.
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Jamie Oleksiak confronts Oilers while defending Canucks teammates
The timing turns a preseason moment into something bigger. The Canucks open the regular season Tuesday in Edmonton, then host the Oilers on Thursday.
Think anybody on that Edmonton bench forgets this by Tuesday?
A defenseman stepping in like that is the hockey version of an older brother showing up at the bus stop. Nobody says a word, and everybody gets the message.
It's what this roster needed, and it was more useful than anything the Canucks produced on offense Thursday.
Manny Malhotra admitted afterward that his group didn't look as sharp as the team wanted. That's three straight preseason losses for Vancouver.
Elias Pettersson logged 20:48 without a shot on goal. Jake Debrusk put seven on net and came away empty.
Filip Hronek and Pettersson also took minors for Vancouver.
The Oilers, meanwhile, picked up their third straight preseason win under Mike Babcock. Quinn Hutson scored the winner and put five shots on goal.
Hutson also took one of those Edmonton minors, proof that the guy who decided the game wasn't above the chippiness either.
The Canucks host Seattle on Saturday. After that, they find out whether standing up for each other travels to Edmonton, or stays behind in a September highlight.
Do the Canucks need more of Jamie Oleksiak's edge to beat the Oilers in their season-opening home-and-home?
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