One of the biggest stories coming out of the Vancouver Canucks season-opening loss to the Calgary Flames was the play of goaltender Artūrs Šilovs. Overall, Šilovs struggled, allowing six goals on 26 shots in his first start of the season. With this is mind, here is a look at his night using tracking from NHL EDGE.

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Coming into the season, one of the big concerns surrounding Šilovs was his ability to track pucks from distance. This was evident during the second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers and again last night against the Flames. While Calgary was able to generate some shots from in close, they often elected to shoot from distance, scoring three times from either long-range or mid-range.

As for shot distances, 14 of the 26 shots Šilovs faced were either mid or long-range shots. Not included in the total are the four shots along the boards, which could also be considered distance shots. While it has only been one game, it is clear shots from distance are going to be a point of emphasis for teams when game planning against Šilovs, which could be problamtic if the issue is not fixed.

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While it was not Šilovs' best night, the team around him also played a role in his difficult start. As a team, the Canucks only blocked 12 shots, with multiple goals occuring because Šilovs was screened by his own teammate who failed to block the shot. A good example is the Martin Pospisil goal, which can be viewed below. Shot blocking was also a weakness last year as Vancouver finished 28th in the league with 1,152. Ultimatley, the Canucks needs to do a better job of not just getting into shooting lanes, but actually blocking shots in order to help out their goaltender.

Šilovs' ability to track pucks from distance is going to be a talking point all season. It was one of the reasons Vancouver coughed up a 4-1 first period lead last night, and will be a focus point for teams across the league. In the end, Šilovs has a ton of potential, but needs to sort out this issue if he wants to have success as a starter in the NHL.