A joyous birthday for Elias Pettersson in a 3-1 home victory over the Flames on Tuesday night. Petey picked up a goal and an assist – back to back multi-point games – as the Canucks took care of business in front of the faithful. It was a well-earned victory, and a needed bounce back performance. If you missed it, here are the highlights:
The Canucks have been sluggish out of the gates for most games, and that trend continued. They gave up nine turnovers in the opening 10 minutes, and for the eighth straight game let the other team score first. But, like the majority of those games, the Canucks came back when it mattered and took care of business. Calgary was a tired team coming into the game, and the Canucks were a wounded one. They needed a good showing, and after the first they delivered.
“I liked the way we responded,” said Tocchet. “More connection and quicker and awe didn’t give up much. We had a lot more guys getting inside and winning battles and squashing plays. It was one shift after another and we got on a roll.
“Good management and not trying to force everything.”
“We took care of the puck when we had to and the ice seemed to open up and they (Flames) were tired and we took advantage of that,” Miller added. “They had the long change in the second and we knew we could kill them there. We did a good job executing the plan and putting it down their throat.”
It was Jonathan Lekkerimaki’s first game for the big club, and the rookie didn’t look out of place. He was thrust into Boeser’s spot alongside JT Miller, and looked like he belonged. Playing with Miller – who was back to driving the bus last night – never hurts when you’re playing your first game. There was high praise all around for the kid:
“There’s definitely a lot there to like,” Tocchet said of him. “Smart player. When he has the puck, there’s not a lot of panic and he’s going to get better. He goes to the right spots and did a really nice job. A lot of stuff to build off because you can tell he has good poise.
“And there were some spots on the power play where he was almost like Boeser. And with that shot, he’s going to score.”
“He played really well,” Miller touted. “He makes a lot of subtle little plays and seems to be in the right spot most of the time. Very good and I’m very impressed. He can get more comfortable as we go on. And where he’s playing on the power play, he’s just not standing there. A lot of pucks come through him.
“That one in the second period, if he’s a couple feet closer to me, the guy doesn’t get his stick on the puck. He’s super smart and you can tell he has a lot of sense.”
“I felt pretty good, a little nervous,” said Lekkerimaki. “It was a great opportunity to step on the ice and do my thing. It was a special moment and I tried to enjoy it and have fun. I just tried to get in there as fast as possible and work hard.
“It was special to have them (parents) here and it was special — they’ve been there for me since Day 1.”
It was the other Swede on his birthday who found the scoresheet – the one they’re paying 1,160,000,000 pennies to this season – as his birthday party was a first-star success. Petey is slowly getting back there, and performances like that (on the stat sheet and off it) are only going to propel him forward.
“Just trying to find my game again,” Pettersson said. “I know what I’m capable of, (I’m) just finding it.”
Even through all their struggles and injuries and slow starts and drama, the Canucks are currently sporting a .679 point percentage and are tied for 6th in the NHL. Glass half full take: they’re not even close to being the team they are capable of, and they’re still sitting pretty.
“We're a good hockey team,” Miller said. “That's why I think we're hard on ourselves when it's not really good because we understand what we could be. We show signs all the time of being a dominant team and hard to play against. That second period today, like, you can't breathe when you play against us and we're playing fast like that. We don't have to defend much.
“I don't know, we've got a lot of good qualities on the team. There's going to be spurts of the season where guys don't have the best game. And we've got injuries, right? It just so happens to be the start of the season, so I think it's a little more magnified. But the important thing is... the exciting thing is, we haven't even been at our best for many games and we're still finding wins.”
True dat.
Next game goes Thursday against Bo Horvat and the Islanders.
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