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Pettersson is Rookie of the Month as Canucks finish October 1st in Pacific |
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Wednesday October 31 - Vancouver Canucks 4 - Chicago Blackhawks 2
Despite being the less-rested team and down to just five defensemen for the last 14:40 of the game, the Vancouver Canucks outshot the Chicago Blackhawks 14-7 and outscored them 2-0 in the final frame on the way to a 4-2 Halloween win on Wednesday night at Rogers Arena.
Here are your highlights:
The win gives the Canucks an overall record of 8-6-0 in the month of October and sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division—although that's partially because Vancouver has played more games than any other team. If you look at the overall league standings, their 16 points tie them for third overall (!) with Toronto, Boston, Colorado and Minnesota. Their .571 points per game rank them a more humble 18th, between Calgary and Arizona. Not nearly as impressive but, I dare say, still better than where most of us thought they'd be after an ominous-looking month of games against many of the league's top teams—and with injuries to key players as much of an issue as ever.
Still—remember how Roberto Luongo would take a couple of months to round into form, and how frustrating Peak Canucks were to watch early in the season? Today's a good day to appreciate what we've just witnessed.
And thanks to a certain Swedish teenager, folks around the league are noticing what's happening here, even when it's past their bedtime.
Pettersson didn't get on the scoresheet on Wednesday night, but broke the 20-minute mark in ice time for the first time (20:20). He finished with five shot attempts—three on goal—plus one hit, one takeaway, one block and three giveaways, and was 4-for-10 in the circle.
Pettersson finishes out the month with a three-point lead in the rookie scoring race, in both goals (7) and points (10). Those 10 points also tie him with Bo Horvat for the Canucks' scoring lead and he's a plus-three, which puts him one notch behind Markus Granlund in a tie for second place in plus-minus on the team. He's tied with Troy Stecher and new arrival Brendan Gaunce, who had himself a game on Wednesday.
Gaunce's shot from the slot led to just his sixth goal in 115 NHL games. It was his second career game winner, and by far his best goal ever in terms of style points.
And then there's Shotgun Jake, who seems to be finding his identity in his fourth pro season. With two goals on Wednesday against the Blackhawks and one against Minnesota on Monday, he's now up to five on the season—halfway to his total of 10 from 2017-18. Travis Green still limits his ice time but he is up by nearly a minute, to an average of 12:49 per game this season, and is seeing a little bit of power-play time. And the kid who came out of last season at a minus-11 is plus-one through the month of October.
Seeing Virtanen and Gaunce dominate the game on Wednesday, it's like all our hopes and dreams from 2014 have finally come true!
After hearing reports that Jacob Markstrom was shaken up when he took an awkward fall during Wednesday's morning skate, I was concerned that he didn't look super-confident in the first period. But he seemed to round into form as the game went on, and everything seems to be fine at Thursday's practice:
Also on the ice for practice: Troy Stecher. That's a relief, after he was felled by a hard accidental collision with Chicago defenseman Brandon Manning in the third period on Wednesday.
Though it seems like Stecher is OK, the Canucks have made a roster move to shore up the right side of their blue line. They've sent lefty Guillaume Brisebois back to Utica, swapping him with righty Jalen Chatfield.
Chatfield's call-up comes right as he's ready to return to action after an early-season injury. The 22-year-old Memorial Cup Champion, who was signed by the Canucks as a free agent out of the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL in March of 2017, had been playing well through the first two weeks of the season before he was hurt, with one assist in seven games on a pairing with Olli Juolevi.
The Comets are back in action on the road this weekend, with Friday and Saturday games against the Laval Rocket. They're very short on bodies, but word is that injured defenseman Ashton Sautner is ready to get back into action. And we have this positive news, as well.
Here's a little more on Thatcher Demko's status, from earlier this week.
Bo Horvat is missing from Thursday's practice, but I'm going to guess that he's getting a day off to help compensate for the massive workload he's taking on with both Brandon Sutter and Jay Beagle missing down the middle.
Horvat was pressed into penalty-killing duties on Wednesday for the first time this season and took a whopping 30 of 62 faceoffs in the game—and still managed to come out with a 50 percent success rate. He'll still get his minutes on the power play but I expect he'll carry a big chunk of the defensive load for the next few weeks—at least, until Brendan Gaunce has fully realized his potential as the ultimate shutdown center.
Enjoy these good vibes for now. The Canucks will face a huge challenge when they try to wrap up this homestand with their first three-game winning streak of the season as they face the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. As MalRak pointed out, the Avs will be on the second half of a back-to-back in Vancouver after facing the Flames in Calgary on Thursday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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