|
Pettersson gets first hat trick, Demko is coming, Utunen eliminates Canada |
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday January 2 - Vancouver Canucks 4 - Ottawa Senators 3 (OT)
Even by Elias Pettersson's lofty standards, Wednesday was a good day.
The 20-year-old phenom was named the NHL's rookie of the month for December and the Canucks' representative at the 2019 All-Star Game, then collected his first career hat trick off his overtime game-winner as the Canucks started the new year with a win over the Ottawa Senators.
Here are your highlights:
Really, though—overtime shouldn't have been necessary. The Canucks dominated the possession game early but for the second-straight game, they had a tough time getting pucks past a young goaltender: in this case, Marcus Hogberg. All told, Vancouver put a season-high 45 shots on Hogberg, opening the scoring midway through the first period with a power-play goal from Sven Baertschi before the Pettersson show began.
Vancouver also had a 3-1 lead in the game at the midpoint of the third period, but a goal from Christian Wolanin and one from Mark Stone with Hogberg pulled and just 50 seconds left in regulation earned the Senators their first point in six games and set the stage for Petey's overtime heroics.
This week's road trip is Pettersson's first spin through Eastern Canada, with stops in Montreal on Thursday and in Toronto for Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday. On Wednesday's national broadcast from Ottawa, the Sportsnet panel was unanimous in saying that Petey is the runaway favourite for the Calder Trophy at this point in the season.
Now with 22 goals and 42 points in his first 37 NHL games, Pettersson has a 17-point lead over Colin White in the rookie scoring race and continues to post numbers that put him with the best players in NHL history.
His 20th goal and his All-Star selection also both earn him some bonus money.
The Petey show was a welcome respite after Canada's stunning quarterfinal loss to Finland at the World Junior Championship. As Team Canada clung to a one-goal lead while the clock ticked down at Rogers Arena, I started thinking back to the 2010 Olympic gold-medal game, where Team USA forced overtime when Zach Parise tied the game 2-2 with just 25 seconds to go before Sidney Crosby won it with his Golden Goal.
This time around, the Hockey Gods were not so kind. Aleksi Heponiemi got credit for the game-tying goal with 47 seconds left in regulation when a shot from Eeli Tolvanen bounced off his ankle, then squeaked past Mikey DiPietro. The Canucks prospect deserved a better fate—Finland had pressed steadily throughout the game, outshooting Canada in every period for a 34-25 margin overall. DiPietro had delivered his usual assortment of spectacular, athletic saves to preserve the slim Canadian lead—and earned a rousing chant from the crowd during the second period.
The chant was reprised in the midst of the devastation after Finland's winning goal.
Following DiPietro ever since he was drafted, I've been impressed time and time again by his poise and maturity. That's on display once again after arguably the toughest loss of his career.
The scorer of the winning goal, of course, was another Canucks' prospect—low-key defenseman Toni Utunen. The goal was his first of the season, anywhere, and his first point of the tournament.
The overtime format used for the quarterfinal was 10 minutes of 4-on-4. Finnish coach Jussi Ahokas used his seventh defenseman, Anttoni Honka, sparingly throughout the game and was down one additional blueliner after Ville Heinola was injured by a hit from Max Comtois early in the third period, so the steady-but-unspectacular Utunen continued to see a regular shift with his partner Otto Latvala.
The play that led to the winning goal came after a great chance for Canada at the other end of the ice. After Noah Dobson's stick broke on his one-timer attempt, Dobson got tangled up with the linesman near the Canadian bench as he raced over to pick up a new twig.
You can just see the fallen linesman in the top right corner of this shot as the goal is scored. Canadian forward Cody Glass got back to cover for Dobson, but caught a piece of the puck with his stick, making Utunen's shot impossible for DiPietro to track.
Before Wednesday, Canada had never failed to earn a medal when hosting a World Junior tournament, so I don't think any of us were expecting to see them go out in the quarterfinal. Still, DiPietro leaves with his head held high after winning his second-straight player of the game award and being named one of Canada's top three players in the tournament. And Canucks fans still have three players to watch in the medal round: Utunen, with Finland, and Quinn Hughes and Tyler Madden with Team USA.
The Americans advanced to face Russia in Friday's semifinal after a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic. Neither Quinn or Madden hit the scoresheet but once again, they were among coach Mike Hastings' most-used players in terms of ice time.
After missing three games with an undisclosed injury, Jack Hughes had one assist in his return to the lineup for the U.S. team.
"I think we missed him," Quinn told reporters about his brother after the game. "I don't need to tell you how good he is. You guys all watched the game today. He was a huge spur for us and he was really good. And that's his first game back. I think he's going to be better next game too. I thought he was unbelievable today.
"All the guys were calling him the 'secret weapon' we had in the back pocket, because no one saw him this tournament. So when he got that assist, we were like, 'Oh, the secret weapon, baby!'"
With Canada now out of the tournament, more attention than ever will be focused on the Hughes brothers and Madden.
"I'm excited," said Quinn. "That's the main event in Vancouver. So I'm really excited. I've only been to Vancouver once at development camp. It should be really fun."
Though he has logged a ton of ice time, I get the feeling that we haven't seen Quinn's best hockey yet in this tournament. I'm hoping for some of the Hughes brothers magic I witnessed in Kamloops at the Summer Showcase when Team USA faces Russia at 1 p.m. PT in Friday's early semifinal. That will be followed by Switzerland vs. Finland at 5 p.m. PT.
Thursday January 3 - Vancouver Canucks at Montreal Canadiens - 4:30 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
But first—the Canucks are back in action in Montreal, where they'll have a chance to leapfrog the idle Anaheim Ducks to move into fourth place in the Pacific Division on Thursday.
Vancouver Canucks: 43 GP, 20-19-4, 44 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Montreal Canadiens: 40 GP, 21-14-5, 47 pts, fifth in Atlantic Division
First things first: roster issues.
Newly acquired goaltender Mike McKenna was placed on waivers by the Canucks on Thursday. He's expected to back up Jacob Markstrom in Montreal, then will report to Utica on Friday if he clears.
Josh Leivo played just 2:52 in Ottawa before suffering what's being called an upper-body injury. The Sportsnet broadcast didn't pinpoint what happened, but did show a visibly frustrated Leivo heading to the dressing room.
As Patrick Johnston mentions, it's unfortunate timing for Leivo, who won't get to play on Saturday against his old team, the Maple Leafs. But the injury solves a roster problem for the Canucks, with Brandon Sutter close to returning from the shoulder injury that has kept him out for more than two months.
Nothing definitive yet on whether Sutter will draw in against Montreal or if Nikolay Goldobin gets back into the lineup after a healthy scratch against the Senators.
For the record, after Elliotte Friedman suggested on Wednesday that Jim Benning was testing the market on Goldy:
I wouldn't be surprised to see him dress against the Habs. Green has effectively used healthy scratches as a motivational tool in the past. Remember Sven Baertschi, just last year?
As for Montreal, they're still in the playoff picture as we hit the midpoint of the season, currently one point ahead of the New York Islanders in the second wild-card spot. Thursday's game is their first back at home after a successful six-game road trip that saw them go 4-2-0 despite some bonkers travel: Colorado, Arizona and Vegas before the Christmas break, then Florida, Tampa and Dallas afterward.
The Habs continue to be led by Max Domi, Jonathan Drouin and Tomas Tatar offensively. Carey Price returns to the net tonight after missing the last three games while his wife gave birth to the couple's second child.
Injury-wise, foward Joel Armia and defenseman David Schlemko are both on injured reserve; Forward Andrew Shaw will also miss Thursday's game.
That should set you up with everything you need for the next 24 hours.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»