Fights, goals, stellar goaltending, and most importantly, a win
The Vancouver Canucks capped off a five-game eastern road trip with two victories after dropping their first three games. The Canucks will return home for a brief three-game homestand before jetting back on the road. The month of January has been particularly challenging for the Canucks, who just started to get their feet back under them with new head coach Bruce Boudreau in December. Now, the newly managed Canucks suited up for five games in seven days, in a tight turnaround against five cup contenders.
In their first two games against the high-scoring Florida Panthers and defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Canucks powerplay went 0-7. Normally rock-solid Thatcher Demko had two average performances, as the Canucks outshot both of their opponents, surged mainly by goals from the third and fourth line.
The game against Carolina was a whole different story. The Canucks were sunk by a two-goal second period from the Hurricanes. Despite matching the Metropolitan division leaders’ toe to toe in shots and hits, and dominating in the faceoff circle, the Canucks power play was shut out for the third consecutive game.
The Breakthrough Begins
Canucks forward Elias Pettersson tallied two goals to give the Canucks their first lead of the road trip against the Washington Capitals after going seven games without a goal. His first goal, snapping the power-play drought, came thirty-three seconds into the second period. Pettersson’s slight hesitation forced goaltender Samsonov to go down, before snapping it post and in. His second, less than five minutes later, was banked off Samsonov at the goal line after following up on his own rebound. Pettersson’s two-goal performance, and the way in which he did it, is extremely indicative of his newfound confidence.
With a second power-play goal from Horvat, his second goal in as many games, the Canucks finished the night 1/2 with the extra man. The penalty kill still dragged behind, allowing the opening goal of the game from Alex Ovechkin, and the Capitals second goal from Tom Wilson to get them within one. Backstopped by a “comeback” game for goaltender Demko who stopped numerous breakaways and odd-man rushes, the Canucks locked down their first win of the road trip.
Best for Last
The final game of the trip against Nashville seemed to be a culmination of tough lessons learned and corrected.
The first period opened with Tyler Myers second fight of the season, followed by fellow defenseman Kyle Burroughs in the second. Remaining deadlocked after one, the Canucks need to find ways to net goals in the opening frame, after only having 23 through their first 39 games.
Starting the second, the Canucks surrendered another power-play goal, bringing their penalty kill total to 6/12 on the road trip, and 67.3% on the season. The line of Podkolzin-Pettersson-Höglander dominated in the offensive zone, after being assembled due to COVID-19 absences of Conor Garland and Horvat. Similar to his second goal against the Caps, Pettersson followed up on a rebound to tie the game at one.
The Canucks finished the game with a two-goal unanswered third, with goals from Brock Boeser (power play) and at the side of the net from Juho Lammikko.
A couple of things were apparent in this road trip. The Canucks can hold their own when it comes to even-strength play. Demko’s last even-strength goal came against Carolina, and the team is tied for second with the fewest goals 5v5 with 58.
The Pettersson Factor
The Canucks have only lost one game (in OT against the Ducks) when Pettersson scores. This is his second two-game goal streak under Boudreau. If he can keep this going, especially on the power play, the Canucks suit up to be a dangerous offensive team full of first-rounders.
Penalty Kill Woes
The Canucks are dead last in the league on the penalty kill. The road trip’s penalty kill went 0/2 against the Caps. If the team wants to see more success against opportunistic power-play teams, they will have to get this situation under wraps.
Bottom 6 Cash In
Tyler Motte led the Canucks with four points (1G, 3A) on the road trip. Notably, Juho Lammikko finished the trip with three points (1G, 2A). Motte, whose name has been heavily involved in trade rumours, set Lammikko up for his goal against the Predators with a nifty pass from behind the net.
Be Ready for the Next
The Canucks move to 10-3-1 under Bruce Boudreau, ending a testy road trip with a two-game win streak. Pettersson is scoring, the bottom six is contributing, Demko is, as always, locking down the fort, and the Canucks power play is showing signs of their bubble hockey days. Moving up to sixth in the Pacific Division, ahead of the Oilers, who have games in hand, the Canucks will need to pick up points against the Panthers and Blues and take advantage of the loss-stricken Oilers.