After a season-low 14 shots on goal in their last game, the Vancouver Canucks were not going to repeat that performance.
The Canucks figuratively came out flying in the first period much like they literally came out flying out of North Carolina earlier that day. They had nine shots on goal in the first ten minutes, on pace for 54 shots over 60 minutes, which would tie for the fourth most shots in a game in franchise history.
Then the Canucks got just ten shots for the remaining 50 minutes of the game, finishing the game with 19 shots on goal. That’s the fifth game this season with fewer than 20 shots.
The lack of shots, however, is a lot more palatable in a shutout win compared to a shutout loss.
Considering the circumstances, the Canucks deserve all the credit in the world, with some of that credit going to team services coordinator Mike Brown, who made sure they got to Toronto at all.
The Canucks’ flight was grounded on Friday night, forcing them to stay an extra night in Raleigh. Then their morning flight was delayed due to ice and snow, meaning they didn’t leave the airport until 11:00 a.m. and didn’t arrive in Toronto until 12:30 p.m. They needed a police escort to get through traffic to their hotel in downtown Toronto by 1:40 p.m.
All of that to play on the second night of back-to-backs against a red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ahead of the game, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said that the interruption to the team’s routine shouldn’t prevent the team from performing well.
“You can overcome these things,” said Tocchet . “I was telling a funny story: me and Garland in pre-game today were talking about when I was coaching in Arizona and he was a player of mine and we were on the tarmac until four in the morning in St. Louis and we ended up winning the game the next day.”
“Yeah, we got in a little bit late this afternoon,” he added. “But you can’t use it as an excuse. Sometimes, you actually play better.”
That seemed to be the case on Saturday night, as the Canucks essentially played the perfect road game. They completely eliminated the Leafs’ offence while steadily plugging away at putting the puck in the Leafs’ net, scoring one goal per period.
Was it a particularly entertaining performance by the Canucks? No, not really. But sometimes a win — not to mention shutting out the Leafs in Toronto — is entertainment enough.
It’s enough to make you wonder if the Canucks should start flying on game days a little more often. Elias Pettersson, who had a fantastic game, even said the change to the routine “was kind of nice.”
“We got in, maybe 1:30, to the hotel. Eat, sleep, and then back here,” said Pettersson. “It was like back to junior: arrive on the same day. I liked everyone’s mindset to not let it affect us and play our game.”
Quinn Hughes also likened it to playing junior hockey, saying, “We’re pretty spoiled in the NHL. What are you going to do? It’s the weather.”
Maybe the extra night in Carolina, extra time stuck on the tarmac at the airport, and the disrupted routine helped fix what ails the Canucks. It forced them to focus on what’s important: showing up to the rink and playing some hockey.
If they go on a tear after this, we’ll be talking about the legendary snowbound night in Raleigh for the rest of the season. Or maybe they’ll go right back to the same struggles and this will be a one-off win. I could only hope that this was the start of something special when I watched this game.
- Tocchet shook up the lines and took Brock Boeser off J.T. Miller’s line and put him with Pettersson. On their first shift together, Boeser scored a goal from a Pettersson assist, but it wasn’t exactly a magical connection. Pettersson fended off a check to feed Tyler Myers and his point shot took a benevolent bounce off Boeser’s boot to beat Dennis Hildeby, giving the Canucks the lead just 31 seconds into the game.
- “We got the momentum right away,” said Pettersson. “We just got more juice from that and could continue going. But then again, I think all the lines were good. Everybody played good — we helped each other.”
- Kevin Lankinen only had to make 20 saves for his shutout but some of those saves were top-notch. Midway through the first, William Nylander ran a little interference on both Canucks defencemen, tripping Noah Juulsen and putting a subtle shoulder into Derek Forbort, allowing John Tavares to bust in for a breakaway, but Lankinen calmly kept his glove up to make the stop.
- Pettersson got an assist on the opening goal but his best work was done in the defensive zone in this game, as he was tasked with matching up against the Leafs’ dangerous top line of Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, and Matthew Knies and effectively shut them down. He and Hughes each had a game-high five blocked shots and his defensive play had the Canucks bench calling for him to win the Selke.
- It started right from the first period, when Pettersson spotted Nick Robertson slip away from Carson Soucy into the soft ice in the high slot. Max Domi hit Robertson with the pass but just as he was shooting, Pettersson got a piece of his stick, so that instead of the puck rocketing into the top shelf, it skittered along the ice into Lankinen’s pad, where Pettersson helped him cover it up in the crease.
- Then Pettersson had a fantastic defensive shift midway through the second period. First, he tied up Matthew Knies at the top of the crease to prevent a scoring chance, then when the Leafs rushed back up ice, he deftly knocked an aerial pass from Mitch Marner out into the neutral zone. As the Leafs again tried to set up in the zone, Hughes sent the puck around the boards and Pettersson made sure the puck got out of the zone for a line change.
- A few minutes later, Pettersson was at it again, spotting a wide-open Morgan Rielly rushing into the zone and making a kick-save block before ensuring he got the puck to Boeser for a clean zone exit. Pettersson was kicking out pucks like MC5 .
- He kicked out another puck early in the third period after an uncharacteristic turnover by Hughes. Pettersson made a slide tackle on Knies to prevent the scoring chance, then a few moments later out-battled Marner to win the puck and make a reverse pass to Hughes for the breakout.
- Why not one more? Midway through the third period, Pettersson first blocked a shot while fronting Knies, then after Hughes couldn’t get enough on his clearing attempt, Pettersson spotted the danger once more and beat feet to the slot to poke the puck away from Knies in the slot. Knies is going to have nightmares about Pettersson tonight, if he can get to sleep at all.
- Oh yeah — Pettersson also drew a holding penalty, even though it never actually ended up on the stat sheet, as the Canucks scored the 2-0 goal on the delayed call. Just an outstanding all-around night for Pettersson.
- “I thought it was one of Petey’s best games of the year,” said Tocchet. “I thought he was terrific. Blocked shots, that one at the end there where he dove — they had a backdoor play — that was high hockey IQ. He didn’t press forward, he went back and saw that was going to happen. He was terrific — that line was really good. Every line was great but Petey was excellent tonight.”
- “Just trying to be myself out there,” said Pettersson. “Trying to be reliable in both ends. When it’s my time to step up for something, I always want to do it for the team. I’m happy with my game and our line’s game today.”
- The two turnovers by Hughes in the clips above might make you think he had an off game. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hughes was his usual incredible self but when you’re constantly playing big minutes, .
- Hughes gave the Canucks the 2-0 lead on the delayed penalty drawn by Pettersson. Smartly, the Canucks sent out Hughes as the only defenceman at 6-on-5, matching him with five forwards to give them the best chance of taking advantage of the situation. None of the five forwards got assists on Hughes’s goal, however, as his point shot hit Leafs defenceman Conor Timmins, then was knocked into the net by Simon Benoit, and own goals don’t get assists.
- Hughes’ brilliance was on full display for the 3-0 goal in the opening minute of the third. He started from the left point and circled across the top of the zone and down the right side, drawing eyes . Maxes Pacioretty and Domi both locked on Hughes while Kiefer Sherwood slipped into a shooting position. Hughes gave no indication he even saw Sherwood before putting a backhand pass right onto his tape and Sherwood whipped the puck past Hildeby.
- The lovely goal was capped off by a cheeky wink by Sherwood as he skated to the bench to celebrate. Sorry ladies and any other interested parties — .
- While Hughes and Pettersson , the penalty killers in the shadows deserve a lot of credit for the win. The Leafs had three power plays; the Canucks only allowed two shots on goal. Derek Forbort led the way with 3:58 on the penalty kill, while Sherwood was the top forward with 2:48.
- Perhaps the most impressive part of the win is that it was a true team effort. Pettersson was a beast defensively but only played 16:08, as Tocchet rolled the lines, giving everyone at least 12 minutes in ice time. The one exception was Jonathan Lekkerimäki but even he had a solid game in his 9:56 on the fourth line.
- “I thought Lekkerimäki did a really good job today for a back-to-back game,” said Tocchet. “I thought he did a great job on the walls. Just little things that you need from a young guy like that.”
- The vibes around this game were immaculate but the challenge for the Canucks is the : prove that they can be consistent and string some wins together. The Canucks haven’t won two games in a row since December 1. It’s time. It’s past time. .
