It was a fast-paced and extremely exciting game last night. Rogers Arena was buzzing as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Calgary Flames in a shootout by a score of 4-3.
It was a game the Vancouver Canucks could have easily lost. It was a game that saw the Calgary Flames take 47 shots on goal. It was a game that kept the Canucks’ penalty killers busy nearly all night and in some very key situations. Here are my three takeaways from Saturday evening’s game.
1. Troy Stecher promoted to first power play unit
It wasn’t that Ben Hutton did a bad job running the Canucks first power play unit in the absence of Alex Edler, it was just that Troy Stecher has also played extremely well during this time of need on the Canucks’ blue line — much like Hutton has.
How Pettersson forced OT 🎯🔥 pic.twitter.com/xoSaUNh99D
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 8, 2019
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Stecher topped off another good performance on Thursday evening with this slick tape-to-tape pass to Elias Pettersson tying goal and send them to overtime in a wild game in Chicago.
This feed to Pettersson was all it took for head coach Travis Green to decide to put the agile Richmond native on the team’s first power-play unit for the team’s next game.
Although the power-play didn’t convert on any of their five chances tonight, it wasn’t for a lack of effort or ability to get set up in the offensive zone. Stecher had many key holds at the line as the Flames penalty killers repeatedly tried to clear the zone and sneak in a line change.
On top of keeping the play alive, Stecher was a huge part of how well the power-play moved the puck tonight. The power-play was running through him tonight, and it resulted in some great looks for Pettersson and Brock Boeser.
Tonight, it seemed the power-play did everything but score. However, if they continue to get as many looks as they did tonight with Stecher on the point, the goals will come very, very soon.