Vancouver Canucks: 3 takeaways from shootout loss to New Jersey Devils
Coming off a spirited 4-1 win over the New York Rangers Wednesday night, the Vancouver Canucks took on the New Jersey Devils last night, losing in the shootout by a score of 3-2.
The Vancouver Canucks were feeling good after their win over the Rangers Wednesday night, but couldn’t string together wins, as they’ve struggled to do for the past couple of months. Here are my three takeaways from last night’s game.
Loui Eriksson returns to the lineup
Wednesday marked the first time ever that head coach Travis Green made the decision to make Loui Eriksson a healthy scratch. The decision to scratch Eriksson meant that coach Green felt it was more beneficial for his team to play their younger players such as Nikolay Goldobin over Eriksson.
The scratch sent a message to Eriksson, who said in a rare media scrum that the scratch on Wednesday night was the first and only time in his career that he has ever been a healthy scratch. He seemed to be frustrated by the decision but continued to reiterate that all he could do about it is work hard.
Eriksson has found a home on the Canucks’ shutdown line this season along with Jay Beagle and Tyler Motte. While he embraces the role, he said himself that he is used to a more offensive role and playing top-six minutes every night.
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The fact of the matter is, Eriksson hasn’t been good enough for the majority of his Canucks tenure to warrant a spot in the top six forward group. But after the injury that ended Antoine Roussel‘s season Wednesday night, Eriksson was given another shot in the top six last night, playing alongside Goldobin and Bo Horvat.
After a quiet first period for both teams, Eriksson set up Josh Leivo — who was switched with Goldobin to start the second period — for a grade-A chance that nearly beat Devils goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood.
Eriksson looked to have a bit more pep in his step than he usually does, but he will need to do more if he wants to remain in the Canucks top-six forward group. Green was quick to replace Eriksson with Tanner Pearson, and likely won’t think twice about doing the same thing down the final stretch.
Debut of #SelfishPetey
Last night marked the debut of the selfish version of Elias Pettersson. For those that haven’t already heard, Pettersson said the following in an interview yesterday. “Maybe I need to be more selfish to score more goals, but I’m always looking to pass and set up my teammates. I haven’t scored in a few games, which bothers me, so maybe I’ll be more selfish tonight.”
We know Pettersson loves to shoot the puck and loves to score goals, but most of all, he loves winning. I think he’s quickly beginning to realize that the team has a better chance of scoring, and in turn, winning if he’s the one shooting the puck.
When I was watching the game Wednesday night against New York, I noticed a few instances when Pettersson looked like he had a good opportunity to shoot but instead tried to set up one of his teammates rather than let go of a shot. It’s odd too because, at the start of the season, Pettersson was giving goalies nightmares with his incredible shot, but as more and more teams begin to zero in and focus more attention on him, his chances have decreased.
So last night was the debut of the selfish version of Pettersson, and boy did selfish Pettersson ever come as good as advertised. On a line with Leivo and Brock Boeser, selfish Pettersson came to play last night. He scored a beauty of a wrist shot set up by Boeser on the power play that beat Blackwood over the shoulder. What a shot it was.
Selfish Pettersson wasn’t as selfish as we may have hoped, however, as the Canucks had a three-on-one rush through the neutral zone led by none other than Pettersson in overtime in which he turned down a good chance to shoot to try to set up one of his teammates for the overtime winner.
Had Pettersson picked up a point in OT, he would have tied the Canucks rookie scoring record held by Pavel Bure at 60 points. Instead, he saved his best for last, and it’s a shame that this beauty of a shootout goal doesn’t count toward his goal or point total on the season.
THAT. IS. RUDE! 😱 pic.twitter.com/HGOxbrE85p
— NHL (@NHL) March 16, 2019
Last night, Pettersson’s performance looked very similar to how he was playing at the start of the year. I think I like selfish Pettersson.
Tanev is injured… again
The Canucks as a team have once again struggled to stay healthy this year. Once again, Chris Tanev has had a frustrating season struggling with injuries. Tanev has missed nearly 20 games this season, and after playing in just 42 games last season, you have to wonder if his health is going to be a recurring problem for the rest of his career.
It’s frustrating for Tanev, who last night, was playing in just his second game since returning from his most recent injury that caused him to miss a long stretch of games.
After blocking a shot that caught him in the foot, Tanev went straight to the Canucks dressing room. Shortly thereafter, Tanev came back to the Canucks bench and during a television timeout, took a twirl on his injured foot to see if he could play through it. He couldn’t. A frustrated Tanev headed back down the tunnel to the Canucks dressing room and did not return for the rest of the night.
After the game, coach Green confirmed in his postgame press conference that Tanev will miss the remainder of the season. That’s incredibly frustrating for Tanev and for the team — and the question needs to be asked, is Tanev really worth keeping around on the top pairing for the coming seasons if he’s going to continue to struggle with injuries?
It’s going to be interesting to see who the Canucks play in the absence of Tanev. With Ben Hutton still sidelined with his injury, Josh Teves — who took a midterm yesterday — will likely make his NHL debut in one of the next coming games. Quinn Hughes will also likely make his debut fairly shortly, but losing Tanev leaves a major hole on the right side for the Canucks.
Next. The impact of Antoine Roussel. dark
The Canucks will get back at it tomorrow as they embark on game one of their two-game road trip when they take on the Dallas Stars in Texas. Puck drop is at 4 PM.