The Canuck Way
Fansided

Canucks: Positives and negatives from huge game 2 victory

By Brayden Ursel

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 04: Brock Boeser #6 of the Vancouver Canucks scores a second period goal past Alex Stalock #32 of the Minnesota Wild in Game Two of the Western Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 04, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 04: Brock Boeser #6 of the Vancouver Canucks scores a second period goal past Alex Stalock #32 of the Minnesota Wild in Game Two of the Western Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 04, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 2
Next

The Vancouver Canucks were a much different team in their game 2 tilt with the Minnesota Wild. Here are 3 positives and 3 negatives from Tuesday night.

Down 1-0 in the series to the Minnesota Wild, the Vancouver Canucks did whatever it took to win game 2. Elias Pettersson reunited with the rest of the “Lotto Line” and found a way to make magic happen. Here are three positives and two negatives from the Canucks 4-3 victory that evened the series at one apiece.

Negatives

1. Injuries strike early in return to play

It’s a good thing that the Canucks have a logjam of forwards at their disposal because they were rocked with a string of injuries between games 1 and 2. Listed as “unfit to play”, Tyler Toffoli (spotted wearing a protective boot) and Adam Gaudette took a seat and were replaced by Jake Virtanen and Loui Eriksson.

But the injury bug didn’t stop there. After a hard-fought first game that saw a bloody scrap and five hits, Micheal Ferland took only four shifts and just over 2 minutes of ice time before making his way to the dressing room for the remainder of the night. No news on his status yet, but the worry of his lingering concussions is sweeping the Canucks’ Twitter world.

To make matters worse, Antoine Roussel took a puck to the head off a hard Virtanen slap shot and fell hard to the ice. Bloody and dazed, he was down and needed medical attention to get off the ice. Four players already in question for game 3.

2. Penalty trouble continues

The Canucks defenders had a difficult time staying out of the sin-bin, especially the towering Tyler Myers and the small but shifty Troy Stecher. For different reasons, they totaled a combined 10 penalty minutes and almost cost the Canucks their lead.

Stecher needs to watch where he’s placing his stick, taking a bad tripping penalty that made fans shake their heads. Myers took three questionable cross-checking penalties, but it was more often than not in defense of his young teammates. Regardless, both blueliners are important pieces to the blueline puzzle for Vancouver and they need to find a way to remain physical without crossing the line.

Home/Editorials