Canucks: Positives and negatives from huge game 2 victory
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.
Positives
1. The Lotto line was great
Injuries or not, the Canucks needed to shake things up for game 2, and they did it in a big way by reuniting one of the most dynamic top lines across the National Hockey League. The Lotto Line consisting of Pettersson, J.T. Miller, and Brock Boeser saw over 19 minutes of ice time together, created more than a dozen scoring chances, and combined for four points and one big playoff win.
Put together in a trio they proved to be too much to handle for the Minnesota Wild, and quite frankly, the score could have been a whole lot higher if it wasn’t for the top-notch goaltending from Alex Stalock. The 6-40-9 line isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. This is just the beginning.
2. Jacob Markstrom stood tall
He was good in game 1, but he was great in game 2. Jacob Markstrom returned to MVP form and helped Vancouver hold on to a tight 4-3 contest. He was the busier goalie of the two, stopping 32 of a possible 35 shots on target and posting a 0.914SV%.
He’s been beaten clean twice in two games by the same player from the same spot. Kevin Fiala has an absolute laser beam of a shot, and he uses it extremely well on the power play. If Marky can solve the Wild’s best player, Minnesota doesn’t stand a chance.
But other than Fiala having his number for the time being, Markstrom stood tall when it mattered most. Sprawling saves and numerous acrobatic stops was the perfect way for the Swedish netminder to earn his first playoff win.
3. Loui Eriksson did the little things
Despite what a lot of people think, Loui Eriksson was a great player to have on the Canucks “insurance line” this season, and fans got another chance to see him earn his paycheck in game 2. He wasn’t a difference-maker offensively by any means, but to his standards, he played one of his best games of the year.
Dropping jaws from all over the countries couches, the 35-year-old led all Canucks’ forwards in five-on-five ice time! Playing a pivotal role defensively, Eriksson totaled 20:07, which was more than the entire top line. He was arguably the Canucks best defensive forward.
The Canucks play again on Thursday at 11:30 Pacific. Don’t miss it!