Canucks: 3 takeaways from 4-2 victory over Ottawa Senators

After dropping the first of four straight games against the Ottawa Senators, the Vancouver Canucks looked to bounce back and get another win on Saturday night.

With Braden Holtby returning to the crease, and goals coming from Nate Schmidt, J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser and Tanner Pearson, Vancouver was able to topple the Senators 4-2 and gather a much-needed two points.

The Canucks improve to 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, hold a record of 10-4-1 in Elias Pettersson‘s absence, and are currently just four wins behind the Montreal Canadiens for the fourth and final playoff spot with five games in hand.

Let’s dive into three big takeaways from Vancouver’s big win on Hockey Night in Canada.

Braden Holtby has another solid performance

The 2018 Stanley Cup champion had another quality game against the Senators last night. After two of the best games of his first year in Vancouver, Holtby took to the bench on Thursday but returned to the net again to try and find another win.

The former Vezina Trophy winner stopped 26 of 28 shots and finished the contest with an impressive .929 save percentage. It was a quieter night for him as of late, but his timely saves and quick reflexes helped the Canucks hold on to the lead.

“I thought Demmer was a little tired after last game. Holts is looking really sharp. We’re going to need both guys down the stretch and Holts played a good game tonight it was great to see.”-Travis Green

Holtby should see the net again on Monday. No decisions have been made yet, but with the way he’s been playing since the Canucks returned from their COVID-19 outbreak, there is no reason to go back to Thatcher Demko. Give the veteran the crease and let Demko rest while he still can.

The penalty kill went to work

It wasn’t just Holtby who kept the Canucks in the game. If it wasn’t for Vancouver’s penalty killers coming up perfect on the stat sheet (6 for 6), the Senators likely would have found a way to win the game.

The Canucks had three players — Miller, Jake Virtanen, and Quinn Hughes — take two penalties apiece, but luckily Vancouver was able to shut the door when the Sens were on the man-advantage, even turning away a lengthy four-minute double-minor.

Of course, the return of Alex Edler, Tyler Motte and Zack MacEwen to the lineup (three key penalty killers for the Canucks) helped Vancouver turn away the opposition. Because of their hard work and determination, the Canucks were able to get away from their sins scot-free.

“Yeah, penalty kill did a great job tonight. It was a great response, we needed it from our team. And obviously, we got a big power play goal,” said head coach Travis Green after the win.

Pearson notches another winner

Pearson came up clutch for the Canucks last night. Vancouver’s leading scorer when it comes to third-period tallies notched another big one that propelled the Canucks to victory; his third goal in his past three games.

Bo Horvat made his way down the ice off the rush. Trailing him, Pearson worked his way over the blueline and was given a drop pass that gave him enough time and space to get into a good position to take the shot. He waited for the Senators defender to be in the face of his own goaltender before picking his spot and bulging twine with a quality wrister.

With big players like Pettersson out with injury, Pearson has done an excellent job in stepping up and being an impact player inside the team’s top-six. He’s continuing to form chemistry with Horvat and Boeser. He’ll be an important piece to the Canucks’ playoff puzzle.

Vancouver returns to the ice on Monday to battle the Senators again, this time, in Ottawa.