Power play stays lifeless
This was touched on in the takeaway for Wednesday’s game too, but it’s worth noting here as well. Although the Canucks’ power play wasn’t as bad as it was in the game against Ottawa, they still struggled to enter the offensive zone at times and maintain possession of the puck.
Toronto had multiple odd-man rushes the other way, and I wouldn’t have known that Vancouver was the one with the man advantage if it wasn’t displayed on TV. It goes without saying that the team sorely misses Elias Pettersson’s presence right now, but one player could only do so much; ultimately, the power play struggles are likely caused by fatigue too, which is the main problem plaguing the team right now.
Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention that J.T. Miller did net a power-play goal, although it wasn’t pretty by any means.
J.T. Miller with the power play goal gets the #Canucks within 2. pic.twitter.com/5qa5OJYG9e
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 30, 2021
Personally, I’m not too worried about the power play due to the team’s overall fatigue, and the first unit was actually creating some decent chances before the COVID outbreak even without Pettersson driving it.
A fight for… Alex Edler?!??!
Yes, you read that right. Alex Edler got into a fight yesterday.
He definitely didn’t want to engage in one, but Wayne Simmonds left him with no choice, so they dropped the gloves and hilarity ensued.
Apparently, that’s his first ever NHL fight, which happened in his 914th career game. That probably doesn’t come as too big of a surprise given his performance, or lack thereof.
I understand that Wayne Simmonds was trying to send a message and stand up for Alex Kerfoot, but I think he should’ve let up a bit given Edler’s inexperience and the fact that he was already punished by being suspended. Of course, you should take what I just said with a grain of salt because I’m biased towards Edler, but it’s still something to think about.