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Canucks: 3 takeaways from chaotic 2-1 win over Carolina

By Zaahid Lalani

Dec 12, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast (71) watches Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson (40) handles the puck in the third period at Rogers Arena. Vancouver won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 12, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast (71) watches Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson (40) handles the puck in the third period at Rogers Arena. Vancouver won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports /
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Boeser, Pettersson continue to improve

Things seem to be turning around for Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson at just the right time.

Let’s start with Boeser.

Like many of his teammates, the 24-year-old winger struggled mightily under former head coach Travis Green, only notching three goals and 10 points in his first 21 games. However, since the new coaching regime, Boeser has already matched his pre-Boudreau era goal total, including this bullet to open the scoring in the first period.

Boeser, who once again skated alongside J.T. Miller and Tanner Pearson on the second line, still has a long ways to go to catch up to his previous scoring abilities, but he’s definitely on the right track to rediscover and maintain his offensive game that we’ve all grown to admire.

Same goes for Pettersson.

The young Swede was just as snake-bitten as Boeser to open the 2021-22 season, scoring at just under a half-point-per-game pace in his first 25 contests, which was highlighted by a nine-game scoreless drought in the month of November.

Pettersson hasn’t been lighting up the scoresheet since the arrival of Boudreau, registering two points in four contests, but he was finally able to notch his first even-strength goal of the year on Sunday, which eventually stood as the game-winner.

Statistics aside, Pettersson has also taken big steps in improving his overall skating, puck-handling and on-ice confidence compared to the beginning of the year.

As a result, Pettersson has been able to increase his ice time, averaging just under 17 minutes over his past four outings alongside Vasily Podkolzin and Conor Garland. The former first round selection has also proven that he can be effective on the penalty kill, as indicated by his recent deployment, which has allowed him to continue to work on the defensive aspect of his game.

Like Boeser, Pettersson still needs to take big strides in order to reach the extremely-high ceiling that he has already established for himself early on in his career. But if EP40 can continue to pick corners like he did on Sunday night, fans shouldn’t be too worried for much longer.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1470247172784357379?s=20

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