Pettersson explodes for four points in dominant 5-1 win over Vegas

Talk about too little, too late for the Vancouver Canucks.

After securing just one of a possible four points from their mini two-game homestand, the team hit the road again, facing off against Jack Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights in the second half of their home-and-home set.

Simply put, this game didn’t mean much for the Canucks at this point in the season. After Sunday night’s 3-2 OT loss, Vancouver sat nine points back of the second and final wild card position with just 12 games remaining on the schedule, bringing their mathematical postseason odds down to 1%.

Vegas, on the other hand, was still very much in the playoff fight, looking to extend their five-game winning streak to leap frog over the Dallas Stars, who currently hold the final playoff spot in the West.

The Canucks also went into Sin City without Quinn Hughes (illness) and Brock Boeser (injury), forcing head coach Bruce Boudreau to readjust his line combinations, particularly on the blueline.

Unlike their past two contests, the Canucks actually looked alert and hungry at puck drop, registering the first three shots of the game. The best chance came from J.T. Miller and Tanner Pearson, who were unable to connect on a one-timer in the slot.

Vegas was able to bounce back right away, taking advantage of a Tyler Myers pinch to send them to the powerplay. Despite having players like Eichel and Shea Theodore on their man advantage, however, the Golden Knights had been struggling mightily on the powerplay as of late, failing to find the back of the net while up a man for the past nine games.

Vegas was also going up against Vancouver’s revived penalty kill, which sat third-best in the league with a success rate of 84.6% dating back to March 1st.

Fortunately for the away team, their shorthanded success continued on, with both units limiting Vegas from setting up any type of sustained offensive zone entry.

Unfortunately, despite killing off the powerplay with ease, Vegas still found a way to strike first, thanks to Eichel’s 10th goal of the year just after the halfway mark of the period.

Usually, this would’ve been the beginning of the end for the Canucks, who have been absolutely dismal in their first periods this season. However, even with their playoff dreams essentially gone, the team made sure not to lay down, hoping to play spoiler for their Pacific Division rivals.

The Canucks were rewarded for their efforts near the end of the period, with Elias Pettersson drawing a holding penalty to send them to the powerplay. Unlike their opponents, the Canucks were able to capitalize on the opportunity, thanks to a strong rebound effort from Bo Horvat for his career-high 28th goal of the season and team-leading 12th powerplay goal.

The Horvat tally appeared to ignite the Canucks, who wasted no time adding to the scoresheet.

After Conor Garland forced a turnover in the offensive zone, the puck eventually made its way onto the stick of Brad Richardson, who found the back of the net just 17 seconds after Horvat to help his team capture their first lead of the game heading into the intermission.

As expected, both teams came out swinging in the second period, increasing the physicality and grit. With their playoff picture still very much alive, Vegas found a way to create more quality scoring chances but, like we’ve become so accustomed to, were stymied by Thatcher Demko, who calmly turned aside all shots faced to keep his team’s lead intact.

The Canucks rewarded their netminder right away, thanks to a pretty passing play between Pettersson and Pearson for his 14th goal of the season.

Similar to the first period, Vancouver made sure not to waste any time adding to the scoresheet. After Miller dropped the puck to Oliver Ekman-Larsson at the point, the veteran blueliner managed to locate Pettersson in front of the net for the nifty tap-in.

And he wasn’t done yet.

After drawing another penalty in the opening moments of the third period, the young Swede put his eye-hand coordination on full display, swatting down Alec Martinez’s clearing attempt from midair. The puck deflected towards Alex Chiasson, who patiently waited in front of Robin Lehner before dishing a slick half-spin pass to Pettersson for his second goal and fourth point of the night.

With that insurance marker on the board, Vancouver was able to calmly keep their opponents at bay for the remainder of the period, executing strong puck movement and intelligent hockey IQ, coupled with a few more grade-A saves from Demko, en route to the team’s first ever regulation win against Vegas.

With the victory, Vancouver improved to 33-28-10 on the year, a record that seemed damn near impossible a few months ago. However, given their dwindling schedule and inconsistent performances as of late, these wins won’t have much effect on Vancouver’s diminished playoff hopes.

The team is back in action on Thursday night, taking on the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00pm PST.

What are your thoughts from Wednesday’s 5-1 win in Vegas? Let us know in the comments!