In one respect the Vancouver Canucks had been on a roll of late, winning seven of their past 10 games after beginning the 2024-25 season with no wins in their opening three contests. At the same time however, they had struggled at home with just one victory in six games.
Highlighting this incompetence on home ice, was losing 6-0 and 7-3 in their previous two contests against the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers respectively. As a result, there was plenty of nervousness ahead of Tuesday night's home tilt versus a Calgary Flames team, which had already beaten them 6-5 in overtime at Rogers Arena, to open the regular season.
In the end however, any concerns was subsequently eradicated, as the Canucks came out on top with a well-deserved 3-1 win over their Canadian rivals. And leading the way was Elias Pettersson, who celebrated his birthday in style as he took home the First Star of the Game.
The psychological reasoning for Pettersson's ongoing struggles
It's no secret that Pettersson had struggled to start the 2024-25 campaign, carrying on his poor form from the second half of last season. This had led to a number of theories about why he was performing so badly, including a lingering issue with his knee and not being able to handle the pressure of his massive contract-extension from last March.
Fortunately for everyone concerned, the four-time NHL All-Star had recently began to show signs of life. And it all came together on Tuesday night, with his best performance of the season to date.
Pettersson is finally moving more freely on the ice, seemingly no longer worried about re-injuring his knee. (Which again, there was some debate about how serious this was.) He's getting more involved again, and has five points in his last four games, including three goals.
A performance with some historical significance
The just-turned 26-year-old produced a goal and an assist on Tuesday night against the Flames specifically, resulting in him moving past Bo Horvat into the top 10 all-time in club history for points by a Canucks player. He now has 421 points in 421 games.
Perhaps alluding to how focused he is right now on the team as opposed to himself, Pettersson seemingly wasn't aware of the significance of the two points he produced versus the Flames. As per Lindsey Horsting of NHL.com, he said: "That's pretty cool. I didn't know that was close, that's fun."
Certainly, the 2017 fifth overall draft pick is working hard and looking to get back to fulfilling his true potential. As per Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, he said: "Just trying to find my game again. I know what I’m capable of, (I’m) just finding it."
Another example of Pettersson's impact on the night, came in his success on face-offs. He was 13-for-22 against the Flames, including going 6-for-10 in the Canucks' defensive zone.
Tocchet gives his take
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet commended the centre for his effort and commitment. Speaking to the media post game, he said: "He's working on his game. He's going on the ice a bit early. I think that's helping. And he's working hard. That's the only way you're going to get out of these things. (He's) starting to get skating legs, and I think that's because he's skating hard in practice."
Of course, it wouldn't be Tocchet if he didn't also show Pettersson some tough love. He said: "He's doing extra and he has to continue to do it. Even if he's tired in the game, I told him, I don't care. We're looking for the long run with him. ... probably have a day off, but he'll probably come in and get a workout, and that's the stuff that he's going to have to do, and it's starting to pay off for him."
Let's be clear in stating that Pettersson still has some way to go, to get back to being the player who had a career-high 102 points just two seasons ago. However, there's plenty of reason for optimism, with him finally starting to play more like what he's capable of, which should be a major concern for the rest of the NHL.