Elias Pettersson scored his first goal for the Vancouver Canucks since Jan. 21, snapping a 15-game drought with his blistering one-timer against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night.
Pettersson, 26, had just gone four straight games without a point and recorded just one total shot on goal through the first three of those games. Frankly, the Canucks had no hope for a playoff spot or for making any noise in the playoffs if Pettersson, who had 191 points in his previous two seasons, did not begin to turn things around.
Except now, it appears, he finally has turned things around.
#Canucks “One on one” time…Rick Tocchet working with Elias Pettersson… pic.twitter.com/UXbS5pzt27
— JAY JANOWER (@JayJanower) March 4, 2025
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet was spotted spending some one-on-one practice time with Pettersson earlier in the week, and it would appear the former longtime NHLer has managed to pass on some sage knowledge to his Swedish superstar.
"There's expectations on him. Maybe he didn't deal well with it, maybe the preparation stuff, but now he can only go forward," Tocchet had said of Pettersson via Daily Hive Vancouver's Noah Strang on Tuesday. "The last 48 or 72 hours, he's doing stuff that I'm like, 'Wow, that's the stuff we need from you'. The way I look at it, he has a good 22 games for us, we might all forget about the 60 [previous] games."
"The last 48 hours or 72 hours he's doing stuff that I'm like 'wow, that's the stuff we need from you.' The way I look at it, he has a good 22 games for us, we might all forget about the 60 games." #Canucks
— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) March 4, 2025
Pettersson has been productive with his time since that day, recording three shots on goal against Anaheim on Wednesday before adding another three and a goal against Minnesota on Friday night. The last time Pettersson had recorded three or more shots on goal in back-to-back games was on Nov. 14 and Nov. 16 in games against New York and Chicago, respectively.
Canucks fans made sure to recognize Pettersson for his efforts and push for growth after his one-timer, which opened the scoring late in the first period. Chants for Pettersson cascaded down the seats at Rogers Arena in support of the former 100-point-scorer.
"It means a lot, the love from the fans," Pettersson said after the game, chuckling into a smile. "Really. I'll never take it for granted and, yeah, I like the chants!"
If the real Elias Pettersson has truly returned to the Canucks, maybe there is some hope for them after all.