Del Zotto doing what he does best
Canucks dominating shot count since offensive-minded blue-liner reinserted into lineup
Even as the Vancouver Canucks faced unrelenting pressure from the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night, one defence pairing stood out. This might surprise some fans, but it was the duo of Michael Del Zotto and Alex Biega.
The duo finished the night, a 4-2 win for the host Canucks, plus-11 in terms of shot attempts for and against.
And that’s a very good thing for NHL depth defencemen. Both players have experienced defensive struggles at times, but so far, so good, for them as a tandem.
Wednesday night’s performance is in keeping with how things have gone through the four games they’ve been defence partners, since the double loss of blue-liners Alex Edler and Chris Tanev just over a week ago in Las Vegas.
Over that span, the Canucks are dominating the shot count when Del Zotto and Alex Biega are on the ice. Some of that may be a result of playing more than half their minutes with either Elias Pettersson or Bo Horvat on the ice.
But there’s also the reality that, even when you’re playing with the team’s best skaters, you still need to execute the system.
For Del Zotto, you can’t help but think this four-game stretch is especially satisfying, since he’d sat out the previous seven contests as a healthy scratch.
“Ever since I’ve been back, I feel like me and Bulldog (Biega) have been playing some really good hockey,” he said Thursday after the Canucks practised at the University of B.C.’s Father David Bauer Arena.
“I thought our breakouts were excellent. Being able to exit the puck clean allows you to be in the O-zone more, which are easier minutes obviously, and fun minutes, as well.”
With head coach Travis Green pushing his defencemen to join the rush when they can and help the forwards create scoring opportunities, Del Zotto’s skill set seems perfectly suited to such an approach.
His offensive smarts have landed him on the power play before, and the fact he’s averaged about a goal every 10 games over his career is no accident.
Observers may have noticed him getting on top of the net more than once against Chicago. Again, that fits with his overall approach on the season — of the nine shots he’s taken this year, four have come from inside the faceoff dots.
He may talk about enjoying the physical side of the game — and there aren’t many rearguards who don’t — but his strengths have always been evident in the offensive end of the rink.
So, yes, playing with Pettersson helps a lot, he said.
“The biggest thing the last couple games is that we’ve been matched with Petey’s line quite a bit, a more offensive line,” he said. “You’re able to put the puck in their hands, join the rush.”
Or, say, help set up a big goal, as Del Zotto did on Monday, zinging a perfect pass across to Pettersson, who used a now-familiar onetimer to fire the puck into the Minnesota net.
“(Pettersson)’s got a pretty big wheelhouse for his onetimer, which obviously helps with passing,” Del Zotto said. “Goldy (Nikolay Goldobin) made a great play with the drop pass to me. I wasn’t really expecting it and I just tried to look at the net to draw him out, and then got it over to Petey.
“So, really nice shot, yeah. ”