Pettersson expected back in lineup today against Red Wings
Rookie expected to rejoin Canucks team that found offence without him in the last four games
The party line for the Vancouver Canucks is that nothing is certain, but when a player skates in practice with regular linemates and isn’t swapping in and out with another teammate, that usually means they’re ready to play.
Such was the case Saturday with Elias Pettersson during the Canucks’ practice at 8 Rinks in Burnaby.
The Swedish rookie was centring Brock Boeser and Josh Leivo and was also back in his regular spot on the right side of the Canucks’ power play.
Pettersson acknowledged after the workout there’s “a good chance” he’ll play this afternoon against the visiting Detroit Red Wings.
Head coach Travis Green said Pettersson has been cleared for contact and was going to check with the medical staff after practice, but remained hopeful Pettersson would play today.
The star rookie has missed five games since suffering a knee injury when he got tangled up with Canadiens centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi in Montreal on Jan. 4.
Pettersson leads Vancouver in scoring this season with 22 goals and 20 assists. He also sits atop the NHL’s rookie scoring race, up 11 goals and 16 points from his nearest competition, Colin White of the Ottawa Senators.
His importance to the Canucks’ lineup goes almost without saying.
The Canucks were shut out by the Canadiens in the game Pettersson was injured and then shut out again two nights later against the Leafs in Toronto.
But in the four games since the Toronto loss, the Canucks have managed to get their offence firing on all cylinders, scoring 14 goals against the Coyotes, Panthers, Oilers and Sabres. They’re 2-0-2 in that stretch, which has kept them in the playoff picture.
Green said it was good to see his players doing well without Pettersson’s input.
“There’s guys in the league that are high-point producers and we’re not going to ask someone to do something that they are not capable of, and we don’t want that,” Green said.
“We want guys to play their game and play their game to the best of their capability. We’ve tried to install some different offensive looks in our game this season that I think our guys are starting to grasp and it’s nice to see them get rewarded.”
Without Pettersson the Canucks got multiple goals from Sven Baertschi (3), Loui Eriksson (2), Brock Boeser (2) and Markus Granlund (2), with singles from Adam Gaudette, Ben Hutton, Jay Beagle, Brandon Sutter and Alex Edler.
Finding goals from across the lineup was crucial coming into the season and the Canucks have been doing that. They’re on pace for 237 goals, a bump of 19 goals over last season.
That’s one reason the Canucks find themselves in the playoff discussion. Of course, they’ve still conceded 12 more goals than they’ve scored, but their recent play has them on an upswing.
Combined with the tighter play, Pettersson’s return will surely help tilt the Canucks’ chances a little more to the positive.
As it stands, the second wild-card team may need as few as 88 points to make the Stanley Cup playoffs — seven points fewer than was needed last year.
Whatever the reason, if the target remains below 90, it’s a not-out-of-the-question possibility to consider the playoffs. The Canucks are projected to finish around 84 points. Getting to 88 would mean picking up a couple more wins than expected.
That’s manageable. But if the standard were more like in years past, somewhere in the 90s, that would mean the Canucks would have to pick up 21 or 22 wins out of their remaining 32 games, a tall order.
Pettersson’s likely return today is the beginning of that pursuit. There are seven teams fighting for the final two playoff spots.
HockeyViz.com has the Canucks at about a one-infive chance of making the post-season party. Sports Club Stats rates their chances about one-in-three.
Either way, there’s little doubt the Canucks will go as far as Pettersson takes them. FOND MEMORIES
“Lots of memories,” Troy Stecher said of practising at Burnaby 8 Rinks the past two weekends.
“Still here a lot in the summer,” he said, noting his nephew plays spring hockey.
Stecher played plenty of spring hockey in his youth at the ice complex just off the Trans-Canada Highway in Burnaby. He played for the parent-organized travel team called the New Western Bruins, beginning when he was 8, playing until he was 16 or so.
The team started as a local outfit, but grew to include players from as far away as Sweden, Czech Republic, Montreal and Detroit. They won several tournaments locally before starting to travel around North America.
“We went to Detroit, Chicago, Toronto one year,” he said, adding it was a fun family adventure for all.
“Looking back at it now, the parents were obviously getting into it every night in the parking lot while we were playing mini-sticks in our rooms,” he said with a smile.
“Those are my fondest memories of minor hockey, was spring hockey. Playing Richmond was fun, but we had to deal with North Shore and Burnaby. Winning in spring hockey was a fun change.”