Canucks banged up for Game 3
Ferland returns home ‘unfit to play’
EDMONTON — When Tanner Pearson was recalled by the Los Angeles Kings for the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, he expected to be a “black ace” and help push the practice pace.
Coach Darryl Sutter had another idea. Why wait?
Pearson made his NHL debut as a fourth-line left-winger in a 2-1 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series. His only shot attempt in the lone postseason appearance was blocked in 5:44 of ice time. But the experience was invaluable.
Fast forward and Pearson knew injuries and indifferent play — a post-season staple with an elevated rise in testosterone — were going to have a say in how the Vancouver Canucks would confront the Minnesota Wild in the best-of-five qualifying series.
In this post-season world of no injury disclosure, we know Tyler Toffoli had an awkward spinning collision with Ryan Hartman in Game 1 and was reportedly in a walking boot. And Adam Gaudette was labelled unfit to play Tuesday in a 4-3 Vancouver victory to even the series 1-1. Micheal Ferland lasted one period and Antoine Roussel took a deflected puck in the face in the third period and also didn’t return.
Ferland will miss the remainder of the qualifying series against the Wild after the Canucks announced Wednesday that he has left the Edmonton bubble to return home. He is listed as ‘unfit to play’ and will be re-evaluated at the end of the series.
Ferland had just 2:36 of ice time in Tuesday’s Game 2 victory before leaving. The 28-year-old from Swan River, Man., played just 14 games in 2019-20, producing one goal and five points, after getting derailed by a concussion in December.
There were slashes, scrums, 15 minor penalties and 56 hits in Game 2 and Elias Pettersson more than held his own while being treated like a piñata.
“I got my first game from guys being hurt in the playoffs and got put right into The Shark Tank,” recalled Pearson. “It’s new to guys, but at some point, they’ve played playoff hockey and this is what you’ve dreamed about as a kid and that’s what makes it more intense. This has been a good battle so far.”
Pearson, who opened scoring Tuesday, isn’t surprised about all the hacking and yakking against the Wild.
“It shows that both teams aren’t taking any crap,” reasoned Pearson. “There’s a lot of pushback and a lot of stuff between the whistles, but at this time of year guys are going to try and do everything they can to win.”
The absences of Toffoli and Gaudette on Tuesday allowed Loui Eriksson and Jake Virtanen to escape puck purgatory.
“I thought both of them played well,” Canucks coach Travis Green said Wednesday before a team practice, where he expected “some” injured players to participate. “It’s a little bit of a different situation. One guy is a veteran and one is becoming a better player in the league.”
Eriksson was aligned with Bo Horvat and Pearson and logged 20:07 and had the most evenstrength ice. He didn’t register a shot, but had his stick snap on a perfect cross-ice feed from J.T. Miller, which led to a selfdeprecating laugh on the bench.
Eriksson was also a key cog on the penalty kill that went 6-for-6 as he worked 4:20 in a pairing with Jay Beagle.
“Loui brings a lot of different things that people don’t notice and we can use him in a matchup role,” said Green. “Bo’s line played better last game and when we put Loui there, it seems to solidify the line and he enjoys playing with Loui. And when Bo’s game isn’t totally sharp, putting Loui there just seems to help.
“Loui is a big part of the penalty kill and we got scored on twice in the first game. I wasn’t thrilled about using Miller or Pearson on the PK the whole time — we do that sporadically. And when we didn’t have Loui in the lineup, we had to use Miller and Pearson, and it’s taxing on the energy.”
Virtanen played just 8:13 on the fourth line, drew a penalty with a strong O-zone presence, hustled to check Joel Eriksson Ek on a short-handed chance and put a heavy slapper off the mask of goalie Alex Stalock.
“Jake was a little nervous at the start, but part of that was so many penalties and he didn’t get out there a lot,” said Green. “But I like his game and he’ll get better and probably play more minutes as we go.”