Eriksson ready to right the ship again
Back from injury, Canucks forward eager to take advantage of his latest fresh start
SAN JOSE, CALIF. Loui Eriksson doesn’t want to dwell on the past because doing the right thing got him off on the wrong foot this NHL season.
The Vancouver Canucks winger would rather talk about tonight.
He’s poised to return from a medial collateral ligament sprain in his left knee that sidelined the 32-year-old Swede for a dozen games. The irony of another setback in his troublesome transition to the Canucks is that Eriksson did exactly what was expected of him on the play that took him out.
Eriksson raced through the slot in anticipation of a pass when he was shoved into the net from behind by Calgary Flames winger Tanner Glass. Eriksson lost his balance, braced for impact and avoided the crossbar, but his knee was twisted like a pretzel.
“I thought it was little dirty,” Eriksson recalled Friday after skating on a practice line with Henrik and Daniel Sedin in anticipation of facing the San Jose Sharks tonight. “I came at a pretty high speed and he pushed me from behind and I couldn’t really do anything.
“I felt it right away when I went into Smitty (goalie Mike Smith) and felt something was wrong right away.”
Everybody is waiting for Eriksson to do something to justify a six-year, US$36-million commitment from the Canucks on the first day of free agency in 2016. He was supposed to be the missing link for the Sedins — rekindling the trio’s world championship chemistry for Sweden — but he has been missing in action.
Eriksson also missed the final 17 games last season following a knee-on-knee sideboards collision with Anaheim Ducks centre Chris Wagner and seems far removed from the 30-goal sniper he was with the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars.
Just 11 goals in 65 games last season rubbed many the wrong way because Eriksson didn’t look engaged. He looked lost.
“I can be a lot better,” added Eriksson. “I don’t want to talk about last year because it was such a tough year and all I can think about is the next game. Hopefully it turns around and I can get my confidence going. You need the bounces and pucks going your way.
“I just want to be a good player. I’ve been in the league for a long time and I know what I can do. I just need to come in with confidence and bring a good game and be the player I’ve always been.
“All I can do is help them (the Sedins) out and get something good going together. If we can get something going, we can be a real dangerous line.”
The trickle-down effect of looking to rebound from a troublesome 4-1 loss in Anaheim Thursday meant line juggling. Alexander Burmistrov was back between Thomas Vanek and Sam Gagner at practice. Markus Granlund returned to the left side with Brandon Sutter and Derek Dorsett. Jake Virtanen and Brendan Gaunce were the extra forwards and Reid Boucher was returned to the Utica Comets.
Canucks coach Travis Green also massaged his defensive pairings Friday. Part of it was to compensate for the absence of Chris Tanev, who’s sidelined indefinitely with a broken thumb suffered Tuesday in Calgary. And part of it was getting a different look because Green is still experimenting with his back end.
Alex Edler was paired with Derrick Pouliot, while Michael Del Zotto was with Alex Biega and Ben Hutton with Erik Gudbranson.
Jacob Markstrom was given a maintenance day Friday and Green hinted he’s tempted to play Anders Nilsson tonight to not only get him his first start since Oct. 26, but to get everybody’s attention.
That’s because the last game looked too much like last year. The fun factor of a transition to a pleasing uptempo pace was replaced by the frustration of being outplayed in every conceivable manner by the Ducks.
You never felt the Canucks were going to rally. They went 0-for-5 on the power play and coughed up three power-play goals to a club missing six regulars — including centres Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler, who are recovering from surgery.
The Canucks were also crushed in Corsi, especially the line of Vanek (minus-13), Gagner (minus-11) and Granlund (minus-8).
It’s why Friday’s long practice was about better breakouts, better execution through the neutral zone and better offensive pressure. “Our execution hasn’t been sharp enough as of late and we did a lot of passing today and making plays at full speed and that’s an area we have to get better at,” said Green. “We weren’t very good last game. It was our worst game of the season, but it’s a long season and you’re going to have games where you’re not very good.
“And you have to learn from when you play bad. You have to be honest with your game every game. ‘Own your game’ is a phrase I like to use.”
It won’t take long to find out if it’s the phrase that pays with a road victory on the third stop of a fourgame test.