Eriksson familiar with slow starts
DROUGHT: Experienced winger, and Baertschi, are looking for first goals nine games into Canucks’ season
Loui Eriksson wasn’t second-guessing himself, but Sven Baertschi was Monday. That’s the difference between an experienced sniper like Eriksson — who has a history of emerging from slow starts and prolonged scoring droughts — and Baertschi, who is thinking too much about missing nets and hitting posts and crossbars.
The wingers have yet to score through nine NHL games and if the Vancouver Canucks expect any measure of success on a tough sixgame road trip that opens Wednesday in Montreal, Eriksson and Baertschi have to produce more than just predictable responses to their respective struggles.
The league’s lowest-scoring club is also on a five-game losing streak and the only thing trending in the right direction is goaltending. The Canucks have scored just 10 evenstrength goals; the power play is operating at a paltry 10.7 efficiency.
Ten of Eriksson’s 30 goals last season came on the Boston Bruins seventh-ranked power play. This season, he could have been the difference in close games — or at least get the club off on the right track. They have, however, given up the first goal in eight of nine games.
At least with Eriksson, you can understand some sense of calm. Look at his recent track record:
■ 2015-16: Two goals first 10 games, nine-game goal drought, 30 goals.
■ 2014-15: Two goals first 14 games, 12-game goal drought, 22 goals.
■ 2013-14: Two goals first 11 games, 11-game goal drought, 10 goals (61 games, concussions).
“All players go through slumps and all you can do is dig in and know that you’re a good player and know with what you did before that you can score,” Eriksson said. “It’s a matter of getting the mindset to be hungry and shoot the puck more.”
The problem with Eriksson is he must get out of his comfort zone. He needs to be a net-front presence to tip pucks and find rebounds. He has just 13 shots. He has to find a release point away from high-traffic areas for scoring chances that aren’t going to get lost in sticks or skates or the goalie’s pads. Having Brandon Sutter as his linemate should help because the centre can play lower, with Eriksson higher in the slot.
“There’s always pressure and I have to do a better job getting shots and taking shots,” Eriksson added. “It’s always been my style to be around the net, but right now it feels like I’m not getting pucks the right way, so we need to do some thing different. But I’m still going to do the same things and I know it will be good here when I get that first goal. I just have to stay focused and keep my confidence.
“Coming into a new team is a little tough, but there are a lot of games and I just have to find mine. I had the same feeling my first year in Boston (2013-14).”
Expected to build on his World Cup chemistry with Henrik and Daniel Sedin, the 31-year-old, freeagent acquisition has provided little return on a six-year, $36-million US investment. He’ll align with Sutter and Markus Granlund against the Canadiens and there’s always the hope that the club’s improved structure will allow Eriksson to score in transition, although he’s not one to wire pucks off the rush.
“I like to play well in all three zones, and if you play well defensively, you’re going to get chances. “It could be better, but it’s a new system.”
Henrik Sedin has said his countryman never has a bad game, he does something every night to help the team and doesn’t make mistakes. Eriksson made one with a soft play on the boards to allow the Washington Capitals to take a 2-0 lead Saturday and he is a minus-4, which is concerning.
If you’re playing with Eriksson, you seldom worry about his positioning because of game awareness.
“You just want to support him well defensively coming out of our zone and offensively, his instincts will take over,” Sutter said. “Just give him some space and open things up for him and I’m sure he’ll find one (goal) soon. He’s so good around the net and has such good hands, we’ve got to get pucks on net and maybe get him a few greasy ones.
“He’s not flashy, but he’s always in the right place. There’s more to his game, but the biggest thing for us is we’re playing from behind too much and it’s a lot easier to play offence once you get the momentum going. If we do that, our 5-on-5 will get better.”
As for Baertschi, he’s looking for anything to build upon. He missed a glorious scoring chance Saturday from the slot and hit the bar on a Jake Virtanen rebound off the rush that wound up with Bo Horvat jamming in his fourth goal. And after needing a dozen games to score his first goal last season, Baertschi also needs to get tighter to the net and muster more than his 14 shots.
“It’s coming,” he said. “When our line uses each other the right way, we’re going to get chances. We just need to understand that with our speed — and if I can put pucks in places that they can get them — we’re going to have success off the rush. That’s where a lot of our chances can come.”
Baertschi also must play instinctively to build off a career 15-goal season and not over-think when he has the puck and hesitate with his release — even for a fraction of a second.
“Once you think, it’s too late and then you second-guess yourself,” Baertschi admitted. “Then you start looking for a better play and it’s too late. I’ve had shots where I tried to pick the corner, rather than just trusting you know where the corners are, and that if you go full out, then plays happen automatically.”