PEKKA-ED APART
Canucks chase Nashville’s No. 1 netminder to snap losing skid PATRICK JOHNSTON,
You knew the Canucks weren’t going to lose forever. And you also knew that not all matchups go to plan.
So it might not be surprising that the Canucks ended their latest losing string with a fun 5-3 win over the visiting Nashville Predators on Thursday night at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks got big goals, took only one penalty, got some outstanding saves from goalie Jacob Markstrom and, yes, a thrilling penalty-shot goal from Elias Pettersson.
They chased Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, the first time an opponent switched netminders mid-game since the Bruins did it in Boston in a game that seems an eternity ago.
The Canucks got a power-play goal from Alex Edler to open the game, and then a pair of goals on the rush from Bo Horvat and Jake Virtanen.
Pettersson’s penalty-shot goal stood as the winner, while Loui Eriksson added a fifth Vancouver marker early in the third.
The Predators got a second-period goal from Ryan Hartman on a tip that most people, save referee Tim Peel and the NHL video goal review team in Toronto, thought was a high stick, as well as a third-period marker from Colton Sissons, who took a cross-ice pass before firing the puck past a scrambling Markstrom after the Canucks broke down defensively.
They picked up a third marker with 1:23 left to play, a point shot that bounced around and somehow caromed into the net.
Here’s what we learned ...
THE PENALTY SHOT
Pettersson was all over the ice — no surprise there — so when he was fouled as he broke in alone late in the second period, it was an easy call for referee Peel, who pointed to centre, indicating it would be a penalty shot for the rookie sniper.
The crowd roared in agreement.
But, if Pettersson felt any nerves, he sure didn’t show it, as the crowd remained on its feet when he took his spot at centre ice.
That he took the slow approach, swooping out to his right to set up a likely right-toleft move on the goal, just added to the buzz in the building.
And then there was that move.
Pettersson slow-played Pavel Bure’s classic right-left shimmy, leaving Rinne sprawled out, with no chance to block what ended up being a simple wrist shot. Simple for Pettersson, that is.
THE GOALIE
The Canucks’ crease hasn’t been a happy place for much of the season. Markstrom has made a great many fantastic saves, but too often hasn’t had much help at key moments, and it’s left him with a miserable save percentage.
But on Thursday, he was able to bail out his defence multiple times, in multiple ways. His glove was on point more than once. He got his legs in front of most shots, and put the rebounds into the corners. It was a very good night for Markstrom.
THE LAB COAT
With (apparently) flu-ridden John Tortorella breaking coaching convention thousands of kilometres away behind the Columbus bench on Thursday night by sporting a hoodie, maybe the time has come for Travis Green to wear a chemist’s lab coat on Sunday in St. Louis.
He found all the right combinations for his lineup on Thursday night, slotting Nikolay Goldobin and Virtanen alongside Horvat.
Virtanen was flying, setting up a goal for Horvat and then scoring one of his own on a setup by Antoine Roussel.
The power play was also rejigged, Goldobin slotting back in on the top unit on the left side, with Brock Boeser moving into the pivot spot and working interchangeably down low with Horvat.
Edler scored the game’s first goal on the man advantage, set up by Goldobin.
The Canucks’ second unit also scored in the third period, though Eriksson’s topshelf shot actually came a second after a penalty to Nashville’s Mattias Ekholm had expired.
SWOOPING EAGLE
Edler scored a goal, and a shift later, he delivered a big hit.
It was a vintage pair of moments for the 32-year-old blue-liner.
First, there was the onetimed slap shot from the point that somehow eluded Rinne’s glove on a first-period power play.
Edler had swooped slightly out of the zone before Goldobin released the crossice pass, but came back in, stick raised high, and primed to hammer the shot.
He tried the move again on a second-period power play, but didn’t get the pass.
Still, on both occasions there were shades of Sami Salo’s enormous swoop out to centre before hammering home a goal against the San Jose Sharks in the 2011 playoffs.
On his next shift, Edler found himself in perfect position to lay a huge hit on former teammate Yannick Weber. The Predators defenceman looked to have the wind knocked out of him as he made his way back to the visitors’ bench.
THE BEAUTY OF THE CROSS-ICE PASS
After Edler’s opener, the next two Canucks goals were fabulous efforts on the rush.
The first saw Virtanen saucer a pass across to Horvat, who calmly knocked the puck down to settle it, then roofed his shot over the sprawling Rinne.
That was with 27 seconds left in the first period.
At 8:57 of the second, Virtanen turned receiver, taking a gorgeous back-hand saucer pass from Roussel and firing the puck home into the open cage, Rinne still pretty much facing Roussel when Virtanen collected and shot the puck.
Rinne is a big man, but you make him move and holes appear everywhere.
Horvat’s goal, by the way, gave the Canucks their first 2-0 lead at the first-intermission this season.
BANK SHOT
Did you see it?
Pettersson tested Rinne from an extreme angle, seeing if he could catch the Nashville goalie leaning. He flipped the puck towards Rinne’s shoulder from the corner in the first period.
The big Finn didn’t even flinch.