War of attrition has Eriksson, Virtanen back in the Canucks’ attack
Depth on bench pays off as series with Wild quickly evolves into war of attrition
When Tanner Pearson was recalled by the Los Angeles Kings for the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, he expected to be a “black ace” who could help push the pace in practice.
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 semifinals. His only shot attempt in that lone post-season appearance was blocked and he logged just 5:44 of ice time, but the experience was invaluable.
Fast forward. Pearson knew injuries and/or indifferent play could determine how the Vancouver Canucks would confront the Minnesota Wild in their best-of-five qualifying series.
In this post-season world of no injury disclosure, we know Tyler Toffoli was injured in 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 ahead of Tuesday’s 4-3 Vancouver victory to even the series 1-1.
Micheal Ferland lasted just one period and Antoine Roussel took a deflected puck in the face in the third period and also didn’t return.
There were slashes, scrums, 15 minor penalties and 56 hits in Game 2.
Canucks star Elias Pettersson was treated like a pinata.
“I got into my first game from guys being hurt in the playoffs and got put right into The Shark Tank,” said Pearson.
“It’s new to guys, but at some point, this is what you have dreamed about as a kid. That’s what makes it more intense. This has been a good battle so far.”
Pearson, who opened the scoring on Tuesday, isn’t surprised at all the hacking and yakking taking place in this series against the Wild.
“It shows the teams aren’t taking any crap,” said 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 to do everything they can to win.
“If that means getting under a guy’s skin, then guys are going to do that.”
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 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 in ice time. He even had the most evenstrength ice. He didn’t register a shot, but had his stick snapped on a perfect crossice feed from J.T. Miller, which led to a self-deprecating laugh on the bench.
Eriksson was also a key cog on a penalty kill unit that went 6-for-6 as he worked 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 (gave up two power play goals) 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.”
As for Horvat, the captain concurred with his coach about Eriksson’s effectiveness.
“With Loui, you know what you’re going to get. He’s going to be in the right position all the time,” said Horvat. “He plays well at both ends and he’s reliable — he just completes the line.”
Virtanen played just 8:13 on the fourth line, drew a penalty with a strong offensive zone presence, hustled to check Joel Eriksson Ek on a shorthanded chance, and bounced 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 that he didn’t get out there a lot,” said Green. “But I like his game and he’ll slowly get better and improve, and he’ll probably play more minutes as we go.”
Meanwhile, the concussion-plagued Ferland lasted just four first-period shifts on Tuesday. He took a hit after dumping the puck in and then there was some glancing contact to his head. A whiplash motion on those hits could have triggered concussion-like symptoms.
Ferland played just one period on Feb. 14 in Utica, N.Y. during an AHL conditioning assignment with the Comets.