Suter makes his mark flanking top forward pair of Miller, Boeser
Playing with a top pair of forwards is both easy and hard.
It's easy because if you hit your marks, you'll have the puck on your stick all the time.
It's hard because you have to hit those marks.
Pius Suter has done this perfectly this season playing alongside J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser.
The duo are the offensive leaders for the Vancouver Canucks, but when Suter has lined up on left wing with them, the trio has been one of the NHL's most dominant lines.
“You got to know what their strengths are and how they play, and just got to be in the right spots. You're filling up space. Just get to know your role,” Suter says, modestly.
“It's just understanding how they play and what they do, and you just got to trust your instincts.”
Normally a centre, Suter has fit astoundingly well on the line playing as a winger.
When Suter, Miller and Boeser have played together this season, the Canucks have taken about 60 per cent of all shot attempts when they are on the ice.
That's one of the best splits in the league. Outside of the puck-dominant Carolina Hurricanes, the only line that has been comparable has been Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, and whomever else has been lining up on the left wing. Lately, that's been Adam Henrique, but the veteran appears set to miss Game 1 tonight versus Vancouver with an injury.
Mattias Janmark will likely take his place.
Miller glowed about Suter's fit on their line.
“He makes so many little plays that people probably don't even see on a regular basis,” the veteran centre said.
The way Nashville defended against Vancouver was a true shift from what most other teams in the NHL do. They would immediately put two defenders on the puck carrier, taking away any time and space down low.
“They were sending two guys on you, even if the puck wasn't stalled yet,” Suter said. “They're pressuring, pressuring, so you had to get rid of the puck quick.”
But they also gave away space on the half wall, Miller noted, which was part of the reason he thinks his line had so much success in the series.
“We were able to create a lot of secondary looks,” Miller said. “Pius, he'll be the first to tell you he could have a lot more in that series.”
Against Edmonton, the Canucks are likely to find more space to work with. The Oilers are a quickstrike counterattack team, but they aren't aggressive in their own end.
The Canucks had plenty of success early in the season against Edmonton because of this, but as the season progressed — and the Oilers swapped coaches — they did get tighter in their own end.
“They're more like Vegas, Boston, us ... kind of defending,” Tocchet said. “They're one of the best neutral zone teams.”
But Miller, Suter and Boeser relish that style of play. They like to defend hard and then want to take the play up ice, getting into the nitty-gritty areas to find goals.
“We're not going to go away from what was working,” Miller said.
“We're a take-what-they-give-you type of line.”
Tocchet thinks the line is going to keep thriving offensively.
“Pius last series was around the net a lot. And I think that's important; it can't be just (Boeser). I think that he got a lot of chances because of that,” he said.
The other end of the ice is going to matter, too. Edmonton is just about the NHL's most dangerous team on the rush. The Oilers' power play is so lethal because they have several attacking options at any given moment.
The fact that Suter is so aware defensively is the last, perhaps most vital, key to why the line has been able to hum all season, no matter the opponent.
If Miller is caught on the backcheck, Suter is quick to read that and has been able to be the forward hustling back to help defend around the Canucks' net. It's made for a more relaxed Miller.
“That happened a few times in the (Nashville) series where he was down low and we were comfortable with him, because he's a centreman by trade,” Tocchet said.
“I think sometimes Millsy, when he plays with other guys he thinks he's got to be low all the time, so he makes these switches when we shouldn't, where with Pius it's `OK, he's got it.'”