The Vancouver Canucks: Canada’s team. For one night at least.
On a Hockey Night in Canada that had all seven Canadian teams playing, the Canucks were the only one that got a win, beating the Calgary Flames 3-2 in overtime Saturday to complete a post-Christmas sweep of Alberta.
Alex Edler scored 3:06 into overtime, one-timing a beautiful pass from Brock Boeser under Calgary goalie David Rittich to push the Canucks’ hot streak to 8-2-1 since Dec. 4. Only the San Jose Sharks have done better than Vancouver in the Western Conference the last 10 games, and the Canucks’ surge follows a 1-10-2 nosedive that could have buried their National Hockey League season but, clearly, did not.
Vancouver remains one point out of a playoff spot as it hit the mid-point of its season at 19-18-4.
Young stars Boeser and Elias Pettersson scored the first two Canucks goals, each on an all-world wrist shot from distance, while Mark Jankowski and Travis Hamonic scored the Flames’ goals short-handed.
The real star of the game, however, was Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom, who made 31 saves, many of them difficult, and stymied the Flames at even strength despite a 14-minute spell of Calgary dominance that saw it outshoot Vancouver 14-0 from the 12:25 mark of the first period.
The Canucks were labelled by many the most hated team in hockey when they were winning Presidents’ Trophies at the start of this decade. They’re not the best team now, but there is a lot to like about them.
Here are some takeaways from the win.
No Christmas Cold
Nobody’s going to say no to three days off, turkey with family and a quick trip to Whistler for Christmas. But, really, the schedule break was far from ideal for a Canucks team that was in a pretty good rhythm and on a winning roll.
That makes Thursday’s 4-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers, when the Canucks diligently defended their lead through the second half of the game, and Saturday’s win against the Flames, especially impressive.
That pre-Christmas run was not an aberration. Markstrom has continued the best month of his NHL career, and the Canucks continue to manufacture goals at a surprising clip – averaging three per game the season after Daniel and Henrik Sedin retired – and the team defending continues to be solid, Saturday’s ragged spells in the opening 40 minutes notwithstanding.
The Canucks’ road trip continues against the New Jersey Devils on New Year’s Eve, before they visit Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto. They have a chance to be Canada’s team a few days longer.
It’s Pettersson’s World
Hockey Night in Canada panelist and insider Elliotte Friedman predicted if the Canucks make the playoffs, rookie Elias Pettersson will get Hart Trophy consideration.
The 20-year-old Swede is probably at least a couple of years away – and depending how well the Canucks do — from seriously challenging for the NHL’s highest individual honour, but we understand Friedman’s point. And Pettersson will get some MVP votes if the Canucks actually make the Stanley Cup tournament in April.
On a West Coast team that simply doesn’t get a whole lot of notice outside the Pacific time zone, Pettersson is impossible to miss. You notice him every night. You’re aware, as the opposition is, every time he’s on the ice.
He scored a beautiful goal on a two-on-one to tie Saturday’s game 2-2 at 11:37 of the second period, slinging a rocket wrister from his off-wing to the right of goalie David Rittich, who looked to be guessing left, which is where Pettersson scored his first NHL goal from a nearly identical position against the Flames in the teams’ season-opener.
But Pettersson did so much more than score. He seemed to be at the epicentre of the play all night, impressing in both the offensive and defensive zones. His second most important contribution was to defend a two-on-one in overtime by sprawling to block T.J. Brodie’s attempted pass. The wiry centre even got involved physically, registering three hits and going back at Dillon Dube late in the game after the Flames’ rookie shoved him into the boards.
He also took a number when Sam Bennett took a dangerous run at him in open ice, narrowly missing the Canucks rookie with his knee.
Pettersson doesn’t appear to be wearing down or becoming less effective as opposing teams pay him more attention. He seems to be getting better.
Get Shorty
It’s not often you survive two short-handed goals against and win. Both of the Flames’ shorties came against Vancouver’s second power-play unit. And a key culprit on both was forward Markus Granlund, who threw a grenade square across the ice to Josh Leivo that led to a Calgary breakaway, and later forced a pass into traffic in the Flames’ zone that was turned into a two-on-one the other way.
Not a Golden Touch
One of the most interesting plays of the game was the Canucks’ Nikolay Goldobin’s unsuccessful second-period breakaway where the Russian chose to pull the puck back behind him, reverse his stick and shoot from between his legs. Sensible? Probably not. Defensible? Absolutely.
What good is all that talent and offensive flair if you don’t unload it once in a while? Goldobin did force Rittich to make a save. And the Canuck has just one goal in his last 16 games, so what did he have to lose?
Well, Goldobin got only four more shifts from coach Travis Green in the final 27 minutes and finished with just 9:53 of ice time. Only fourth-line checker Tyler Motte had less at 9:08.
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Riding a Comet
At least there is a consolation prize for Canuck rookie Adam Gaudette, who was returned to minor-league Utica two-and-a-half months after his early recall amid injuries. The 22-year-old finally gets to pick up the new muscle car he ordered shortly before he was summoned to the NHL on Oct. 15.
There’s that, and an awful lot of ice time waiting for the reigning Hobey Baker winner who did some good things during his 31-game run with the Canucks but managed only two goals and six points.
Gaudette will get to play special teams with the Comets, log nearly twice the 10:09 average ice time he had in the NHL, and build some offensive confidence back in his game. With Sven Baertschi back from a concussion that kept him out more than two months, it was pretty much a no-brainer that Gaudette would be the forward getting bumped from the roster.
The Canucks could have demoted the disappointing Tim Schaller, something that may yet happen – as soon as Brandon Sutter nears a return from a shoulder injury. But Gaudette’s ice time was well below eight minutes a night in three of the last four games. Regardless of Gaudette’s upside, he is in his first season of pro hockey and needs to play. If he does well in the American League, he’ll probably be back in Vancouver this season. And he’s got a sweet ride until he does.
In his first game since Oct. 24, when he was concussed by Vegas Golden Knight Tomas Hyka’s unpenalized hit from behind, Baertschi had an assist on Boeser’s early power-play goal and finished with three shots in 12:35 of ice time.