The Elias Pettersson Road Show took a potentially disastrous plot twist on Thursday when the Vancouver Canucks’ star rookie was injured in a 2-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
The 20-year-old centre, a runaway leader in the NHL rookie scoring race and the Calder Trophy favourite this season, was injured at 5:44 of the second period on a takedown behind the play by Montreal rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Pettersson’s right leg doubled back under the weight of his body as he was pulled down by Kotkaniemi. Pettersson required medical attention on the ice but was able to skate to the dressing room on his own. He did not return.
After that, the game hardly seemed to matter on the West Coast as Canucks fans, mostly alarmed and enraged, flooded social media. Coming off a 4-3 win the night before in Ottawa, where Pettersson’s hat trick included the overtime winner on the day he was named to the NHL All-Star Game as a rookie, the Canucks struggled to test Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price.
Vancouver eventually outshot Montreal 33-27 but seldom sustained pressure or generated second-chance opportunities against Price. Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom also played well but was beaten in the first period by Jordie Benn’s shot from distance (after Canucks Troy Stecher lost the puck and Sven Baertschi lost his check) and on a second-period breakaway by Jonathan Drouin that followed a turnover by Brock Boeser.
The Canucks end their six-game road trip Saturday in Toronto, where Pettersson was supposed to make his inaugural visit to the centre of the hockey universe.
There was no indication from the Canucks as to how long Pettersson might be out with his “lower-body injury,” but he is staying with the team on the road and will be re-examined Friday in Toronto.
[snippet id=4265743]
SOME ENRAGED, OTHERS JUST ANGRY
As would be the case in every passionate Canadian hockey market that loses its favoured son to injury due to questionable contact, the response from fans to the Pettersson injury was severe and overwhelmingly hostile.
It didn’t help that Kotkaniemi, who is Finnish, joked during the Canadiens’ visit to Vancouver in November that “I hate Swedes” when he was asked about facing Pettersson. After the Canucks scored in the 3-2 loss to Montreal, Kotkaniemi said: “Nice shot today but not anything special.”
Pettersson, of course, is extraordinary. With 22 goals and 42 points in his first 37 NHL games, he is scoring at a historic clip for first-year players.
But it should be remembered that Kotkaniemi is only 18 and apparently chirps everyone, including teammates. He has six minor penalties in 41 games.
Where Canucks fans are justifiably upset is that for the second time this season, Pettersson was injured by contact behind the play without a penalty being called. The 2017 fifth-overall pick missed six games in October with a concussion after he was bodyslammed to the ice by Florida Panthers defenceman Mike Matheson, who was suspended for three games by the NHL.
Kotkaniemi clearly hooked Pettersson as the Canucks started to move up-ice ahead of the Canadiens rookie. When Pettersson slammed on the brakes, Kotkaniemi fell over him but grabbed the Canuck on his way down, pinning Pettersson’s right leg.
Kotkaniemi, who apologized to Pettersson on the ice as the Canucks limped off, clearly did not intend to injure Vancouver’s most promising young star since Pavel Bure. But his infractions could easily have been penalized for either hooking or interference.
GREEN QUOTES
This is what Canucks coach Travis Green told reporters in Montreal about the play: “I’ve watched it a lot of times. First of all, it’s not a dirty play by their player at all. (Pettersson) gets hooked a little bit. Petey actually pushes back on him, leans back and probably tries to give a little bit of a reverse hit, and two young guys fall to the ice. It’s not a penalty.”
WRONG GUY WRONG PLACE
It wasn’t an ideal night for Brandon Sutter to return to the Canucks lineup after missing 30 games with a shoulder injury. Not only was he unlucky enough to be asked to replace Pettersson on a power play that went 0-for-5, Sutter made the mistake of being honest when interviewed in the second intermission by Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy.
“It was a pretty innocent play,” Sutter said of the Pettersson injury.
That made Sutter the second most unpopular guy in Vancouver after Kotkaniemi.
Playing for the first time since Oct. 29, Sutter was given 19:14 of ice time and registered two shots while going 13-7 on faceoffs.
With Nikolay Goldobin scratched by Green a second consecutive game, the coach’s power-play choices were limited after Pettersson’s injury. He shortened his bench to just three lines as Tyler Motte and Tim Schaller sat out most of the third period.
SCHEDULING BREAK
Vancouver’s heavy schedule through the first half of the season means even a significant absence may not cost Pettersson too many games.
After Saturday’s game, the Canucks don’t open a six-game homestand until next Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes. With the All-Star weekend and NHL schedule break at the end of January, those six games are the Canucks’ only action over a four-week period.
[relatedlinks]
