Elias Pettersson is back in the goal record. The 22-year-old from Sundsvall scored one goal and played until two, when the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 at home in Rogers Arena.
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And the Vancouver Canucks are back on the powerplay track.
– We focused right, said Elias Pettersson after the game. We had a good chat this morning about how we would play powerplay, that everyone must be prepared to shoot… it was fun that Miller shot straight and scored only five or six seconds into our first powerplay. Now we must continue to hold on to it; to fit the puck quickly, change positions and be shooters.
– It felt good to get that goal; it was a good feeling all day. We who play powerplay had a good and straightforward talk this morning and that we could take it seriously, naturally increased our self-confidence, stated Elias Pettersson. We came together as a PP line-up, we worked hard and we lined up for each other.
Video: VAN-DAL: Pettersson notes three points
Vancouver scored three of its goals in numerical superiority. Also a nice confirmation; the team’s game in numerical superiority has been hacked for a long time. Before the game against Stars, the Canucks had not scored in the form of play since Alex Chiasson did so after just over half the game against the Minnesota Wild on October 27th. Since then, the Canucks have gone goalless from 18 numerical superiorities against Wild (0/1), Flyers (0/5), Oilers (0/1), Rangers (0/6) and Predators (0/5).
– Our opponents have figured out how we play, so it has been important to come up with new ways to play and let what we can do take over, Pettersson said. With fit and shoot. I like to play on instinct, and today it turned out that it worked really well for us: we did not think so much, we noticed that there was open ice and we shot. We scored three goals in powerplay, and hopefully we can keep up with this trend. We just have to keep working hard and be honest with each other.
In a match that weighed in for a good while into the last period, Pettersson also took advantage of a numerical advantage when he made it 2-1 in the first period. That before he then played first J.T. Miller to the 5-3 goal and then Brock Boeser to the last goal of the match, two and a half minutes before the end.
– I saw that there was traffic in front of the goal and could take advantage (that the Dallas goalkeeper was obscured). And it was good, said a satisfied Elias Pettersson about his goal. It was fun to play this match, we felt we could score goals. In many matches earlier in the season, we have not felt it.
The three PP goals really lifted the Canucks in the statistics: now an efficiency percentage of 18.4.
Elias Pettersson was registered for a playing time of a good 18.43, of which 6.11 in the game in numerical superiority. He fired four shots at Anton Khudobin in Dallas goals. Khudobin made two big saves on Pettersson’s attempts in the second period, when the Canucks played five against three in just over a minute.
The goal was a nice return in the statistics for Elias Pettersson, who after having been injured last season due to an injury, was able to score only his second goal this season, and the first in more than three weeks: the last note in the goal record came when he made it 2-1 in power play in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 15th. Vancouver won that match 5-4 after JT Miller decided in the penalty shootout.
Video: VAN-DAL: Demko stops Benn’s attempt
The goal against the Flyers then was by the way Pettersson’s first in the National Hockey League since March 2; then the Canucks Swedish star equalized to 1-1 in the match against the Winnipeg Jets who eventually won 5-2. Pettersson then missed the rest of the season due to an injury, and could only make a comeback to the 2021-22 season.
Elias Pettersson is now in his fourth season in the NHL, all in the Canucks. After two great efforts in the first two, 66 points in both with 28 goals in the first year and 27 in the second, there were ten goals in the destroyed last year’s 26 matches.
Now Pettersson is on eight points (2 + 6) after twelve matches.
The fact that the Canucks were able to use their positions with one player more on the court for three goals was an important reason for the victory in more ways than one: it increased their confidence right across. Not least for Elias Pettersson:
“Absolutely,” said the Swede. I have not scored any goals for a while now, so it was good. In the game five against five… I think we can get better. But of course, being able to score a goal increases your self-confidence considerably.
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