Instant Reaction: Elias Pettersson wore an A, took eight shots on goal, and tried to lead the Canucks to victory over Tampa Bay

So, Oliver Ekman-Larsson was scratched tonight, and I don’t think anyone missed him.

The Canucks fell 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, and were unable to complete the comeback late. What the Canucks did do tonight, however, was put in a solid effort. Sure, it wasn’t enough to take down the mighty Lightning, but at least the Canucks didn’t let themselves get embarrassed in Tampa tonight.

The process was a lot better tonight, as this team went toe to toe with the Lightning in the shot department and didn’t really seem out of this game despite the scoreboard looking lopsided in the third period.

Also, did anyone else think Tyler Myers had a good game tonight? Myers blocked two shots and took seven shots on goal tonight, second only to Elias Pettersson, but more on him later. I know Myers isn’t the most popular player in this market, but he was solid tonight. And how could we forget Quinn Hughes? With a goal and two assists on the night, Hughes was exceptional in this game.

As for the game itself, the Canucks turned in a great effort in the first period, a second period effort that you could define as “good” but were outscored by the Lightning, and a third per

This one was interesting right down to the finish, as the Canucks nearly came back from being down 5-2 and with goals from Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson late, and finished the game with a power play where they moved the puck and attempted to pepper one of the best goaltenders in the world.

But Andrei Vasilevskiy prevailed. But also how do you not call that interference on Conor Garland? Anyway, the Canucks tried very hard tonight against a superior team and made it close, and gave fans something worth watching.

And that’s all you want from this Canucks team, isn’t it? You don’t have high expectations anymore, but you want to see them at least try. You also probably don’t want to see them gain many points in the standings for the remainder of the year, instead improving their draft lottery odds and overall draft positioning. And tonight, you got both of those things.

Another thing you want is accountability. Not accountability for some players, but accountability for the more veteran players that haven’t been living up to expectations. And tonight, you got that as a fan when the team decided to scratch Oliver Ekman-Larsson and look no worse without him.

To close, our most instant reaction to this game is that — holy crap Elias Pettersson took eight shots tonight!?

Yes, Elias Pettersson, wearing an A on his chest — as he should all the time — took a team-leading eight shots, blocked a team-leading three shots, and played a team-leading 21:59 of ice time among forwards en route to tallying a goal and an assist.

Did you see what we were getting at by mentioning the term “team-leading” three times? Pettersson is a leader on this team, and tonight his jersey reflected that.

And it should probably always reflect the fact that he’s a leader on this team as long as he’s in a Canucks uniform.