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Instant Reaction: Pettersson scores again as Canucks beat Blackhawks 6-2
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
David Quadrelli
Mar 16, 2025, 00:35 EDTUpdated: Mar 16, 2025, 00:46 EDT
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Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
This game had some good pace right off the bat, with the two sides trading some early chances. Victor Mancini took the first penalty of the game, but the Canucks’ penalty killers, namely Tyler Myers and Marcus Pettersson, did a great job to keep the Hawks PP at bay. Chicago didn’t test Arturs Silovs on the first power play of the game.
Back at 5v5, the Canucks’ pressure on the Hawks was absolutely relentless. They spent what felt like the entirety of the period in the Chicago end, but translating that into a goal took some time.
Eventually though, Quinn Hughes said enough was enough.
1-0 Canucks. 
Shortly after, Tyler Myers got in on the fun.
2-0 Canucks to close out the first, and deservedly so.
The Canucks kept up their pressure on Chicago, and halfway through the second, Conor Garland extended the Canucks’ lead to three.
3-0. 
The first in-game commercial break of the night didn’t come until after the 10 minute mark of the second period as this game was absolutely flying by.
Chicago showed their first sign of life late in the second, when they got on the board after an Alex Vlasic point shot through traffic beat Arturs Silovs cleanly.
3-1. 
And yes. It was a point shot.
The Canucks’ game did get a bit sloppier in the second period. Their reloads were a bit sloppy and they started to swing on plays instead of going through the puck carrier.
In the third, we got to see Elias Pettersson continue his quest to find his game, as he scored his fourth goal in five games.
But on this one, it’s the “how” that matters the most. To gather the puck, execute a quick toe drag in traffic and rip the puck with the speed and confidence he showed here? That’s vintage Pettersson, and important context for the “is he really back?” tracker.
4-1. 
It was not a great night for Arturs Silovs, and the outcome tonight may have been different if it weren’t for the Blackhawks being a bottom feeder in every sense of the word. Shortly after Pettersson’s goal, Wyatt Kaiser moved in and let go of a wrister that beat Silovs clean.
4-2. 
Then we saw a pretty unreal shift from *checks notes* Nils Aman, who made a couple nifty passes, followed by some hard work to stop the Chicago zone exit attempt. But the niftiest pass of all came from Kiefer Sherwood, who set up Aman beautifully:
5-2
The goals kept coming for the home side, as Pius Suter added a sixth!
6-2 Canucks. 
It’s been a struggle for this team to score even four goals this season, so to see them tally six was truly incredible.
The game couldn’t just end there, unfortunately.
Ex-Canuck Jason Dickinson threw a dirty hit on Filip Chytil, that left Chytil wobbly as he tried to get to his feet.
Given Chytil’s lengthy concussion history (over five now), this is obviously a concerning sight. Here’s hoping Chytil can have a speedy recovery.
This one stood at 6-2 final.
Some more takeaways from tonight:
-I feel bad for Conor Bedard.
-A bad turnover in the opening frame aside, Nils Höglander continued his strong run of play. A multi-point night for him.
-The Canucks’ penalty kill has been absolutely stellar lately. Marcus Pettersson and Derek Forbort have been a big part of it, and that all continued tonight.
-If you pay to go watch a hockey game, you deserve to have as much fun as the fans had tonight, especially in what was still a fairly low-event game, just the way the Canucks like it.
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!
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