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!
Folks, we did it. After Noah Juulsen lined up alongside Elias Pettersson (DPetey) at morning skate today, I fired off this tweet.
I do not care that they want to trade Soucy and need him to waive his no-trade clause in order to do so.
Juulsen has been downright unplayable at 5v5 and Soucy on his off side on the third pair with DPetey gives the #Canucks the best chance to win games.
Sure enough, I got my wish for game time, as Carson Soucy slotted back in on his offside to play with Pettersson. Now, the game itself.
This game had a few close calls early. First, Tyler Myers misplayed a puck in his own end, leading to a prime chance for Martin Necas. Then, Soucy got in on the forecheck and created a great chance for Teddy Blueger, who did his best to wait out Mackenzie Blackwood, but was stoned by the Avs’ netminder.
Teddy Blueger kicks things off with a great scoring chance early in the first period.
Pius Suter took a hooking penalty early, and with all the talent on Colorado’s power play, I was very worried that the Canucks would get scored on and convince themselves that it was because they didn’t have Noah Juulsen at their disposal. Fortunately, they killed it off.
Later, Brock Boeser bobbled a puck in the Avs’ zone, and we were reminded how fast things can happen when Nathan MacKinnon on the ice.
Martin Necas hits the post. That's the second post of the game for the Avalanche already.
The post stood tall, and this one remained scoreless.
Filip Chytil, looking to build off his strong Canucks debut, broke into the Avalanche end after a nice feed from Conor Garland, and drew the Canucks’ first penalty of the night by using his speed.
The Canucks’ power play just looked far less effective without Quinn Hughes, and the Avs killed this one off without much pressure from the home side. I did like to see Filip Chytil get some PP time.
The Avs were simply all over the Canucks in the first period. At one point, after Colorado hit their third post of the period, John Shorthouse shared that the shot attempts were already 24-7 in favour of the Avalanche. Almost as soon as those words left his mouth, Drew O’Connor took the first penalty of his Canucks career. The Canucks killed it off and somehow managed to leave the first period with this game still tied 0-0.
A late power play for the Canucks saw Brock Boeser pick up the Canucks’ best chance of the period in the final 10 seconds.
Brock Boeser gets the Canucks best chance of the period.
In the second, Filip Chytil, who replaced Jake DeBrusk on PP1 to close out the first, was out to finish out the PP in place of Conor Garland. Unfortunately, Quinn Hughes wasn’t out there, and the Canucks didn’t score. The Canucks shook up their 5v5 lines as well, and Brock Boeser looked much better playing with Chytil than he did with Pettersson.
The Canucks opened the scoring after a great play along the boards from Filip Hronek led to Jake DeBrusk grabbing (literally) a rebound out of the air and depositing it into the back of the net.
🚨CANUCKS GOAL🚨
Jake DeBrusk knocks the puck down with his hand and puts it in the back of the net!
Outstanding work from Demko, and quietly great work from DPetey on clearing out Demko’s sightlines. Not to mention the play from Pettersson to deny the rebound opportunity.
As Andy Cole pointed on Twitter, to this point in the game, Elias Pettersson was having a bigger impact on the game than Elias Pettersson.
The Canucks got lucky in the first period, but after some line shuffling and big moments, the Canucks left the second period with a lead, and it was hard to say they didn’t deserve it with the way they played in the second frame.
And truly, that was one of the most exciting periods of hockey we’ve seen in Rogers Arena this season. The fans deserved a period like that.
In the third, the Canucks kept up their strong neutral zone pressure on the Avalanche. Chytil set up Boeser for another grade-A look, but Boeser ripped the puck wide. That was a great opportunity to put the Canucks up by two.
I know we’ve talked a lot about DPetey already, and I thought I was done for the night, but after a sneaky dirty hit to Conor Garland’s back, the 20-year-old didn’t hesitate to jump in and rough up Logan O’Connor. This led to Miles Wood taking a cross-checking penalty on Pettersson, and giving the Canucks a key power play.
It was there that Boeser got the monkey off his back.
D-Petey gets into it with Miles Wood! This kid isn't afraid of anyone.
The play that led to this was a great display of heart from Pettersson. You absolutely love to see it. Haven’t seen passion like that from many Canucks this season. And to do it at 20? Never take this kid out of the lineup.
Pettersson threw another massive hit on Logan O’Connor late.
Shortly after, Nils Höglander outpaced Miles Wood to a puck, causing Wood to take a holding penalty. Wood then took an additional penalty for spearing Linus Karlsson on his way to the bench, giving the Canucks a four minute power play.
Miles Wood takes a holding penalty and then spears Linus Karlsson when he's heading to the box.
Speaking of heart, how about Höglander going right after Wood here? This team needs way more of what we saw from Pettersson and Höglander tonight.
The other Pettersson (the forward) baited Cale Makar into taking a hooking penalty to give the Canucks a full two minutes of a 5-on-3 power play. Makar also dove to try to draw a penalty moments earlier, which made this play even funnier. The Canucks didn’t get a single shot on goal during that entire sequence, which felt like playing with fire.
Drew O’Connor added the empty netter to seal this one and to pick up his first goal as a Canuck.
3-0 final.
Some takeaways from tonight:
-Absolutely love Filip Chytil’s game so far. He’s not only fast, but also seems to stickhandle and maneuver with the puck while moving at his high speed. Been very impressed with him so far.
-So glad this coaching staff didn’t overthink things and take DPetey out of this lineup. He continues to impress me with his gap control, poise with the puck, and of course, his body checking ability.
-The Canucks hoped they’d get the best version of Elias Pettersson by trading JT Miller. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like they specified which one, and the hockey gods have chosen the defenceman.
-Listeners of Canucks Convo know I’ve been beating the “don’t give up on Thatcher Demko” drum for a while now. I’ve been saying for a while now that Demko just needs to get his timing back, and the only way to do that is by playing games. Hopefully tonight is a sign that he’s turned the corner.
-Thought it was a solid bounceback game for Carson Soucy.
-I almost forgot how much fun it can be to get excited about players named Elias Pettersson.
-When Quinn Hughes returns, we’re going to see the most mobile Canucks blueline we’ve seen in some time. That is, if DPetey sticks around, of course.
-Quiet night for the NHL’s third-best defenceman.
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below! And be sure to tune into the Rink Wide Vancouver post game show LIVE on YouTube!
