On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal discussed key takeaways from the Canucks’ game against Philadelphia and the team’s goaltending situation moving forward.

The discussion began with Erik Brännström, who has impressed in his first two games as a Canuck, stepping up in Derek Forbort’s absence.

“I’m glad he’s found his footing because his preseason was rough,” said Harm. “When a player starts poorly, it can damage their confidence and bleed into their overall game. Whatever has transpired over the last couple of weeks has allowed him to hit the reset button. Compared to the preseason, where he was making glaring defensive mistakes, he’s been solid so far. It’s only been two games, though, and he’s the kind of player who can be volatile. A week from now, he could make a mistake that sees him pulled from the lineup. But for now, his performance against Philadelphia was very impressive, and I think he should remain in the lineup, even if Forbort is ready to return later this week.”

The conversation then shifted to Elias Pettersson, who appears to be taking the right steps to regain his form.

“In the last couple of games, he’s been trending in the right direction,” Harm noted. “I thought he was unlucky not to score against Florida… When a player is in a slump, they rarely go from looking completely out of sync to scoring a hat-trick overnight. It’s usually a gradual build-up; they start making better plays, handling the puck with more confidence, and completing more passes. It can take several games. Right now, we don’t know whether that progression will continue, if he’ll stagnate, or, worse, take a step back. I remember having this same conversation last year when he was struggling late in the season. He’d have one or two decent performances against weaker opponents, where he picked up some points, and we’d say he was building in the right direction. But then he’d fizzle out. That’s what we’ll be looking for now – for Pettersson to take the next step. It helps that their next game is against Chicago, who have improved compared to last season but are still a bottom-five team in the NHL on paper.”

“There were a lot of positives to take from that Philadelphia game,” Harm continued. “It’s great that their record is back on track, and they’ve got another chance to build a winning streak and bank some points. But the Canucks aren’t out of the woods yet. Philly was tired; they were on a long west-coast road trip and were sloppy in their execution. It wasn’t just that the Canucks played well – Philly were also really bad. I still don’t think the Canucks have found their top game, which is fine; you’re not going to go from 0 to 100 overnight. It’s a gradual build, and there were moments where they gave up grade-A chances. Lankinen had to be phenomenal, and Philly hit four or five posts, so it could’ve been a much closer game than the 3-0 scoreline suggests. Just because they’ve won a couple of games doesn’t mean the concerns about a slow start are gone. We’ll see. There are still challenges ahead, and some things need to be cleaned up.”

The guys then moved to Kevin Lankinen, who has turned heads with a shutout and just two goals against in his last two starts.

“I know Lankinen got the shutout, but I’d still think long and hard about starting Silovs,” Quads remarked. “I wouldn’t say it’s his last chance, but if he has another poor performance against Chicago, it could be getting to the point where he’s viewed as the backup.”

“I think Lankinen has played so well that you’ve got to ride the hot hand,” Harm countered. “You want to bank as many points as you can early in the season, and when a goalie gets hot, you don’t know how long that’s going to last, so you need to capitalise on it. The schedule is spaced out enough that rest shouldn’t be an issue. After Chicago and Pittsburgh, things get tougher. I’d stick with Lankinen. You don’t walk away from a hot streak when you’re starting to win and possibly build momentum.”

You can watch the full replay of the show below: