While htere isn’t much positive discussion around the current state of the Vancouver Canucks and their diminishing playoff hopes, the defenceman Elias Pettersson gave fans something to cheer for.
In the first period against the Anaheim Ducks, the 20-year-old defenceman scored his first National Hockey League goal:
Linus Karlsson carries the puck into the zone, makes a quick deke around Isaac Lundestrom and sends a backhand pass to the streaming Elias Pettersson. Pettersson then drops on one knee and sends a snapshot perfectly into the top right corner for his first in the NHL.
This goal would even the game at 1-1 after Troy Terry opened the scoring in the first minutes of the game. Pettersson’s goal would ignite the Canucks offence, as they scored four more goals within a span of 4:30 – which would set a new franchise record for fastest five goals in the franchises history.
The other goal scorers were Filip Hronek, Brock Boeser, Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua.
Pettersson earned a call up after strong play in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks. Down in Abbotsford, Pettersson suited up in 38 games, scoring one goal and 12 assists for 13 points with a plus-7 rating. And once Pettersson was promoted to Vancouver, he impressed and became a mainstay in the Canucks lineup.
During his time in Vancouver, Pettersson has played in 22 games, with two assists, 26 hits, 11 blocked shots, and a minus-5 rating in 21 games while averaging 12:16 minutes of ice time.
Given the recent injury to Tyler Myers, this presented an opportunity to see both young defencemen play in the same with with Pettersson and Victor Mancini. Pettersson was paired with Derek Forbort, while Mancini enjoyed time on the top line with the reigning Norris trophy winner, Quinn Hughes.
The Canucks are needing a miracle to make the Stanley Cup finals. With a few Canucks losses and a few wins on the out-of-town scoreboard, the club could be eliminated by next week. Once they are mathematically eliminated, that should be a perfect opportunity for Rick Tocchet and the Canucks to give Pettersson more runway to see how he plays with the extra ice time as a primer for next season.