After a sluggish start and error-prone first period, and even a J.T. Miller benching in the second, the Canucks found their way
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Look good. Feel good. Do good.
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That the was the tantalizing trifecta the Vancouver Canucks hoped to cash in on Tuesday at Rogers Arena.
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Fittingly clad in their eye-popping throwback black-skate jerseys on Halloween, buoyed by an encouraging 5-2-1 start, owning the NHL’s best goal differential at even strength, and icing the type of disciplined game that could once again subdue the pesky Nashville Predators, it had all the potential for more treats than tricks.
It also had the potential to turn into a turnover-happy Fright Night for the Canucks.
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After a sluggish start, and an error-prone first period — and even a J.T. Miller benching in the second — the Canucks found their way through a clogged neutral zone, exerted pressure and got the puck to sharpshooting Elias Pettersson. He scored twice to erase a 2-1 deficit, and then added an empty-net goal for his second career hat trick — and first on home ice — to power a 5-2 victory that once again tested the collective resolve.
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“That’s not our brand of hockey,” said Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet. “We were pretty loose. Too many turnovers, too many people diving in and not a great game for us identity-wise. We have to be careful we don’t get fat and happy around here. We have to play a certain way and tonight was not that way.
“Petey getting three goals, I like that part, but he was one of the culprits with turning the puck over. And he knows it.”
Late in the second period, an undisciplined Miller was benched for four minutes and wasn’t deployed on the power play. He had taken a trio of minor penalties and was being more of a hindrance than a help.
“I love Millsy and he has played unreal for me,” said Tocchet. “I felt he needed to sit with accountability and he responds with a goal. He’s fine. He came up and apologized to me and I apologized to him. I love the kid. I have no problems with J.T. Miller.
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“He’s an emotional leader for this team and we’re a quiet team. We give him crap sometimes because he’s got to draw the emotion for a lot of guys. Sometimes, he’ll go over an edge and he got back. I have no problems with his emotions.”
Miller was not made available post game. He was said to be in treatment.
However, when it mattered most, he made up for an off night and the benching, by delivering the dagger. On an early third-period shift, he stationed himself down low to set a screen. And when Brock Boeser shot, he was there to pounce on a loose puck and jam it home.
Here’s what else we learned as Sam Lafferty also scored for the Canucks while Colton Sissons and Dante Fabbro replied for the Predators:
Pettersson’s release is ripe
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The Canucks centre didn’t load up the cannon Tuesday. No slapper clocking 98 miles per hour.
It was a pair of perfectly placed wrist shots that gave Pettersson another weapon in his growing arsenal of become a difference-maker. And the quickness in which he got both shots away were the difference in not allowing goaltender Kevin Lankinen enough time to establish position.
Pettersson’s first goal came by dangling into the high slot and releasing a wrister stick side just as Ilya Mikheyev set a screen. He was then stationed at the faceoff dot in the off defensive zone on the power play and picked the stick-side corner.
The output vaulted the slick Swedish sensation to second in league scoring with 16 points (5-11).
“We let up and invited them into the game,” said Pettersson. “We weren’t playing the way we’re used to playing. It’s good to win different kinds of games, but definitely an off one tonight. Confidence is a big thing. Even when you don’t have the best game, you can always go back to structure and defending.”
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Hughes hits another lofty plateau
With his assist on the opening goal, the Canucks captain hit another plateau.
After being denied early off a cross-ice feed in finding a new shooting angle, he danced at the blue-line and let a shot rip that bounced in off Lafferty, who had set the screen.
It allowed Hughes to become the second active defenceman to hit 250 career points in fewer than 300 games. He accomplished the feat in 292, joining Cale Makar who needed 241 games.
Hughes then made it 251 points early in the second period by setting up Pettersson on the power play. And he got to 252 on Miller’s marker in the third.
“Not our best game,” said Hughes. “We had too many turnovers. It starts with me. When the defence is moving the puck up ice and forwards are coming back and giving us options, we’re playing fast and predictable. And that’s when we’re very good. We weren’t predictable in the first.
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“We were just too loose making plays when we should have kept it simple.”
Ironically, Hughes and Filip Hronek, who had combined for being on the ice for 20 even-strength goals and just three against, were on the ice for both Predators goals in the first frame that weren’t their fault. Faulty coverage by forwards led to the double dose of trouble.
First period frustration
Give the Predators some props.
They knew to exact revenge on the Canucks for a 3-2 loss the previous Tuesday in Nashville — where they were held to 18 shots — they had to heed the call after being called out that night.
The Predators had clogged up the neutral zone Tuesday like the No. 1 Highway at rush hour. They denied the Canucks easy entries and forced that extra pass that often killed transition momentum.
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And even when the Canucks gained the O-zone, they looked somewhat tentative. A Pettersson feed to Tyler Myers in the opening two minutes lacked zip. The Predators sped away on a 3-on-1 break that resulted in a Myers slash and a Liam Foudy penalty shot. However, he lost an edge on his attempt and shot wide.
The Predators then struck twice in 30 seconds to erase a 1-0 deficit on a pair of plays that Thatcher Demko would like to have back. He first went for the poke check on Foudy to put himself out of position and the bouncing puck found an untouched Sissons. Fabbro followed with a shot between Demko’s arm and body.
But he rebounded and made several timely saves in the second and third to keep the Predators from establishing a bigger lead or mounting a comeback.
“He was great as always,” said Tocchet. “He gave us a chance to win.”
Miller wasn’t. He took a frustration-laden double minor — hooking and unsportsmanlike conduct — to keep the Canucks from gaining momentum. But he did muster the resolve to score to make it 4-2.
OVERTIME — Centre Teddy Blueger (ankle) is expected to skate in the next day or so. “He will add a lot to our game,” said Tocchet.
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2023-11-01 06:11:15Z
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