The Vancouver Canucks management to come back after trailing after two periods for the first time all season as they defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3 in a shootout.
The Canucks had their Captain Quinn Hughes return to the lineup for this must-win game. Hughes factored in on the scoring, grabbing the primary assist on Jake DeBrusk’s second period goal. But it was Elias Pettersson who led the group offensively by scoring the game-tying goal, one of the two shootout goals and adding an assist.
“Really happy for him, [he] took a lot of crap this year,” Hughes said about Pettersson. “We obviously need him at this point in time with 17 games left. He showed up today, brought his A-game, and we’re going to continue to need him to do that. Obviously proud of him. He’s a competitive guy, too, and you don’t get to the level that he’s gotten to without having that inner jam and desire. It’s been a hard little run for him, but he’s a great player, and he’s going to be just fine, and you saw it tonight.”
Pettersson returned the kind words toward his Captain, who returned from a four-game absence:
“That’s my captain. I don’t know if he’s at 100% – probably should say that – but I don’t know what he clocked in, almost 30 minutes of playing time today. It just shows what kind of player he is.”
You can tell Pettersson’s feeling it lately. He has goals in three of his last four games and recorded his first multi-point game since December 23rd against the San Jose Sharks with an assist on Jake DeBrusk’s goal and scored the game-tying goal with less than seven minutes remaining.
“He’s stringing some good games together,” Tocchet said. “We talked about not getting too high or too low. Sometimes, the lows were really low, and it can affect a player. Same thing now; he’s getting his game together.
“I [saw] him leaving after the game, I shook his hand [and I said] ‘good game’ but he was like, ‘hey, I’ve got more to go’. I like that. He’s even-keeled; he’s going to put the work in, and we’re going to continue to grind.”
It hasn’t been the ideal first season of his eight-year, $11.6 million annually contract with the Canucks, but Pettersson is beginning to show flashes of his former self. And it couldn’t have come at a better time than right now, while they battle for their playoff lives.
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