The Vancouver Canucks aren't playing like they did last year, and it's cost them wins, including in Wednesday's 6-0 loss. Pettersson's stats aren't their main problem.
J.T. MillerLet’s get this out of the way right off the top. Yes, Elias Pettersson had no points and was a minus-two in the Vancouver Canucks’ 6-0 blowout loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night. But he was far from the primary problem.
Team-wide defensive breakdowns put Vancouver in an early hole it couldn’t climb out of.
“Our odd-man rush coverage is probably the worst I've ever seen since I've been here,” said coach Rick Tocchet after the game. “Reminds me of when I took over the team — that's how bad it was tonight. I don't know. We were out of sorts tonight.”
Making his third start of the year after more than two weeks of backup duties, Arturs Silovs went the distance in net. Now with an 0-2-1 record and 15 goals allowed this year, Silovs may have hit the nail on the head when asked what was different from his sparkling post-season run last spring.
“I feel like it was a tighter game,” he said. “Playoff games are much tighter.”
It’s a fair point. In April and May, Silovs wasn’t staring down the likes of Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer on clear-cut 2-on-1s less than a minute after the opening puck drop.
On Wednesday, Hischier’s league-leading 10th goal came just 53 seconds into the game and proved to be the game-winner.
So we can worry about how Pettersson has just one goal and three assists in nine games this season. Or we can worry about the fact that the Canucks' defense has slipped into the bottom half of the NHL by giving up an average of 3.33 goals against per game.
“When we're at our best, we’re a hard-defending team,” said Conor Garland, who did his best to spark his teammates and the crowd by dropping the gloves with Erik Haula midway through the game. “We let in six tonight, so obviously, we're not doing that right now. We’ve got to get back to playing our style. And it starts in practice.”
Garland also pointed out the Canucks have been able to accumulate points thanks to patches of effective play but not many full 60-minute efforts. That’s reflected in their solid expected goals percentage of 52.78 percent at 5-on-5, per naturalstattrick.com.
But Vancouver’s October schedule has been about as team-friendly as you’ll ever see in the NHL. Six of nine games have been against non-playoff teams from last season. Five games have been at home. There have been no back-to-backs, and they’ve had two three-day breaks between games.
Yes, they miss Thatcher Demko and Dakota Joshua. But for the most part, this is the group they’ll be rolling with this year. So far, they’ve had trouble truly getting into gear.
“We're trying to make a standard,” said J.T. Miller. “So the next time we come in, look ourselves in the eye, to a man. Work harder in practice. Be more prepared. Pay attention to video, all these things. Be a pro.
“We haven't played 60 minutes to our identity yet this year,” Miller continued. “We need to play harder. Use your head when it's time to use your head. Go through guys. Hit. Just play like you want to win the game, not hopefully win the game.”
Last week, eyebrows were raised when Miller and Pettersson briefly scuffled with each other in practice. While there have long been rumors that the pair will never be best friends, they’ve both made long-term commitments to the organization. That speaks volumes about the respect that they have for each others' talents — and even the tightest teams will feature a range of personalities.
With often-streaky Jake DeBrusk still looking for his first hot run with his new team, Pettersson has found himself once again shuffling through an array of linemates. On Wednesday, he skated primarily with Garland and Arshdeep Bains.
Pettersson's production has been hampered by a power play that was blanked in five of Vancouver's last six games. After an 0-for-4 performance on Wednesday, it’s at just 5-for-29 for the year, or 17.2 percent.
“We’re not shooting when we're supposed to shoot, and we're shooting when we don't,” Tocchet said. “We're so caught in between, we're slowing the power play down. It's a frustrating thing right now for us — it's a mental aspect. We're going to have to work with the mind, more than the physical.”
After a day off on Thursday, it’ll be back to work at practice on Friday. Then, the team heads south for its first California trip of the year, visiting San Jose and Anaheim before finishing up in Los Angeles.
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