Canucks At The Four Nations
Our friends Chris Cuthbert and Craig Simpson of Sportsnet summed it up rather nicely during the 3rd period play-by-play of Sweden’s 2-1 victory over Team USA on Monday, regarding Canucks centre Elias Pettersson getting a confidence boost coming out of his Four Nations Face-off opportunity.
Simmer: “Again, Elias Pettersson just hasn’t been able to make those kind of plays that, when he’s on his game, the power play is where he’s feasted … not only a frustrating year, but Chris I think everybody in Vancouver was looking and thought maybe he could snap out of it here. I wouldn’t say it’s been a confidence builder, would you?”
CC: “‘Hit the reset button’ was the hope, but not yet.”
Vancouver’s $11.6-million per season man through 2032 had the lightest ice time of any of the Swedish skaters against the Americans. He played 9:54, didn’t register a stat’, and lost both of his face-off attempts.
Simpson referred to the power play, but ‘Petey’s’ efforts were just as anemic at even strength. He made passes without purpose, sent pucks to the net without any zip.
Was it the presence of former Canucks teammate J.T. Miller on the other squad that made him tentative? Pettersson did lose the one head-to-head face-off they took. Miller was simply more determined.
The answer is no. Vancouver’s top centre only played 14-minutes against the Finns on Saturday, generating one shot on goal and two blocks. That’s that.
What about against Canada on the 12th? One shot, one hit, while losing 10 of the 12 draws he took. Not exactly inspirational, although he did have a chance to win the game in overtime only to whiff.
The Canucks sit three points ahead of the Calgary Flames for the final wild card playoff spot in the west. One would think they’ll need Petey to hold on to it.
