Adam Foote pleased after Canucks’ comeback win vs. Stars

There was a lot to like about the Vancouver Canucks‘ 5-3 win over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. The Canucks, kicking off a five-game road trip and coming off of back-to-back disappointing losses, faced a tall task in the form of the undefeated Stars, who are widely expected to be one of the NHL’s top teams this season.

And while their start was far from ideal — they entered the second period down by a pair of goals — the Canucks’ effort in the second and third periods was flat-out impressive. For the first time this season, aside from their third period of the season opener vs. Calgary, the Canucks were controlling play and taking the game to the Stars. Their passes through the neutral zone were crisp, they were first on pucks, and they were playing at a level we hadn’t yet seen this season.

As you’d expect, Adam Foote was pleased with his team’s effort following that game. Here’s what the Canucks’ head coach had to say post game.

On resilience of the group to stay in it despite being down early:

“It was a big win for us, playing a team that’s hot right now, and you know, the guys stuck with it. The start of the game didn’t go how we wanted. Really unlucky. Little tiny mishap on the one goal, but nothing too serious, and it just went in on a deflection. But the guys, I give them a lot of credit, they hung in there in intermission and stayed with their game.”

On power play and penalty kill:

“I thought they [the power play] were moving the puck pretty good tonight…got a goal. I think they got two, but I don’t know how [the puck didn’t go in], I gotta look at it again. And then the PK, we know better — we shouldn’t get scored on on the rush against. We just had a bad change. But I think Demmer [Thatcher Demko] would have had it, but I think it went under a stick and he picked it up late, from my view anyway. o it happens. Great hockey player, good shooter [Mikko Rantanen]. I think he caught it late because it was actually the timing of it, it went under Marcus [Pettersson]’s stick.”

On things starting to click for his team and players understanding the system:

“They just stuck with it. I mean, we had a plan and just in intermission, we were just saying, ‘guys, I know it doesn’t feel right, but we’re doing all right. Like, hang in there.’ And you know, they’re [Dallas] transitioning from a man-on-man offence to a little bit of a zone when it’s low and when it’s past high. It’s more of a man-on-man. But we were trying to get them to stick to it and Garly [Conor Garland] found the ice down low with. They’re [Dallas] learning a new system that Edmonton plays, and Vegas, and we kind of play the same thing. But there was times where Garly exposed that, and I think the guys picked up some confidence seeing him hold on to pucks.”

On the play of Conor Garland and Elias Pettersson:

“A guy like that [Garland], it doesn’t seem to faze him what the moment is, what the game is. Whether we’re down or up, he keeps digging. So we got one, and it seemed like the confidence had swung. And Petey was unfortunate on the first one [the goal Pettersson deflected past Demko]. He really didn’t make a mistake on that play. Our D jumped up. It was supposed to be Petey jumping out. It happens, it happens fast. And it was unfortunate that it went off his stick, but I like the way he stuck with it. He had a couple big blocks and, you know, they’re a tricky team off the offensive faceoffs, and he was learning on the go what they were doing. He really picked it up in the second half, and he also won some big draws for us.”

On the all Abbotsford line of Arshdeep Bains-Max Sasson-Linus Karlsson:

“I thought they had some jump. I mean, you saw it in preseason, and then you saw it tonight. And I think that speed on the goal, [Sasson] almost had another chance. And you know, with that speed, defencemen will back off when he’s out there. And you saw it spread the D out. They weren’t playing as up when that line was out, they had to be cautious of that speed.”

The Canucks won’t have much time to reflect on the win, as they’re right back in action tonight. They’ll take on the Chicago Blackhawks in their first back-to-back games of the season this evening, with puck drop scheduled for 5:30 PM PT. Read our game preview here!