Pettersson scores in Canucks’ 4-3 win over Capitals

First Period

Elias Pettersson wasted little time in building off of his strong game in Chicago, taking a feed from Conor Garland in the slot and immediately ripping the puck far side on Charlie Lindgren.

1-0 Canucks. 

And just like that, for the first time on this road trip, the Canucks didn’t have to play from behind in the first period. Despite this being the Canucks’ third game in under 65 hours (a fact that only gets crazier the longer you think about it), the visitors started this game with great jump, and almost seemed to catch the Capitals off guard a bit.

As we saw through the first two games of this road trip, the all-Abby line has been a great source of energy for the Canucks once again. Arshdeep Bains found himself on a partial breakaway, but Charlie Lindgren turned the chance aside. That line was absolutely buzzing once again.

With just under ten minutes remaining in the opening frame, Filip Chytil took a high-sticking penalty in the offensive zone to give the Capitals the game’s first power play. Now, the Capitals’ power play was very out of whack, but the Canucks’ penalty killers have also been excellent to start the new season. This one was another that they killed off with relative ease.

With just under three minutes left in the first, the Canucks continued to swarm the Capitals. After a strong forechecking effort, Filip Chytil regained possession and made a beeline past the Washington defender and straight to the net. Lindgren struggled to cover the puck, and as the Canucks dug away at the loose puck, Evander Kane swept it out enough that a lurking Tyler Myers was able to bury it and give the Canucks a 2-0 lead.

Washington unsuccessfully challenged the play for goaltender interference, and gave the Canucks their first power play opportunity of the game as a result. The Canucks’ power play, which has looked good lately, but was missing Brock Boeser today , wasted little time in pushing the Canucks’ first period lead to three. This time, it was Kiefer Sherwood who banged home a loose puck. Sherwood was replacing Boeser on PP1.

3-0 Canucks.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good news for the Canucks in the first period. As Filip Chytil was transporting the puck through the neutral zone, Tom Wilson blew up Chytil with a massive hit. Linus Karlsson immediately swarmed Wilson, but after review, the officials deemed it a “clean hockey play” and assessed no penalty on the play. You be the judge:

Chytil needed help getting to the locker room and did not return.

Some takeaways from the first:

-Looking forward to the perpetual EP40 haters to explain to us all in the comments section how Pettersson’s goal doesn’t actually mean anything because the Capitals were going easy on him, or whatever excuse to hate on him they cook up.
-Garland and Pettersson read so well off of each other. The ice was tilted when they were on the ice in the first, and whenever they lost the puck, both Pettersson and Garland were working hard to intercept passes and get things going the other way.
-Tyler Myers, 100 career goals. Nice!
-Washington looked very sloppy in the first, and the Canucks looked very sharp. Adam Foote was very calm amid the Canucks’ early struggles, and it appears the team’s systems are starting to set in.

Second Period

The test for the rest of the way for the Canucks was going to be locking down the lead and keeping their legs under them despite potentially being tired with so much action on this part of the road trip.

So far, so good to start the second. The Canucks’ aggressive forecheck — so aggressive that a pinching Tyler Myers went right through Kiefer Sherwood in order to get the puck — once again gave the Capitals trouble. This time, it was Evander Kane, who fed the puck to Teddy Blueger.

4-0 Canucks. 

Victor Mancini dropped the gloves with Brandon Duhaime, for what appears to be Mancini’s first fight at any level of hockey, according to hockeyfights.com.

Be sure to go vote for the winner of the fight over on the fight page at hockeyfights.com!

Just as an Evander Kane penalty came to an end, Arshdeep Bains found himself on another partial breakaway. Bains put the shoulder down, drove the net, and got a backhand chance off on Charlie Lindgren before running over the Capitals’ goaltender. Bains was assessed two minutes for goaltender interference as a result.

On the power play, Ryan Leonard found himself alone at the side of the net and was absolutley robbed by Thatcher Demko. Unfortunately, the rebound went right back to Leonard, and this time, he managed to beat the Canucks’ netminder.

4-1. 

Some takeaways from the second period:

-This team might never lose again.
-Thatcher Demko has brought his A-game to start this season, and today was no different. Who should start Tuesday in Pittsburgh? Demko or Kevin Lankinen?
-Conor Garland has been this team’s best forward this season. His engine is always going, and he’s done it all for this team so far this season.

Third Period

As if playing your third game in four days wasn’t hard enough, doing it while missing two forwards for the final 40 minutes of a game is even harder.

The Canucks started the third with a power play after Nic Dowd was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at the conclusion of the second period. The power play continued to look good, but this time, didn’t have a goal to show for their efforts.

The Capitals, as expected, came at the Canucks with a strong effort in the third as they tried to battle back in this game. Demko made a few ten-bell saves, and had a prime chance to chip away at the Canucks’ lead when Filip Hronek took a hooking penalty just under six minutes into the third. Once again, the Canucks’ PK got the job done.

Unfortunately, the Caps kept up the pressure, and at 9:01 of the third, the Capitals pulled within two.

4-2. 

With 2:14 to go in the third, John Carlson’s blast from the point made this a one-goal game.

4-3… 

Elias Pettersson made two great saves off of Alex Ovechkin, stacking the pads for the second. He was integral to the Canucks locking down this win.

Some takeaways from the third:

-Solid poise from the Canucks to bend but not break after the expected strong push from the Caps in the third.
-Don’t think Evander Kane is the right guy to help defend a late lead with the opposing goalie out…
-That’s three straight, and the Canucks will be playing with house money for the final two games of this road trip. 3-2 is a fine record.
-Big game for Tyler Myers.

What’s your instant reaction to today’s game?