Pettersson’s 3 point night not enough as Canucks lose 4-3 to Canadiens

Lukas Reichel slots in as the second line centre, in between Evander Kane and Brock Boeser. Jake DeBrusk moves up to the top line with Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland. The Abby line is reunited, while the defence corps stays in tact. Kevin Lankinen gets the start in goal.

First period

The Canucks had some jump to start the game. Elias Pettersson had a nice back hand tip at the net front, and he grabbed the rebound off the boards where he attempted a shot through his legs on an unsuspecting Jakob Dobes.

Pettersson compiled back-to-back strong shifts together, and got the Canucks on the board first.

Pettersson carries the puck through the neutral zone, winds up for what looks like a shot, but sends a backhand pass to the trailing Filip Hronek. He takes it out wide, drawing two defenders with him and slides it through the slot, around the Canadiens defenceman and find the tape of Pettersson, who fires it past Dobes.

1-0 Canucks.

Reichel had his first good opportunity when he accepted a break-in pass and was nearly sent on a breakaway. However, he seemed to lose speed entering the zone and was quickly caught by a Canadiens defender. Reichel still managed to fire a pass to the centre of the ice, but just missed Boeser for a slot chance.

The Canucks’ next strong chance came later in the period when a weird bounce off a Canadiens clearing attempt lands in the slot. Arshdeep Bains is one-on-one with Dobes, but isn’t able to to corral the bouncing puck, and gets a weak tip on net for an easy Dobes save.

In the final two minutes of the opening frame, Kane gets the puck on the left boards and makes a questionable backhand pass to the centre of the defensive zone. Joe Veleno gets a stick on it but can’t pick up the puck. If he had, he was all alone against Lankinen. Luckily for Kane, that never happened.

Vancouver out performed Montreal in the first, spending most of the time in the offensive zone. And, hey! Garland landed a big hit on Alexandre Carrier, too!

Takeaways from the first:

Pettersson came to play in the opening frame. He made nifty plays and dangerous chances early and was rewarded with the goal.

Canucks seemed to use a forward at the offensive blue line to accept the puck and spring a speeding winger with a one-touch pass into the offensive zone. It worked well when they were able to pull it off.

Second period

The first good chance of the period was off a sneaky offensive zone intercept from Boeser, as the Canadiens attempted to clear the zone. He settles the puck and a pass through two defenders to a streaking Kane. The pass doesn’t get through, but deflected to Reichel, who registers his first shot on net as a Canuck.

Flip to a defensive zone shift for the Canucks, where Marcus Pettersson had a fantastic tie up at the net front to minimize a Montreal scoring chance. However, the puck stays in the zone. Montreal has the puck behind the net, and PO Joseph had his stick covering a player in the slot, who was directly behind him, leaving the passing lane in front of Lankinen wide open for a trailing Canadiens player. Didn’t love that from the Canucks defenceman.

Joe Veleno taks an offensive zone tripping penalty after a strong shift from the Canadiens. On the ensuing faceoff, Josh Anderson gets a shorthanded breakaway after some miscommunication from the Canucks at the blue line. Anderson beats Lankinen, but not the post.

Later on the power play, the Canucks doubled their lead.

2-0 Canucks.

Once Pettersson passes Hughes the puck, DeBrusk breaks straight from the goal line to the net front, where he’s in perfect position to tip the Hughes shot past Dobes. DeBrusk’s net front ability is unmatched.

M. Pettersson had another strong defensive play. Ivan Demidov tries to chip the puck past Pettersson and beat the veteran defenceman to the puck. But with strong positioning, Pettersson squared up Demidov and allowed Joesph to pick up the puck and exit the zone.

The Canucks were sent to the power play following Xhejak interference penalty on Tyler Myers behind the Canadiens net? When do you ever see a defenceman on the forecheck drawing a penalty? Awesome stuff Myers.

However, the penalty was short lived, as Linus Karlsson was called for a weak interference call. Once the Canadiens penalty expired, Nick Suzuki capitalized for the Habs.

As the second period expired, Aatu Räty got called for a tripping penalty, sending the Canadiens to the power play to start the final frame.

Takeaways from the second:

The Canucks seem to be sheltering Reichel in the faceoff dot a bit. He still took a fair share of draws, but sometimes Boeser would fill in for him on right-side faceoffs. Something to monitor moving forward if they don’t trust him taking faceoffs just yet.

Adam Foote continues to shuffle his defensive pairings as the games go on, giving Elias Pettersson and PO Joseph shifts with top four defenceman. Marcus Pettersson has had a strong defensive game in those pairings, being a safe defensive anchor for his less experienced partners.

Third period

The Canucks had a solid effort and nearly killed the penalty, but another somewhat chaotic play at the net front led to Juraj Slafkovsky

10 seconds remaining in the penalty, Slafkovsky ties the game.

2-2 tie.

Kane gave Caufield a cross check in the numbers against the boards to send the Canadiens back to the power play.

It was a scary looking play, but Caufield only missed 30 seconds of the power play.

The Canucks would kill it off, but shortly after, Mike Matheson puts a wrist shot into the top right corner to give the Habs their first lead of the game.

3-2 Canadiens.

The Canucks head back on the attack, where Garland has a strong chance at the net front. But the best play on this shift was Pettersson laying the body on Suzuki.

Ivan Demidov calls for the puck in the offensive zone, winds up a clapper and scores the Canadiens fourth unanswered goal.

4-2 Canadiens.

The Canucks’ top offensive weapons put forth some solid shifts in an attempt to claw back into the game. They were aggressive and pulled the goalie with four minutes to play. It worked out, as Pettersson connects with Garland on a slap-pass to pull the Canucks to within one.

4-3 Canucks.

With the empty net, the Canucks had multiple strong efforts, the most dangerous being from Boeser in the slot, who sent it just wide. But it wasn’t enough for the Canucks to comeback.

4-3 Final.

Takeaways from the third:

It was pretty much all Canadiens until they scored their fourth goal. Then, the Canucks got their legs back under them and put the pressure on Montreal.

Three points from Elias Pettersson tonight. He had jump from the start, and that carried over all night. One of his best performances of the season.

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