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Pettersson pots 2 vs. Caps; Canucks can finish road trip on a high note

January 17, 2022, 2:27 PM ET [468 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Sunday, January 16: Vancouver Canucks 4 - Washington Capitals 2

Tuesday, January 18 - Vancouver Canucks at Nashville Predators - 5 p.m. PT


The Vancouver Canucks will have a chance to end their road trip on a high note after snapping their losing skid with a 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.

After a day off on Monday, the trip will end Tuesday in Nashville, where they'll be catching the Predators on a back-to-back with travel.

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S., so there's a full slate of NHL games running all day — after the league stayed away from trying to compete with the NFL playoffs on Sunday. The Preds visit St. Louis to take on the Blues in a tough and important divisional matchup on Monday at 5 p.m. PT.

Since early December, the Preds have been one of the hottest teams in the league. They're generating a decent amount of offense and enjoying a resurgent season from Matt Duchene, in particular. And, they're getting lights-out goaltending from Juuse Saros.

There's a good chance that Saros will get the start against the Blues, which could set up the Canucks to face David Rittich on Tuesday. He's 3-1-1 with Nashville this year. But he only has an .884 save percentage, and hasn't played since Dec. 30.

The Preds are also heading into Monday's game against the Blues in a bit of a slump, for them — they haven't lost three in a row all year. They're coming off a 4-1 loss to Buffalo Thursday, followed by a 4-3 overtime loss to Boston on Saturday.

So their game against Vancouver will be their fourth in six nights — and fifth in eight. And whether Vancouver sees Rittich or a tired Saros, the Canucks should have the edge in goal.

Thatcher Demko certainly proved me wrong with his performance on Sunday. He made 31 saves against the Capitals in his back-to-back start, including six out of seven shots from Alex Ovechkin.

In my last blog, I was advocating for Bruce Boudreau to give Spencer Martin a crack in net against the Caps. After Sunday's game, Boudreau talked about how much Demko impressed him with his mental toughness by playing well in Carolina despite very little preparation time, after Jaroslav Halak was placed in Covid protocol on Saturday morning.



Knowing that, now, I can see why Boudreau went back to Demko — and why it was the right call. The cerebral stopper takes great pride in how he has honed the mental side of his game. I suspect he would have appreciated the faith that the coach placed in him.

I'm still not sure if Demko's All-Star selection is a blessing or a curse. On the one hand, it's a terrific feather in his cap — and perhaps it helps to make up for missing out on the Olympic experience. But while the skaters get to have fun and show off their skills on All-Star weekend, the goalies still need to work.

At times, Demko can be a bit short with the media. I hope he embraces the spotlight in Vegas and lets fans who might not be as familiar with his work see both how good he is and the level of craftsmanship that he puts into his trade.

Of course, the other big breakout on Sunday belonged to Elias Pettersson, with his two-goal game. The goals were his first in more than a month, dating back to Dec. 14 against Columbus, and his first points of 2022. His last assist came against the Kings on Dec. 30.

Sunday's game was also Petey's first multi-goal effort in nearly 11 months. The last time he scored two goals in a game was against Winnipeg back on Feb. 21, 2021.

The best part of Pettersson's breakout is that it seemed to finally bring him some confidence. He finished the game with four shots on goal — his highest total since Nov. 21. And his second goal was pretty cheeky — a bank job off Washington netminder Ilya Samsonov.



Pettersson's goals were his seventh and eighth of the season. Vancouver's other tallies came from Bo Horvat — his team-leading 13th — and J.T. Miller's 12th, which was an important empty-netter to seal the win with 58 seconds left to play, while the Caps were pressing with the extra attacker.

Miller also drew an assist on Horvat's power-play marker — his first points of the trip.

I found it very interesting that John Garrett mentioned on Sunday's broadcast that the Canucks are 0-12 this year when Miller is held off the scoresheet.

The team is now 17-18-3 for the year. So they're not guaranteed a win when Miller gets a point, but they are guaranteed a loss when he doesn't.

That's a good segue into a look at the standings as we head into Monday's action.

After the Edmonton Oilers' latest crushing loss on Saturday night, they're now out of a playoff spot — 11th in the conference and just one point ahead of the Canucks. Calgary's losing streak is also now up to four games after their loss to Ottawa last Thursday — and their next game is against Florida on Tuesday, as the red-hot Panthers kick off their Western Canadian road trip.

The Canucks host Florida as well, in their first game back from their trip, on Friday. But if there's any silver lining, it's that Vancouver will get the Panthers on a back-to-back, at the end of three-in-four. And given how Florida has been rolling lately, Vancouver's 5-2 loss in Sunrise last week actually looks somewhat respectable compared to the beatdowns the Panthers dished out on the Stars and the Blue Jackets.

So — as of Monday morning, the San Jose Sharks hold down the second wild-card spot, with 42 points. Vancouver sits five points back, but is still 13th in the conference, and has played more games than most of the teams they're chasing.

That being said, only two clubs in the Canucks' section of the standings are really hot right now. The L.A. Kings have ridden a four-game winning streak all the way up to second spot in the Pacific, and are now getting great play from goalie Cal Petersen as well as Jonathan Quick. And the Chicago Blackhawks shut out the Anaheim Ducks for their fourth-straight win on Saturday night. They remain just two points behind Vancouver — and face the hapless Seattle Kraken on Monday.

The Kings are meeting San Jose in a Monday matinee. At this point, they'd be doing the Canucks a favor if they could knock off the Sharks in regulation.

Monday is a day off for the Canucks, so we aren't expecting any roster updates. In case you missed it, Conor Garland joined Jaro Halak in Covid protocol before Sunday's game in Washington. And this one snuck under the radar for me — taxi squadder Ashton Sautner went onto the Covid list last Wednesday, after the game in Florida.

After a three-game Covid absence, Alex Chiasson drew back into the lineup against the Caps, replacing Garland. Meanwhile, forward Justin Dowling is still in Covid protocol, where he has been listed since Dec. 30.

And to close today — a quick note on the Canucks' management search. On Monday's new '32 Thoughts' podcast, Elliotte Friedman indicated that he thinks the Canadiens and the Canucks are both pretty close to announcing their hires, which could come as early as this week.

While names like Scott Mellanby and Sean Burke are being bandied about for the Canucks' GM job, Friedman still believes that the frontrunner is Patrick Allvin. He's the current Penguins assistant who's most closely tied to Jim Rutherford — and who has been the most-discussed name ever since Rutherford's hiring.
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