The Vancouver Canucks were facing long odds of coming out of their matchup with the Calgary Flames with a win. They were playing back-to-back nights with travel, had to deal with yet another injury to their blue line, and were facing one of the hottest goaltenders in the NHL in Dustin Wolf. Then, during the game, they had to deal with the loss of Elias Pettersson (the defenceman) and break the goose egg in the win column when trailing heading into the third period. Fortunately, they had their captain back in the lineup to help overcome those odds, and their big $11.6 million man also came to play.
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In the end, the Canucks overcame the adversity, and while it would have been nice to give the Flames zero points in the standings, they walked away with a much-needed two points to stay alive in the playoff race. Here are three takeaways from the Canucks’ massive 4-3 victory on Wednesday night.
Quinn Hughes Returns, and Not a Moment Too Soon
As mentioned, Quinn Hughes returned to lead the blue line on Wednesday and logged out his usual workhorse minutes to the tune of 29:48. Despite the analysts on Sportsnet’s Wednesday Night Hockey mentioning he was labouring, I, for one, didn’t see it as he looked like his usual slick self out there skating circles around defenders and effortlessly executing 360s like it was nothing. While he probably felt the effects of the physicality from the Flames, he gutted it out and didn’t let that deter him. In fact, it might have fueled him.
Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
The Canucks are a much different team when No. 43 is patrolling the defence, even when he’s not 100 percent. It’s probably why they were finally able to have a dominant third period and secure a win after trailing heading into it. There’s a reason why he was in the conversation for the Hart and Norris Trophy before this string of injuries started. He is still the MVP of this team, however, and he looked the part again on Wednesday night.
Finally, Elias Pettersson is starting to look like the Elias Pettersson of old. While he’s not yet at his 102-point self, he’s been an impact player over the last few games, which is something the Canucks desperately need to continue if they are going to squeeze their way into the playoffs. After scoring only one goal in 21 games, he now has three goals in four games. Two of them have been vintage Pettersson, too – the one-time snipe against the Minnesota Wild and lethal wrister against the Montreal Canadiens – and the third was a clutch goal on the power play to tie the game against the Flames.
Bottom line, Pettersson has been a difference-maker offensively lately, and while that won’t forgive what probably will be a career-worst season for him, if he can put together a final 17 games where he is near a point-per-game, that will go a long way to quelling the concerns about whether the Canucks traded the wrong player.
Canucks Overcome Adversity with Gritty Effort in 3rd Period
The Canucks needed to step up and have a great third period, especially after blowing two leads (1-0 and 2-1) and allowing the Flames to go ahead 3-2 on shorthanded and power play goals by Jonathan Huberdeau in the second. Somewhat unexpectedly, given their penchant to lose when trailing heading into the final frame, they completely dominated the Flames, outshooting them by a whopping 17-4 margin and scoring the tying goal via Pettersson on the power play. If not for the heroics of Calder Trophy candidate Dustin Wolf, the Canucks probably would have won the game in regulation by more than one goal.
Canucks fans probably would be forgiven if they thought a loss was in the cards when they saw their team heading into the third down a goal, especially considering the adversity they were facing. Not only were they trailing, but they were playing with five defencemen on the tail-end of a back-to-back against a rested Flames team that hadn’t played since their 1-0 win over the Canadiens last Saturday. By all accounts, they should have been tired and unable to generate anything offensively. But that’s not what happened. They came together as a group and not only outshot the Flames 17-4 but out-chanced them 9-1, with eight of those chances being high danger. Basically, they looked like they cared about grabbing the two points, even though they would have had a built-in excuse for not doing so.
Playoff Race Will Be Fierce Right Until the End
After the spirited comeback, the Canucks are now tied with the Flames in the standings at 71 points. The Flames still hold onto the final wild card spot thanks to their game in hand, but the Canucks remain in the fight. They will now face the lowly Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday and the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday in another two must-win games on the schedule. It will be this way until the end of the season, as every game will be do-or-die with the current logjam around the final two wild card spots. The St. Louis Blues and Utah Hockey Club are still nipping at the heels of the Canucks and Flames with 69 points a piece, and the Canucks play both of them in the next seven days.
Needless to say, this next week will be the most important stretch of games on the calendar and could determine the Canucks’ playoff fate. It should be exciting and nerve-racking at the same time, and that’s about all you could ask for at this time of year.
