Can Elias Pettersson step up for Canucks late in Round 1 series?
Where, oh where, is Elias Pettersson?
That is the question the Vancouver Canucks and their fans are asking themselves as the team gets ready to make the long flight to Nashville for Game 6 on Friday. The soon-to-be $11.6-million man has so far been a non-factor in the playoffs, recording two secondary assists and seven shots on net in five games.
The on-ice results have not flattered Pettersson; Vancouver has been outscored 3-0 at 5-on-5 during his minutes. The image of Pettersson dropping to his knees in disbelief after missing a wide-open net in the dying seconds of the first period in Game 2 tells the whole story of his series.
“He’s thinking too much about all these different things,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet told reporters Monday. “Just think about moving your feet. If he moves his feet, everything will organically come.”
Pettersson said something similar to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre last week, telling him, “I’ve been wanting to do too much instead of just staying (with) and playing my game.”
When at his best, Pettersson is excellent at moving the puck up ice. He averaged 59.4 possession-driving plays per 60 minutes during the regular season, which ranked 44th out of 245 forwards who played at least 1,000 minutes. Through five games against the Predators, Pettersson has averaged 44.4 possession-driving plays per 60.
The Canucks’ inability to put pucks on net in this series has reached historic levels. Their 92 shots are the second fewest in NHL history through five games of any post-season series, according to Sportsnet Stats.
Perhaps one way of getting Pettersson and the rest of the Canucks’ offence going is reuniting the “Lotto Line” with Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller, who have been dominant at 5-on-5. The Canucks have out-chanced the Predators 34-22 with Boeser and Miller on the ice.
Tocchet has called on that unit at various times during the series, including late in Game 5. Scoring chances at 5-on-5 are 8-2 in Vancouver’s favour in those situations.
The Lotto Line earns a chance against the Predators
After the Predators avoided elimination in Game 5, Ryan O’Reilly praised the play of his team’s top players.
“As you go deeper in a series, the best guys, (the) guys paid the most money, have to step up and make it happen,” O’Reilly told NHL.com.
Pettersson must take notice.
All stats via Sportlogiq
More from Sportsnet
Canucks lose the hard way in Game 5 as series shifts back to Nashville
Canucks’ Elias Pettersson ‘can only look forward’ after tough playoff start