Canucks Fans Want More From Elias Pettersson in Game 3. So Does He.

Elias Pettersson Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

“I’m always my biggest critic, and I take a lot of blame for this one.”

Elias Pettersson openly admitted where he fell short in Game 2 against the Nashville Predators — lamenting his missed opportunity on a wide-open net at the end of the first period and copping to the error in judgment that led to Colton Sissons’ shot-and-a-rebound goal that put the Predators up 3-0 midway through the second period.

“I put us in a bad spot with my mistake on their third goal,” he said after Nashville evened its first-round playoff series with Vancouver. “If I score in the first period and it’s a 1-1 game, maybe it’s a different outlook.”

But with their nerves already frayed due to the absence of Thatcher Demko, Canucks fans want more from Pettersson than just accountability. They want the big-game impact they’ve come to expect from the 25-year-old.

As a reminder of how much top talent the Canucks have, think back to the All-Star Game in Toronto, which featured Pettersson, Demko, Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, coach Rick Tocchet and newly acquired Elias Lindholm.

But even all-stars aren’t created equal. Over the last two seasons, Pettersson leads the Canucks in goals (73), points (191) and game-winning goals (16). Normally, he’s money in big moments.

And he delivered during his first experience in the NHL playoffs in 2020, when his 18 points in 17 games tied him with J.T. Miller for tops on the team as Vancouver improbably got within a game of reaching the Western Conference final.

This year, it’s been different so far. Through two games, Pettersson is without a point and a team-worst minus-four, with the empty-net whiff that knocked him to his knees looming large.

Before the playoffs began, Pettersson told Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that he had about 20 family members coming over from Sweden for Games 1 and 2. That adds pressure. And Demko’s sudden absence on Tuesday seemed to make not just Pettersson but many of the Canucks squeeze their sticks a little tighter and maybe try to do just a little extra to make up for the absence of their rock-solid stopper.

After practice in Nashville on Thursday, Tocchet once again preached the importance of keeping an even keel.

Veteran defenseman Tyler Myers, who’s a key member of the leadership group and has been a steadying influence this year, will be returning to the lineup after he missed Game 2 due to the flu. And while the fans at Bridgestone Arena are notoriously hostile to visiting teams, Myers is one of three Canucks players who has already experienced that playoff atmosphere.

He was part of the 2018 Winnipeg Jets squad that took down Nashville in seven games, one round after the Predators eliminated Nikita Zadorov’s Colorado Avalanche. A year earlier, Ian Cole was part of the Pittsburgh Penguins group that beat Nashville in the Stanley Cup final. So was Tocchet, as an assistant coach — and Game 3 starter Casey DeSmith, as a Black Ace.

Demko isn’t expected back between the pipes anytime soon, but he did make the trip to Music City to support DeSmith and the rest of his teammates.

The Canucks won twice in Nashville earlier in the year, sweeping their three-game season series. Pettersson led the way with four goals on 12 shots, including his first game-winner of the year to cap off a hat trick in Vancouver on Halloween.

In Nashville, the winning goal-scorer for both games was Pettersson’s current linemate, Nils Hoglander. Known for his feisty play as much as his soft hands, the 23-year-old who broke out with 24 goals this season starred for the Abbotsford Canucks in the 2023 AHL playoffs.

And while Hoglander’s playing style should be well suited to this series, he has been quiet so far — logging just three hits on his stat line and playing less than nine minutes on Tuesday.

Since the Canucks last played home playoff games in 2015, the Predators have been to the post-season seven times before this year, six if you don’t include losing in the 2020 qualifying round. In fact, they haven’t won a round since 2018, but springtime hockey has become the expectation for Tennessee hockey fans.

They’ll be loud, but the Canucks could re-establish their footing if they play a disciplined road game without feeling like they need to please their supportive-but-jittery fan base.

Game 3 goes down Friday in Nashville at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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