A rough homestand at Rogers Arena still left the Vancouver Canucks with something to work with.
Over three games last week, the team showed flashes of the kind of hockey it wants to play, even if it never put it together for long enough. There was a fast opening against the Minnesota Wild, some hard work in the first two periods against the Carolina Hurricanes, and a late push that hinted at more. The challenge now, as Head Coach Manny Malhotra sees it, is turning those stretches into something repeatable.
When the Canucks are at their best, they’re doing the simple things well: getting pucks to the bottom, forechecking with purpose, staying connected as a five-man unit, and keeping the defense involved in the attack. Malhotra said that consistency comes from sticking with what works.
“It's understanding what you do well and staying with it. So, every game that we've been in or we've controlled play, it's about simplicity in our game. We get pucks to the bottom, we do a good job of forechecking, we stay connected as a group of five, our D are able to stay a part of our offence, and when you do that, good things happen,” Malhotra said.
“It's when we try to make the east-west plays or make the extra play or the extra unnecessary play that's where we start to shoot ourselves in the foot, so consistency for me comes with identifying what you're good at and just staying to the plan.”
That theme ran through the week. Against Carolina, the Canucks were in it through two periods before losing their grip in the third.
Against the Detroit Red Wings, they were buried early after giving up three goals in the first nine minutes. Against Minnesota, they came out with energy and finished with a strong push, but too many penalties kept them from fully dictating the game.
One bright spot was in goal, where Leevi Meriläinen gave the group a chance more than once. On Tuesday against the Hurricanes, he stopped 38 of 43 shots, including a second-period penalty shot from Sebastian Aho. On Sunday against the Wild, he made 30 saves on 34 shots while Vancouver was outshot 34-17.
Brock Boeser pointed to that work as a big reason the Canucks stayed alive in Minnesota.
“He made some big saves for us and kept us in it as long as he could. He’s battling for us each and every night,” Boeser said.
Boeser also said the group has to get better at shutting down the other team’s momentum when games start slipping away.
“We keep talking about it. We do it for a period and then the second period we stop doing it, I don’t know why.
You can kind of see the ice tilt into their favour and they get the momentum and we need to find a way to respond,” Boeser said. “When they’re tilting the ice, we need to find a way to squash it and get the momentum back in our favour.”
There were a few individual positives on the scoresheet, too. Jonathan Lekkerimäki found a way to contribute in each of the first two games of the homestand.
Against Carolina, he tied the game 2-2 with 1.2 seconds left in the first period on the power play. Two nights later, he added a goal and an assist against Detroit, finishing a pass from Marco Rossi in front of Michal Postava.
Malhotra has also been adjusting his lines, including reuniting Elias Pettersson and Boeser against Minnesota. That pairing connected on Boeser’s goal, another small sign of the offense finding some rhythm when the pieces fall into place.
The Canucks continue to focus on cleaner execution in the offensive zone, especially getting more pucks on net. Vancouver opened the first period against Minnesota with a 10-5 edge in shots on goal, and that kind of pressure can lead to second chances and longer shifts in the offensive zone.
Elsewhere in the organization, there’s more production coming from the next wave. Abbotsford Canucks forward Jacob Quillan scored three goals in Sunday’s 4-2 win over the Calgary Wranglers, giving him six points in four games with Abbotsford. The club is 4-0-0 with Quillan in the lineup and is riding a five-game winning streak.
In the OHL, Lucian Bernat stayed hot with the Owen Sound Attack. He now has a six-game point streak after scoring twice on Sunday, including the game-winner in a 5-4 overtime victory over the Barrie Colts.
Michigan State forward Anthony Romani also kept producing, scoring once on Saturday against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats. He now has five goals in five games.
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