\u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n While \u201cgreat\u201d might be stretching it, the Canucks battled hard. Their first period was legitimately very good. Their third period was strong. Unfortunately, hockey games have three periods.<\/p>\n I saw all three of them when I watched this game.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need guys that are going to be competitive and give us an opportunity to win\u201d<\/p>\n The first period was the Canucks\u2019 best of the game, which is why it\u2019s a shame they were tied 1-1 heading into the intermission. You\u2019ve got to make hay while the sun shines, and you\u2019ve got to score goals while you\u2019re controlling puck possession, because neither one will last long. It was an unfair first shot to face for Leevi Meril\u00e4inen, who was making his fourth straight start for the Canucks. He didn\u2019t deserve that, Jamie. Go buy him a steak dinner. \u201cMe and Fil have been looking for that for a few games\u201d<\/p>\n The Canucks responded on the power play with a breakaway of their own. Filip Hronek faked like he was going to make the usual drop pass that everyone uses on the power play, then snapped a stretch pass to Brock Boeser as he swung behind the Leafs\u2019 defence. Like the editing in an Edgar Wright film<\/a>, it was perfectly timed. BROCK BOESER TIES IT \u203c\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/9E2SFVDxdN<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The goal came on one of three penalties drawn by Elias \u201cOG\u201d Pettersson, who was held off the scoresheet to end his six-game scoring streak, but still contributed in other ways. Along with the drawn penalties, Pettersson blocked five shots, threw three hits, and played a solid defensive game while hard-matched against the Auston Matthews line. im crying pic.twitter.com\/Fe6sNcN9gR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 r (@6ffside) October 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Of course, McKenna didn\u2019t get a penalty for punching Pettersson. Why would he? \u201cThey have too many good players over there\u201d<\/p>\n Things went awry in the second period. The Leafs stacked shift after shift in the Canucks\u2019 zone, with the Canucks unable to break the puck out and get it deep to make line changes with the long change in the middle frame. Zack MacEwen scores his second as a Maple Leaf off a weird bounce \ud83d\ude33 pic.twitter.com\/V3ktDTwyGT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the thing: like someone creating a Tinder profile, the Leafs gave themselves the opportunity to get lucky. They outshot the Canucks 13-to-6 in the second period and had plenty of offensive pressure beyond just the shots. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to be super simple\u201d<\/p>\n The Canucks\u2019 best line was arguably the fourth line of Paul Cotter, Max Sasson, and Brendan Gallagher. They were buzzing around the offensive zone, creating some quality chances and hemming the Leafs in for several shifts. There\u2019s a reason why that trio kept getting shifts as the Canucks pushed for the comeback. Zone entry by Cotter, the initial shot by Gallagher and the rebound picked up by Sasson. The quintessential fourth line goal. #Canucks<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/kLiqNzv6oL<\/a><\/p>\n![\"offside](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/offside-i-watched-this-game-1-scaled.png\"\/ "\\"\\"")
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\nIt didn\u2019t help that the Leafs scored on their first shot on goal. Jamie Oleksiak made the crucial mistake of trying to deke around William Nylander before he had the puck, so he whiffed harder than a dizzy Coby Cotton<\/a>. The whiff gave Nylander a breakaway, which was tantamount to giving him a goal.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cLeevi\u2019s been awesome ever since he got here,\u201d said Max Sasson. \u201cGreat guy in the locker room; great goalie out there. Keeps us in it every single night. We\u2019ve got to do better by him and put some goals in the other way and try to limit their great chances.\u201d
\nCanucks head coach Manny Malhotra didn\u2019t pull his punches when he was asked about Meril\u00e4inen getting a string of starts, and it\u2019s hard to avoid seeing a little shot at Kevin Lankinen.
\n\u201cEvery game he\u2019s played this year, he\u2019s given us an opportunity to win,\u201d said Malhotra. \u201cHe\u2019s made some incredible stops, but I always talk about just making the stops we expect him to make, the routine ones. He\u2019s pretty dialed in, in that regard\u2026The run of games, it\u2019s because of the fact that he gives us an opportunity to win every night. That\u2019s the messaging for the group: we need guys that are going to be competitive and give us an opportunity to win.\u201d
\nHe made have been on the ice for that goal against, Tom Willander had a really strong game. He was moving the puck well, attacking downhill in the offensive zone, and playing some excellent rush defence. As a result, his underlying possession numbers were great: he led his team in corsi percentage at 5-on-5, with the Canucks out-attempting the Leafs 23-to-12 when he was on the ice.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMe and Fil have been looking for that for a few games,\u201d said Boeser. \u201cHe made a great pass there.\u201d
\nBoeser made no mistake on the finish. He faked a snap shot with a leg kick, deked hard to the backhand, then pulled the puck back to his forehand. Like putting a U2 song in a playlist, Boeser added elevation<\/a> to the mix, lifting the puck over Anthony Stolarz\u2019s outstretched pad.<\/p>\n
\nStill, Pettersson was unhappy with his game, noting to Postmedia\u2019s Patrick Johnston<\/a>, \u201cI was not too good with the puck today. I made too many errors, terrible in the faceoffs. Yeah, not too happy with my performance today.\u201d
\nThat feels like Pettersson is being too hard on himself, but then again, he went 7-for-25 on faceoffs \u2014 28 per cent \u2014 so maybe he\u2019s onto something.
\n\u201cWhen you look at his effort on the ice, and you look at his willingness to block shots and recover pucks, he\u2019s playing with some more jam in his game, which is what we want to see,\u201d said Malhotra of Pettersson. \u201cThe offence will come. He\u2019ll produce, no doubt, as he continues to play like that.\u201d
\nAs for the other Elias Pettersson, my favourite moment from the defenceman was when he got punched by Gavin McKenna in a scrum, leading to his helmet going askew. Linesman Kiel Murchison kindly put his helmet back on his head like a parent adjusting their kid\u2019s costume as they go out the door for trick-or-treating.<\/p>\n
\nThat scrum came in the midst of a lengthy 5-on-3 power play for the Leafs, which the Canucks did well to kill, with most of it done by Hronek and the Petterssons, which is not an indie rock band. It would be nice to see the penalty kill turn a corner after being genuinely godawful to start the year.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI thought first period, we played great, and second period, we just didn\u2019t,\u201d said Boeser. \u201cDefensively, we weren\u2019t as sharp as the first period, and they have too many good players over there. You could see them get their chances or looks and they tilted the ice. They had the momentum, and we were kind of just sitting back and couldn\u2019t find our way out of it and gave up a couple that cost us.\u201d
\nPart of it was bad luck. One of Pettersson\u2019s five shot blocks broke his stick. He tried to compensate with a hit, but Darren Raddysh got around him and played catch with Auston Matthews, who finished things off with a quick shot through the five-hole.
\nThe Leafs\u2019 third goal was also a bit of bad luck. Zack MacEwen\u2019s point shot knuckled on Meril\u00e4inen, and he couldn\u2019t catch it cleanly. The puck popped out of his glove, hit Luke Schenn in the back, and rolled over the goal line. Back rolls plagued the Canucks like they plague Alyssa Edwards<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI think a large part of it is the execution through the neutral zone,\u201d said Malhotra. \u201cEspecially in the second period when you get hemmed in your own end, it creates a ton of problems. Our inability to come out clean from breakouts through the neutral zone and get to their end was obviously a major factor. They spent far too much time in our own zone in the second.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe\u2019re trying to be super simple,\u201d said Sasson. \u201cWe know what we\u2019re all good at. [Cotter] obviously is a great skater, strong body. Gally is a veteran presence, knows exactly what to do and when to do it. I think the chemistry has been good.\u201d
\nIn the third period, that line came up with the Canucks\u2019 second goal to lower the lead to one. Cotter gained the zone with speed, swooped down low, and tried to centre for Sasson. When his pass was disrupted, Gallagher jumped on the loose puck for a quick shot, with Sasson darting to the net like a Ptereleotrinae<\/a> to finish off the rebound.<\/p>\n