‘He’s playing in the mud and in the dirt’: Elias Pettersson earning praise from Adam Foote for keeping injury-riddled Canucks afloat
He may not have scored a goal, but Elias Pettersson had a major hand in the Vancouver Canucks‘ win over the Nashville Predators. As more and more of his teammates have left the lineup due to injuries, Pettersson has taken on more responsibilities and far more pressure.
Adam Foote is aware of that fact, and praised his star centre’s efforts before Monday’s game against the Predators.
“There’s such a hard matchup on Petey right now. You saw him defend so well against [Connor] McDavid’s line 5-on-5,” Foote said, referring to the Canucks’ overtime win over Edmonton a week ago. “We’re in a situation with the injuries that it’s hard to get him away from the hard matchup. I’m just so happy the way he’s playing. He’s playing in the mud; he’s playing in the dirt. It’s not easy.” Foote said.
Pettersson led all 12 Canucks forwards with 22 minutes of ice time on Monday and tallied a pair of assists. His first came on a power play when he feathered a pass to Brock Boeser through Ryan O’Reilly’s legs. Boeser found Jake DeBrusk at the front of the net for the 2-1 goal.
Then, in the dying seconds of overtime, he helped Boeser by winning a board battle and crucially drawing both Preds defenders away from the net, before slicing a pass back to Boeser for the winning goal.
The Canucks’ current situation, with so many players in the infirmary, has left Pettersson facing a similar challenge to one he faced in his rookie season: a lack of a supporting cast. It’s never been easier for an opponent to isolate Pettersson as the most important weapon on the ice, particularly in the four games Quinn Hughes missed. Still, he’s finding ways to pick up points anyway.
Detractors will point to Pettersson’s lack of goal-scoring production as an issue, but his confidence has been building since their game against the Dallas Stars on October 16. At the same time, his defensive work has been among the Canucks’ best. Hockey Stat Cards has Pettersson at a +0.8 defensive rating for his work at even strength and on the penalty kill, the highest effectiveness rating among Canucks forwards and in the top quarter of NHL forwards.
Foote is seeing the kind of work Pettersson has been putting in and thinks the efforts will lead to more consistent goal scoring as the season marches on. The Canucks’ head coach’s faith in Pettersson paid off with his two assists against the Predators, and the expectation is that he’s only going to get better.
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