\u2018He\u2019s got to be better and he knows that\u2019: Foote explains Pettersson\u2019s benching after Canucks\u2019 loss to Kraken<\/p>\n
Canucks forward and the team\u2019s highest-paid player, Elias Pettersson<\/a>, saw his role and minutes decline drastically on Saturday night. He played seven shifts in the first period, five in the second and then just three in the third period. And although he was hit by a H\u00f6glander shot in the third period, this was not injury-related.<\/p>\n Head Coach Adam Foote said that Pettersson\u2019s benching was performance-related and explained his decision postgame:<\/p>\n \u201cWell, he didn\u2019t have his, whatever it was. He\u2019s got to be better, and he knows that. He\u2019s aware of that. We need more from him, and he\u2019s got to find it. I\u2019m sure [if] you talk to him, he knows he\u2019s got to be better for us, and I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll see that next game.\u201d<\/p>\n Pettersson started the game on the top line with Evander Kane and Jake DeBrusk on his wings. But after being on the ice for the opening goal against, the trio would split, and Pettersson found himself centring a line with Nils H\u00f6glander and Linus Karlsson \u2013 the two wingers on the fourth line.<\/p>\n That deployment rolled into the second period, where the Canucks seemingly ran four lines, with all four centremen playing between four and five minutes of 5v5 ice time. The third period is when we saw a shift.<\/p>\n A cross-checking penalty from Kraken forward Jared McCann as time expired in the second period sent the Canucks to the power play to start the third period. Oddly enough, Foote sent out his second unit, which consisted of Conor Garland, Evander Kane, Linus Karlsson, Zeev Buium and Tom Willander. After the Kraken clear the zone halfway through said power play, the second unit jumps over the boards: Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk<\/a>, Marco Rossi, Filip Hronek and Drew O\u2019Connor. No Elias Pettersson on either of the Canucks\u2019 power play units.<\/p>\n Pettersson saw his first shift (41 seconds) after the power play, followed by two more shifts (51 and 46 seconds) before the halfway mark of the frame. However, that was his last shift of the hockey game.<\/p>\n He did not play the final 9:47 minutes of the third period, in a game in which the Canucks trailed and were trying to claw their way back into the contest. With 5:15 remaining in the final frame, Foote decided to pull his goalie and attack 6-on-5. The first unit consisted of DeBrusk, Rossi, Boeser, O\u2019Connor, Buium and Hronek. The second unit saw Kane, Blueger, Garland, Karlsson, Willander and M. Pettersson. Again, no Elias Pettersson in an extra-man situation.<\/p>\n