The Week in Blue and Green

The Vancouver Canucks had a three-game homestand over the last week, and while it was a tough week at Rogers Arena, there’s a lot to build on.  

The First Shift 

Last week, the Canucks had some strong periods, capping it off with a high energy start against the Minnesota Wild and a third period that showed pushback. 

The Canucks continue showing that they can play the right way in stretches, and the work now is making those stretches into a complete game. The group had more practice time this past week than they had on their most recent road trip, and Head Coach Manny Malhotra and his group have been taking the opportunities to clean up details in their game. 

When the team is playing well, they’re physical and assertive with the puck. Malhotra says the next step in playing consistently is playing a simple game. 

“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.” 

Stick Taps and Takeaways 

Stick taps to Leevi Meriläinen. On Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, he stopped 38 of 43 shots he faced, including turning aside Sebastian Aho on a second-period penalty shot. 

On Sunday against the Minnesota Wild, Meriläinen had 30 saves on 34 shots, and kept the Canucks within reach on a night where they were outshot 34-17. 

The takeaway: the Canucks want to find consistency in their game.  

Against the Hurricanes the group fought hard through the first two periods and lost their footing in the third. While in their matchup against the Detroit Red Wings, they gave up three goals in the first nine minutes and were chasing the game the rest of the way. The Canucks had a strong start against the Minnesota Wild, and a good pushback at the end, but took too many penalties. 

In the Spotlight 

Jonathan Lekkerimäki found the scoresheet in the first two games of the homestand. On Tuesday, he tied the game 2-2, scoring on the power play with 1.2 seconds remaining in the first period.

On Thursday, he added a goal and an assist, which was welcomed production when goals were hard to come by. With Marco Rossi coming down the left side, Lekkerimäki made his way net front, firing in Rossi’s pass past Detroit netminder Michal Postava.

From the Room 

Brock Boeser talked about how Meriläinen helped keep them in the game against the Wild and has given them a chance against tough teams. 

“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. 

As the group has been searching for consistency in their play, Boeser discussed the importance of the team digging in and being able to stop opposing teams from gaining momentum. 

“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.” 

Behind the Bench 

Malhotra and his coaching staff are looking for consistency on the lines, and he reunited forwards Elias Pettersson and Boeser against Minnesota and the pair connected for Boeser’s goal.

Malhotra also addressed the effort level with the group and building off of momentum they generate through good stretches.

The Work Continues 

The team has talked about needing to execute better to create chances in the offensive zone. 

The Canucks started the first period against Minnesota with the shots on goal favouring Vancouver 10-5. Consistently being able to get more shots on net leads to more second-chance opportunities and sustained offensive zone time.

The Next Wave 

Abbotsford Canucks forward Jacob Quillan posted a hat trick on Sunday in a 4-2 win against the Calgary Wranglers. Quillan has six points (4-2-6) through four games with Abbotsford. Abby is 4-0-0 with Quillan in the lineup and are currently on a five-game winning streak.

Lucian Bernat is on a six-game point streak in the OHL with the Owen Sound Attack. Bernat was the first star of the game on Sunday, scoring two goals, including the game-winner, in the Attack’s 5-4 overtime win over the Barrie Colts.

Michigan State forward Anthony Romani had one goal on Saturday against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats, and he’s up to five goals in five games.