Canucks hoping to heal, relax and refocus during brief break

Vancouver Canucks' Elias Pettersson (40) and San Jose Sharks' Ty Dellandrea (53) vie for the puck during second period NHL hockey action in Vancouver, B.C., Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

The bright glow of a two-goal performance by Elias Pettersson was dimmed a little when the Vancouver Canuck centre left Monday’s 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks early in the third period.

Pettersson broke out of a seven-game scoring drought with goals 44 seconds apart in the second period. He played briefly in the third before leaving the bench.

Pettersson didn’t return to the ice when he was named the game’s first star.

“He got banged up,” head coach Rick Tocchet said when asked about Pettersson. “I think it was the second period. He tried one shift (in the third.). We have the break. I don’t think it’s too bad.”

Pettersson last scored in a 4-3 overtime loss to St. Louis on Dec. 10. A 34-goal scorer last season, he has 10 goals so far this year. It was his first two-goal game of the season.

Canuck captain Quinn Hughes was happy to see Pettersson find his groove again.

“It felt really good,” said Hughes, who had two assists. “He’s too good. He’s going to break out at some point. I’m glad he was able to do that tonight.

“Hopefully for him, he can enjoy the next couple of days like all of us, regroup and get ready to go.”

Vancouver broke open a close game with three goals in 70 seconds in the second period. Kiefer Sherwood and Pettersson scored just 26 seconds apart to give Vancouver a 3-1 lead.

The Sharks argued for goaltender interference on Pettersson's goal, but the officials didn’t agree. Pettersson scored 44 seconds into the resulting delay of game penalty.

Tocchet was happy to see Pettersson give a fist pump after his first goal.

“Hopefully this will kick-start him,” said the coach. “I like the celebration. It was nice to see him scoring and get excited.”

Brock Boeser also scored for the Canucks (17-10-7) who ended a three-game winless skid.

William Eklund, on a two-man power play, and Cody Ceci scored for San Jose (11-20-6) who are winless in five games (0-4-1). Luke Kunin also scored with 4.7 seconds left and the goaltender pulled for an extra attacker.

Canuck goaltender Thatcher Demko stopped 26 shots. San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves.

The victory came as the Canucks are navigating some rough seas.

Vancouver has just three wins in the last nine games (3-3-3). Besides Pettersson, players such as J.T. Miller (no goals in his last eight games) and Conor Garland (no goals in 12) have also struggled to score. Miller and Garland both had assists against San Jose.

There also has been speculation about a dressing room rift between Pettersson and Miller. Both players deny any conflict exists.

“I told the guys after the game, the waves aren’t 12 feet high,” said Tocchet. “They are only three or four or five feet.

“When you start the game thinking too much it gets really rocky. Just relax. Don’t listen to the outside noise. Control what you can control in the dressing room.”

After 109 points last year, and advancing to the second round of the playoffs, there were high hopes for the Canucks this season.

Hughes said the team has not been playing to its potential.

“I think there’s internal pressure for us to succeed,” he said. “Coming in (to the year) we expected to probably be better than we were last year. I can’t say we’ve accomplished that — yet.

“I think we have the group to do it. There’s a lot of internal pressure, guys trying to push each other up the mountain, from management down to the coach and players.”

Veteran defenceman Tyler Myers credits the Canucks for staying focused, despite Boeser missing seven games with a concussion, Miller leaving the team for 10 games due to personal reasons and defenceman Filip Hronek sidelined the last 13 games with a pair of injuries.

“Guys have handled challenges,” said Myers. “Each and every day we come to the rink looking at things we can get better at within our game, better at within our compete, and move on to the next game.”