CALGARY — After a difficult start to the season, Elias Pettersson’s game is trending up just in time for the Vancouver Canucks' playoff push.
Pettersson had the tying goal, an assist and scored in the shootout as the Canucks picked up a huge two points on Wednesday with a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames.
The Canucks pulled even in points with the Flames for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but Calgary held the edge with one game in hand.
“It’s huge for a group, just to battle like everybody did,” Pettersson said. “The effort and to be able to come back, it’s good. Hopefully we can build on this.”
Pettersson has three goals in his last four games after going 15 outings without scoring.
After three consecutive 30-goal seasons, including a career-best 39 in 2022-23, the 26-year-old Swede has lit the red light just 14 times this season.
“Definitely feel good now,” he said. “But it’s one game.”
Head coach Rick Tocchet says he’s seeing his No. 1 centre take some positive strides.
“He’s stringing some good games together,” he said. “We talked about not getting too high and too low. Sometimes the lows were really low, and it can affect you as a player. Same thing now, he’s getting his game together.
“But I see him leaving after the game. I shook his hand there, ‘Good game,’ but he was like, ‘Hey, I got more to go.’ I like that. He’s got the even keel. He’s gonna put the work in and we’ll continue to grind.”
It was back-and-forth in the pivotal game between the two Pacific Division rivals. The Canucks took 1-0 and 2-1 leads, only to need a third period comeback to tie it 3-3.
“Both teams know we’re going at each other, and we’re tied in points,” said Pettersson. “It’s gonna be tight all the way to the last game and every game matters.”
Pius Suter and Jake DeBrusk also scored for Vancouver (30-24-11).
Jonathan Huberdeau, with a pair, and Nazem Kadri scored for Calgary (30-23-11).
Down 3-2 heading to the third, Vancouver was the last NHL team this season to win a game in which it trailed after 40 minutes. The Canucks had been 0-19-4 in that scenario.
Pettersson’s goal at 13:16 of the period got the game to overtime.
He sent the puck back to defenceman Victor Mancini at the blue line, went to the net and buried the rebound after Dustin Wolf couldn’t control Mancini’s shot through a crowd.
After neither team scored in an overtime dominated possession-wise by the Canucks, Conor Garland ripped a winning shot inside the post in Round 4 of the shootout.
Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes shared the spotlight with Pettersson in his return from a lower-body injury that sidelined him four games.
“Really fun to get back into the swing of things and feel confident in my body,” said Hughes, who logged 29:48 in ice time.
Hughes also hit the scoresheet with an assist on DeBrusk’s power-play goal, the result of a drawn penalty by Hughes.
“That’s my captain,” said Pettersson. “It just shows type of player is and what a motor he has.”
Hughes also missed six games from Feb. 2 to 23, making him absent for 10 of the past 13 games.
“I haven’t really felt great over the past month, but really thankful for the medical group that we have,” said Hughes. “I’m sure they’re sick and tired of me, but it’s really fun to get back and as the next couple games come down, start to get my legs and conditioning and hands and stuff, I’m feeling like I did before I left.”
Tocchet could only marvel at his star defenceman’s gutsy performance.
“He’s a real difference for us,” said Tocchet. “He hasn’t had a full practice, he’s been off that long. I don’t know a lot of guys that can do that. Not practise and then go in and play a game and be an impact that he is. I’ve always said I’m lucky to have him.”
Canucks netminder Kevin Lankinen, starting on back-to-back nights, stopped 20 shots for the win. Wolf had 28 stops in the loss.
This report by Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press, was first published March 12, 2025.
