ELMONT, N.Y. — Elias Pettersson says he’s “not the kind of guy to scream for the puck,” so when he was blazing down right wing unchecked in the third period, the Vancouver Canucks’ quiet star relied on linemate Brock Boeser knowing he was there and feathering the puck into space to allow Pettersson to break the tie against the New York Islanders.
And yet, so much of what Pettersson did Thursday was deafening. Coach Rick Tocchet heard him numerous times, like late in the third period when Pettersson dived backwards to block Brock Nelson’s slapshot with the Islanders pressing in what turned out to be a 6-5 win for the Canucks.
Vancouver centre J.T. Miller, who is the kind of guy to scream, heard Pettersson so well that Miller followed Pettersson’s block with two of his own — both against New York star Mathew Barzal in the final minute. Miller celebrated the last of them, just before the horn sounded, with a fist-pump — as if he had scored.
“Well, I’m never going to score again,” Miller cracked, now goal-less in six games after denting a post beside Islander goalie Ilya Sorokin on a late power play. “It’s just, like, we worked so hard in a game like that as a team on the road on a back to back. Playing against Bo helps. I mean, there’s just a million reasons to want to win that game. We’re trying to test ourselves with character and building a new identity and a fresh start, and to have a come-from-behind win on the road on the back to back, it feels good.
“We just felt good about the effort. We just wanted to hear the horn.”
Each team had a new Bo/Beau. Bo Horvat, the former Canucks’ captain who was traded to the Islanders last Monday in a massive deal, scored his 33rd goal of the season — and second for New York — late in the second period to make it 4-2 for the Islanders and seemingly doom the Canucks.
But after the Canucks’ fourth line generated a goal for Nils Aman a minute later, and Pettersson scored twice in four minutes early in the third, Anthony (Beau) Beauvillier tipped in the eventual game-winner for Vancouver, against his former team, with 3:02 remaining.
Beauvillier was the most immediate piece the Canucks acquired for Horvat, as Vancouver sent talented prospect Aatu Raty to the minors and may have to wait until 2024 to receive the Islanders’ conditional first-round draft pick.
There has been a tonne of attention on Horvat since the trade, but not much on Beauvillier until the Islanders acknowledged him with a tribute video during the first television timeout, sparking one last standing ovation for the winger from Islander fans.
“I owe them everything,” the 25-year-old said. “They’ve been so good to me ever since I got here. Just people reaching out since I got traded to this ovation today, it was something special, something I’ll never forget for sure. A lot of nerves. A lot of stress over the last couple of couple of days. . . but it definitely feels good to kind of turn the page here.
“Coming back in this building, it was a weird day. But I’m so happy to get out of here with the win, and guys battled hard and paid the price, a lot of commitment. It feels great to win.”
Beauvillier writes “Have Fun” on his hockey sticks. And everyone did, with Bo versus Beau, the Canucks’ surge back from a two-goal deficit and monster games from Pettersson and Miller, who overshadowed a three-point night for Boeser.
“The fans here in New York, like the Rangers fans, the Devils fans, these fans, they’re crazy,” Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes said of the atmosphere. “They’re passionate. It’s my favorite trip of the year.
“I thought Millsy might have played his best game of the year. He was all over the ice — defensively, offensively, making plays, sacrificing, winning faceoffs. I thought maybe he was the best player in the game, and right behind him was Petey. They kind of drove us tonight.”
Pettersson tied the game 4-4 with a power-play blast at 4:38 of the third period — shooting from the middle of the blue line instead of the right-wing circle — then put the Canucks ahead by fooling Sorokin with a short-side shot that rattled between the goalie’s glove and left pad at 8:28 after Pettersson skated on to Boeser’s touch pass.
“It’s a shot I’ve been working on,” he said. “So before I got the puck, I just decided to go short side over the pad. I think maybe that’s the shot they least expect.”
Or maybe they least expect the Canucks’ best player to be endangering himself by sprawling awkwardly while turning his back to block Nelson’s late shot.
“I was going to go down on one knee,” Pettersson explained. “But then, like, I wasn’t in the lane (properly) so I had to adjust quick. I wanted to block it and luckily it hit my calf.”
“That’s incredible,” Miller said. “It’s so hard to block shots as a forward six-on-four because they always make one more play. And for Petey to read that. . . it’s motivating. It makes me want to block a shot every time. I want to go through a wall when I see our best player doing that kind of stuff.”
Coach Rick Tocchet, now 3-2-1 with the Canucks despite his team surrendering 24 goals in the six games, told reporters: “That’s what leaders do, right? I talked to Petey: ‘You don’t have to be the loudest guy but if you do it on the ice, that’s loud right there.’ To me, that’s being loud, showing your teammates I’m willing to do whatever. He led tonight. That’s what leaders do.”
The Canucks were excellent in Monday’s 5-4 overtime loss in New Jersey, were not nearly as engaged in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss against the Rangers, but were the faster, more determined and less mistake-prone team in the second half of the game on Thursday.
Their four-game road trip ends Saturday with a nooner against the Detroit Red Wings.
“This is a very hard road trip,” Miller said. “Whether we’re having a good season, bad season, coaching change, whatever, this is an important road trip. Like I said when Rick got here, we’re just trying to turn the page a little bit. With Bo being gone, it sucks. But you turn the page and try to build an identity as a group. Character wins like this are going to really help.”
• Canuck defenceman Luke Schenn was unable to play after labouring through a lower-body injury against the Rangers while Hughes, whose nose was broken by a puck on Wednesday but finished that game in a full face shield, logged 24:19 of ice time and had two assists against the Islanders. He said there was no chance he was going to sit out. “Are you kidding? Guys were calling me soft because I wore the bubble.”
