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Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet is doing all he can to get Elias Petterson going.
After scoring better than a point-per-game in the regular season, the Swedish star has just four points in 10 playoff games. It’s one of the worst slumps of his entire NHL career.
Pettersson has been stapled to winger Ilya Mikheyev, who has one goal in his last 60 games, for most of this entire season. The duo, no matter who occupied the other wing, has not been producing as of late.
Rick Tocchet made the executive decision to break up that combination today as Pettersson was on a line with Elias Lindholm and Nils Höglander at morning skate. Mikheyev appears to be a healthy scratch.
“Yes,” responded Tocchet directly when asked if he felt a duty to help Pettersson with better linemates.
“I think that’s my job, like I’ve got to help the kid out too. It’s not all up to him. I’ve got to get him going with linemates or different approaches.”
Elias Pettersson is on the wing with Elias Lindholm and Nils Höglander.#Canucks pic.twitter.com/UMISeDewr8
— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) May 16, 2024
Both Pettersson and Lindholm are natural centres. One of them, likely Pettersson to start, will have to play the wing, although that doesn’t worry Tocchet.
“I like the hybrid thing, they can switch, I don’t really care.”
The trio played just over 57 minutes together at five-on-five during the regular season. The Canucks had 70 shot attempts while conceding just 45 and scored five goals while allowing only two during that time.
While it’s a tiny sample size, the past results are encouraging and offer hope that new linemates can help Pettersson find his game.
“I get it, he wants the puck, but now he’s at the point where if somebody doesn’t give it to you… you stand still,” explained Tocchet after morning skate. “So I told him today, just go to your landmarks. That’s it. If you get it, you get it. If you don’t, you don’t. Then you go from there.”
“I think he’s just got to play his game. Whether he gets a point tonight, I really don’t care, whether he scores. Obviously, we would love him to score, don’t get me wrong.”
“I just want him to do the two simple things that I want tonight, I know it’ll help, and don’t worry about anything else.”
The Canucks are tied at two games apiece in their second round series against the Edmonton Oilers. All of Pettersson’s rough play thus far will be forgiven if he can step up in this big moment.
“We watched video together, he’s energized,” said the Canucks coach. “It’s two-two going into our building, he should be excited.”
The puck drops at 7 pm PT tonight for a crucial Game 5. The winner will bring themselves just a single game away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals.