Canucks head coach Travis Green was fired up talking to reporters after the Canucks鈥� 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins, at least by his standards. It wasn鈥檛 about his team鈥檚 performance, though he certainly wasn鈥檛 entirely happy with it; he was upset about a hit Elias Pettersson took early in the first period.
鈥淚鈥檓 so frustrated with it,鈥� . 鈥淭his guy鈥檚 one of the best young players in the league and he gets hit and he鈥檚 totally defenceless.
鈥淚t鈥檚 two seconds after he lets go of the puck, I鈥檝e watched it a couple times. He鈥檚 unassuming, he鈥檚 defenceless and he feels there鈥檚 no way he鈥檚 going to get hit in that spot. He鈥檚 in a vulnerable position, those are hits that the league is trying to get out of the game, especially against top young guys, top players in the league, and I think Petey has shown that he鈥檚 one of those guys.鈥�
It鈥檚 clear that this goes beyond just this one incident: opposing teams know that Pettersson is the biggest threat on the Canucks and generally try to get away with as much as they can against the young centre. That鈥檚 expected, but it鈥檚 still galling to see teams cross the line frequently and escape punishment.
鈥淚t is frustrating for me as a coach to see some of the abuse he takes where it doesn鈥檛 get called,鈥� continued Green. 鈥淗e works through it. He gets frustrated, and I know he鈥檚 not the biggest guy, but that doesn鈥檛 mean you can take advantage of a player that鈥檚 not ready to be hit.鈥�
With his frustrations with officiating boiling over, Green鈥檚 message can be compared to that of , when he said, 鈥淪edin is not English for 鈥榩unch me or headlock me in a scrum.鈥欌��
He meant 鈥淪wedish,鈥� but still, message delivered.
Green鈥檚 message wasn鈥檛 quite as pithy, but he was speaking off the cuff rather than reading from a prepared statement, so he鈥檚 easily forgiven.听
Pettersson expressed his own frustrations with the lack of a call on that specific play, pointing out that he was prepared to get hit after passing the puck, but Grzelcyk waited until Pettersson had relaxed and let his guard down. He called it a 鈥渄irty play.鈥�
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鈥淚 drop the puck, I鈥檓 ready to get hit and I see him beside me, he doesn鈥檛 hit me, then 2 seconds later he hits me once I鈥檓 relaxed... I was frustrated because it鈥檚 kind of like a dirty play. The hit is 10 meters from where I dropped the puck.鈥� Pettersson on the Grzelcyk hit.
鈥� Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance)
It鈥檚 undeniable that Pettersson isn鈥檛 getting the calls he once did. Prior to Christmas, Pettersson led the NHL in penalty differential, drawing a league-leading 22 minor penalties in all situations, while taking just five minor penalties himself.
Since Christmas, however, Pettersson has drawn just two minor penalties in 16 games. He went from drawing 0.58 penalties per game to drawing 0.13 penalties per game. That鈥檚 an alarming drop.
Pettersson hasn鈥檛 visibly changed the way he鈥檚 played and there are clear examples of fouls against him that have gone uncalled. Perhaps Green鈥檚 words will get through to the NHL or perhaps GM Jim Benning can raise similar concerns to the NHL directly.
Here鈥檚 the thing, though: it won鈥檛 make a lick of difference if the Canucks don鈥檛 figure out their power play.
That鈥檚 not just in the sense that more power plays won鈥檛 help the Canucks win games if they can鈥檛 score more consistently with the man advantage, but also that a power play can鈥檛 be a deterrent to opponents taking liberties with your stars if it isn鈥檛 a threat to score.
The Canucks used their dominant power play in the 2010-11 season as a deterrent 鈥� teams wanted to avoid penalties as much as possible 鈥� though you could argue they had become too dependent on the power play once the playoffs rolled around. It could play a similar role for this season鈥檚 Canucks, but if the power play struggles, teams won鈥檛 be worried about hooking, hacking and hitting Pettersson: they鈥檒l just take the penalty, kill it and be happy they鈥檙e getting Pettersson off his game.
Early in this season, the Canucks power play was dynamite, though it was notably better against weak penalty kills and . Recently, the Canucks power play has struggled to convert. Since Jan. 4, the Canucks are four for 44 on the power play, a percentage of 9.1 per cent. That鈥檚 lower than the worst power play percentage since the NHL started keeping track of the stat: 9.3 per cent from the 1997-98 Tampa Bay Lightning.
It was at its worst against the Bruins. The Canucks had three power plays and struggled to gain the zone and get set up: the best chance on each of those three power plays were shorthanded chances for the Bruins.
The Canucks are well aware of the problem.
鈥淲e needed to find a way to get a goal and obviously our power play didn鈥檛 get us much momentum tonight,鈥� said Green after the game. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to need to be better as well and they know it.鈥�
While the Canucks have tried some different formations on the power play, the biggest issue appears to be how static they are, with little movement and rotation. Something needs to change and it could come down to personnel: the Canucks have practiced with Adam Gaudette on the top unit and his skillset could help shake things up. Jake Virtanen鈥檚 shoot-first mentality might provide a different look to the top unit as well.
Hopefully, the Canucks power play will go back to being a part of their winning formula, rather than a momentum killer.
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