Bruce Boudreau explains what’s wrong with Canucks’ Elias Pettersson

Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet singled out Elias Pettersson after Game 4 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in their second round series.

“He needs to get going,” Tocchet said. “I don’t know what else to say.”

This was said as coach Tocchet analyzed his team’s performance in the 3-2 loss in Edmonton.

“There’s times there we have some guys, you know where the puck’s gonna go, you just gotta get there before the other guy, and I think we’re pausing. Some guys are playing pause hockey. And you can’t win if you have five or six passengers.”

“I mean it’s the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with some guys I don’t know if they thought it was the playoffs. We can’t play with 12 guys.”

While Pettersson is not the only Canucks player who needs to elevate their game, his stats are quite brutal at the moment. He has managed just one goal and three assists in 10 games so far this postseason. He’s been held to just one point in the second round series against the Oilers.

On Wednesday, former Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau was a guest on Donnie and Dhali and said this about what might be going on why the Swede star:

“His body language looks like he has lost confidence. This is weighing hard on him, I would like to see him smile again. In his defense, what’s Mikehev got, 1 goal in his last 60 games.”

Pettersson has done some good on the ice for the Canucks, especially in Game 4 when he committed to defensive positioning and not taking risks. This can rebuild some of his confidence. However, in this intense series against the Oilers, this is not what’s mostly needed from the star forward. He needs to worry way less about defence and being on the right side of puck battles. And he needs to freaking shoot the puck!

The forward can be inspired from the rest of the Canucks’ core that is performing well against Edmonton, notably Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, and Quinn Hughes, who are all producing above or near a point-per-game.

Back in the regular season, Pettersson ranked third on the Canucks with 89 points in 82 games , and so fans know what he can bring to the team’s fire power.

The Canucks have a chance in round 2 against Edmonton, and Pettersson needs to fight that confidence and get his team past the Canadian rival.

The series sits at 2-2 heading back to Vancouver for Game 5 on Thursday.

In the Canucks' press conference, Pettersson was the player made available and has to answer tough questions. He however aims to get on track for Canucks in Game 5.

“It's challenged me, but I always said I like challenges and I always like to think I've answered them,” Pettersson said. “I like the challenge, but yeah, it's been a tough one.”

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