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Canucks lose after OT cross-check on Pettersson goes uncalled

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Jan 25 2024, 6:56 am
Canucks lose after OT cross-check on Pettersson goes uncalled
Sportsnet

It’s not often that you hear a coach call out a player who’s in the running for MVP, but that’s what happened on Wednesday night. Pius Suter scored three goals for the Vancouver Canucks in the third period to force overtime, but Brayden Schenn scored the winner, giving the St. Louis Blues a 4-3 victory.

Seconds before the OT winner, Schenn cross-checked Elias Pettersson to the ice, but his infraction wasn’t called by the refs.

Pettersson immediately turned to the refs after the goal, but it didn’t matter.

It was a frustrating night for Pettersson, which was evident by Tocchet’s comments postgame about his star centre.

“Yeah, I haven’t liked his game the last three or four games,” Tocchet told reporters. “We’ve gotta get him going.”

Although a penalty should have been called on Pettersson before the Blues eventual overtime winner, the Swedish phenom did have multiple turnovers in the extra frame.

And in fairness over the last few games, many of the Canucks haven’t been at their best even though they won their last three against the Arizona Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Chicago Blackhawks.

Regardless, the Canucks have only lost three times during 11 games in January, with two of those losses now coming at the hands of the Blues.

This felt like relatively uncharted territory for the Canucks as they entered the third period trailing for just the ninth time this season. That’s the lowest mark in the entire NHL.

And even though they entered the third trailing by two goals, they still managed to pick up a point, and nearly had the victory. Filip Hronek was stopped by Blues goaltender Joel Hofer on a breakaway moments before Schenn’s goal.

Suter stellar in loss

The literal Swiss Army Knife was the number one reason why the Canucks picked up a point in this contest.

“Man, he’s been so good for us, on both sides of the puck,” Ian Cole told reporters after the game.

“Just a really smart player, he can kill penalties, he’s kind of like a utility man, you can find him anywhere.”

Heading into the third period, the Canucks hadn’t scored a goal in over 90 minutes of game action, with their last goal coming six minutes into the first period against the Chicago Blackhawks earlier in the week.

Suter ended that goalless streak just one minute into the third period, as Rick Tocchet shuffled his lines and put the Swiss forward alongside J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser.

Although the Blues scored 41 seconds after this goal, Suter once again responded with a power play marker.

Then, with less than a minute remaining, Suter got just enough of the puck following a rebound from Quinn Hughes’ point shot to tie the game.

Because of the chaos in front of the Blues net, fans weren’t totally aware that Suter recorded a hat trick. Only one hat was thrown on the ice before the drop of the puck.

Maybe that’s just a metaphor for Suter’s quiet brilliance for the Canucks. As Cole pointed out postgame, he’s been doing it all for the Canucks, both offensively and defensively.

Tonight, Suter was rewarded offensively, recording his second career hat trick. It’s been a while since his first career hat trick, which ironically also occurred on January 24, back in 2021. That hat trick also gave Suter the first three NHL goals of his career.

Trevor BeggsTrevor Beggs
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