"It doesn't mean sh*t if we don't continue": Canucks still pushing to keep playoffs alive
Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson probably put it best.Ā
Their four-game winning streak is certainly fun and has offered a reason for hope.
But it won’t mean much if it doesn’t continue.
“I mean, it’s pretty clear what we’ve got to do,” Pettersson offered after the Canucks bested the Vegas Golden Knights for the second time in a week. “We’ve still got to win, of course. We feel good now. It’s four in a row.Ā
“It doesn’t mean shit if we don’t continue on this wave and play good hockey. We’re still behind. We’ve still got to win games.”
"I'm just trying to play my best every shift. Create. Play hard."
š£ Elias Pettersson#Canucks | @theprovince pic.twitter.com/N9BbJEZZnt
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) April 13, 2022
So far, so good.Ā
In the face of elimination from the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Canucks remain one of the league’s hottest teams in the NHL.
Needless to say, they’re responded appropriately to what essentially amounts to a “win-out” scenario.Ā
They’ve been rewarded as such, too.Ā
MoneyPuck, a popular public analytics site, had Vancouver’s chances of qualifying for the playoffs at 1.4% after besting the Golden Knights 5-1 on April 6. That number has climbed to 5.7% after a four-game winning streak, including Tuesday’s 5-4 overtime win against Vegas.
“I hope they’re enjoying it,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau told media postgame. “I’m having fun after the game. This is good. Winning is fun. I think they’re enjoying not only the challenge but the chase and the fact that we’re still pushing and we’re still in it. All of these things are great things. I think we didn’t gain a point on anybody today; everybody seemed to want to win for now.Ā
“We’ll just keep pushing until there’s no more room to push…see what happens.”
"We'll just keep pushing until there's no more room to push."
š£ Coach Bruce Boudreau#Canucks | @theprovince pic.twitter.com/KuCoFEE68Q
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) April 13, 2022
See what happens, indeed.Ā
Vancouver awoke Wednesday with a chance.Ā
The Canucks sit fifth in the Pacific Division, three points back of Vegas with an even 74 games played. More importantly, Vancouver trails the third-place Los Angeles Kings by six points with a game at hand.Ā
They’re six back of the Dallas Stars for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference and seven behind the Nashville Predators, who hold that first wild card spot, too.
“I think that we always thought we could do it,” defenceman Quinn Hughes said. “We’ve got eight games left. Take it one day at a time. It’s exciting. We wanted to be in it. It’s hard to be in it with the way we started.
“It definitely feels like something we could do, I think. It’s still…I don’t want to say stretch, but we’ve got a lot of games we need to win. Belief’s the word, I would say. That’s the word we keep using in the room, for sure.”
"We still got two points and that's what we wanted to do."
š£ Quinn Hughes meets with the media following the win over Vegas#Canucks | @theprovince pic.twitter.com/dCye4sBQzT
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) April 13, 2022
Short on odds.Ā
Big on belief.Ā
With at least some reason to be.Ā
“I think every game is a ‘stay alive or be dead’ moment,” Boudreau said a week ago.Ā
Still alive it is, thanks to overtime heroics from Hughes after Vancouver choked away a two-goal lead in the third period.Ā
They’re finding a way to stay on the hunt.
“I was telling the guys in there if you’ve ever seen the old Bugs Bunny cartoons when he sees another bunny that’s really pretty and the red heart keeps coming out of your chest…I felt like that in the third period,” Boudreau said.
“I thought it was a great lesson to be learned, quite frankly. Our second period was great. Our third period, when you’re playing a good team, you can’t sit back. Usually, that lesson costs you. It didn’t cost us tonight.Ā
“It was a very cheap lesson learned, I thought.”
Follow Channels and Categories