Canucks' Pettersson explodes for 4 points to break 42-year-old record in Sweden
What a season for Elias Pettersson.
The Canucks’ first round pick (fifth overall) from last year’s draft, his success as a 19-year-old playing against men in the Swedish Hockey League has been unprecedented.
Coming into Thursday’s game – the second last game of the SHL regular season for Vaxjo – Pettersson was chasing history.
With 51 points on the year, the Canucks prospect not only had a share of the league scoring lead, he was three points away from a record that has stood since 1976.
Kent Nilsson has owned the points record by a junior-aged player in the Swedish professional league for 42 years. It’s a record that many great U20 players – including Peter Forsberg, Nicklas Backstrom, Markus Naslund, and Henrik and Daniel Sedin – haven’t been able to match.
Not only did Pettersson break the record, he did it in style.
Pettersson showed off some dangles for his first goal of the game to take over the league scoring lead, inching closer to the record. Watch him toe-drag around an opponent before eventually beating the goaltender with a shot under the crossbar.
Elias Pettersson gör som han vill nÀr han sÀtter dit 2-1. Han leder nu poÀngligan ensam! #twittpuck #SHL @vaxjolakers pic.twitter.com/eM9EExbG22
â C More Sport (@cmoresport) March 8, 2018
He added two assists in the second period to tie Nilsson’s record, before intercepting a pass at his own blue line and scoring on a breakaway to set the new mark:
Vilken kvÀll för Elias Pettersson! Supertalangen fÄr stÄende ovationer efter att ha gÄtt förbi Kenta Nilssons juniorrekord frÄn 1976. #twittpuck #SHL @vaxjolakers pic.twitter.com/jNzpXPga7p
â C More Sport (@cmoresport) March 8, 2018
Teammates and coaches congratulated the mild-mannered Swede, as the hometown crowd chanted his name.
With the crowd chanting his name – Pettersson gets some congratulations from one of the Vaxjo coaches#Canucks pic.twitter.com/61IWbzWiTD
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) March 8, 2018
Pettersson now has a four-point lead in the SHL scoring race this season. He’s in the driver’s seat to win it, which would make him the first junior-aged player to lead the league in scoring since Nilsson in 1976.
"We have not taught Elias (Pettersson) anything about the game of hockey, he is teaching us", VÀxjö Lakers head coach Sam Hallam after tonight's 4-point performance and scoring record #Canucks #SHL
— Eliteprospects (@eliteprospects) March 8, 2018
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