Tocchet shares insightful Pettersson tidbit after Vancouver Canucks star breaks slump
It was just one game, but Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson looked like his superstar self again.
He fired home a one-timer, deked around the ice, and created a ton of scoring chances. It was a refreshing change of pace for the player who has struggled mightily this season.
Pettersson put in one of his best performances in recent memory, but it wasn’t all good for the team. The Canucks were outplayed by the Minnesota Wild for stretches of the game.
“Starting with myself in the second period, trying to make too many soft plays,” he said about those struggles.
During one of those stretches, Pettersson and head coach Rick Tocchet had an interaction which helped the forward get back on track.
Tocchet explained the conversation postgame, offering insight into the relationship between player and coach, as well as Pettersson’s coachable attitude.
“I got mad at a couple of lines. Actually, Petey was funny because I gave him crap, and we talked after the game, and he said, ‘Sometimes I need that.’ He actually had a good shift. I don’t like doing it very often, but those things happen in the game,” said the head coach.
“It was good because we needed a push from a couple of lines to get us back straight.”
Whatever Tocchet said worked as the Canucks and Pettersson had a late third period push to win the game.
Elias Pettersson one timer missed this sight so much #Canucks pic.twitter.com/tcWxS2JBck
— Lucasparmenter23 (@Lucasparmenter0) March 8, 2025
The past week has been very positive for Pettersson, who took massive responsibility in the media and who has been putting in extra hours, according to the coaching staff. The hard work has been paying off, as this was one of his best games, although he’s not letting it affect his focus.
“Like I said the other day, I’m not perfect. This hasn’t been my best season, but I can’t change it. Just trying to get better every day; today was a good day, we got a win, another goal, good practice tomorrow and get ready for Sunday,” said Pettersson.
Just by watching the Swedish sniper play last night, you could tell something was different about him. Even his Canucks teammates were noticing it.
āHeās juking, heās shooting, heās feeling himself, and heās getting his swagger back, which is scary to see,ā said Kiefer Sherwood.
The Canucks will hope that it’s the start of more good play to come, as they’ll need Pettersson to be at his best for their playoff run.