The Vancouver Canucks’ seemingly everlasting All-Star Break came to a halt on Feb. 6, 2024, beginning the second half of their season against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. After a pretty lackadaisical start, the Canucks fought back to win 3-2 thanks to the debutant himself, Elias Lindholm. In a game with seemingly pretty low-event chances and solid defense from both teams, here are three takeaways from Tuesday night’s contest.
Elias Lindholm Already Making a Difference
Canucks fans were sent for a whirlwind on Jan. 31, 2024, as their team pulled off a blockbuster-type deal, acquiring then-Calgary Flames centre Elias Lindholm for Andrei Kuzmenko, prospects Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo, and two draft picks including Vancouver’s first-round pick for the upcoming 2024 NHL Draft. It’s clear the Canucks are all-in.
On Tuesday night, Lindholm showed why he was so highly coveted by Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin, scoring power-play two goals in his first game in the blue and green. He’s a player that can be a plus in every single aspect of the game. Goal scoring? Check. Defensive, shutdown centre? Check. Contributor on special teams? Most definitely. He showed little sprinkles of his game all over the ice against the Hurricanes, leading Vancouver to a hard-fought victory.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the line combination of Elias Pettersson, Lindholm and the struggling Ilya Mikheyev plays out. Their line got outplayed at even strength against the Hurricanes, posting a 17.02% expected-goals for percentage (xG%). It’s more than likely due to them playing with each other for the first time, but it is something to look out for during the rest of this five-game road trip.
Canucks’ Second Line Dominant
The trio of Pius Suter, J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser were dominant against the Hurricanes, boasting a whopping 94.02 xG%. Miller scored the game-winning goal early in the third period after a weird bounce off the boards fooled Canes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov leaving Miller with an empty cage to score.
There has been some discussion about, even with the acquisition of Lindholm, whether or not the Canucks could use another boost in their top-nine forward group. Honestly, it’s not a necessity but it also wouldn’t hurt, either. Pius Suter may not be the second-line winger that most championship teams have, but he’s a solid contributor that Vancouver is lucky to have on their roster.
Related: Adding Elias Lindholm Benefits Canucks in Multiple Ways
With all that being said, if that second line can dominate the way it did against Carolina, a trade may not be needed. The Canucks also have a plethora of forwards in Abbotsford that can be called up (Linus Karlsson, Vasily Podkolzin and Arshdeep Bains) but regardless, if the second line continues to play like how they did, Suter’s role as second-line winger should be solidified.
Canucks Continue to Break Analytics
Another game being outshot, another victory. Another game with fewer expected goals, another victory. At this point, it’s like clockwork for this Canucks group. Hockey, however, is a game of taking your chances when you get them and there is no team better at that than the Canucks.
Without even getting into the whole “PDO discussion,” the Canucks are simply efficient. Give them an ounce of opportunity to capitalize and they’ll take it. Whether it is plays within the offensive zone, on the power play or even on the rush, they capitalize on their chances better than any team in the league. I mean, just look at their offensive rush statistics on the season:
Vancouver will look to build off Tuesday night’s success against the Boston Bruins in Massachusetts on Thursday, Feb. 8.
