Canucks Takeaways: Speedy Drew O’Connor proving to be good fit
Drew O’Connor looks like another new guy the Canucks need to re-sign. On Thursday, he registered six of Vancouver’s 24 shots and scored the game-winning goal on an overtime penalty shot. Iain MacIntyre has more takeaways.
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Drew O’Connor looks like another new guy the Vancouver Canucks need to re-sign.
One day after his former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Marcus Pettersson signed a six-year, $33-million-US contract extension with the Canucks, O’Connor was money in overtime Thursday night, scoring on a penalty shot to give his new team a 2-1 road win against the San Jose Sharks.
O’Connor, a third-line winger the Canucks acquired Friday from the Penguins for his dependable, heavy game, scored an empty-netter on Tuesday to clinch Vancouver’s 3-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche.
But the 26-year-old who is eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1 was even better on Thursday, registering six of the Canucks’ 24 shots and doing enough to earn a starting shift in overtime from coach Rick Tocchet.
After Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko stopped rookie-of-the-year candidate Macklin Celebrini on a two-on-one, the Canucks countered and Filip Chytil, who made a critical mistake on San Jose’s late tying goal, feathered a pass to O’Connor to send him in alone.
Celebrini got his stick into O’Connor’s hands on the backcheck and was whistled for a penalty shot 33 seconds into three-on-three.
Looking a lot like J.T. Miller, whose trade Friday to the New York Rangers brought the Canucks O’Connor, Pettersson and Chytil, O’Connor skated in slowly from the left-wing boards and wristed a shot between San Jose goalie Vitek Vanecek’s left pad and glove.
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At least the Canucks found a way to win, ending a run of seven straight overtime losses while extending the team’s sudden hot streak to 5-1-1.
Vancouver surrendered a tying goal to former Canuck Tyler Toffoli with just 1:28 left in regulation time after Chytil turned the puck over directly in front of his net. Demko stopped the Shark on his first two shots before Toffoli banked in his third attempt to make it 1-1.
Canuck Dakota Joshua had broken the scoreless tie at 8:04 of the third period, tipping in Pius Suter’s shot in the final second of Celebrini’s puck-over-glass penalty.
The win allowed the Canucks to move back into a playoff position in the National Hockey League’s Western Conference, two points ahead of the Calgary Flames, who lost 4-2 at home against the Avalanche.
The Canucks’ final game before the NHL suspends play for the Four Nations tournament Feb. 12-20 is Saturday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
NEW TEAM, OLD HABIT
The drama-ending trade of Miller and the infusion of new players has given the Canucks more speed and energy. They look like a livelier, more direct team than they did a week ago. But they made the same mistake Thursday that they have all season, shifting into reverse after taking the third-period lead.
The speedy Sharks had plenty of scoring chances after the Canucks dominated the early minutes, but Vancouver controlled more of the puck until it tried to play the final 12 minutes in a prevent defence.
The Sharks outshot the Canucks 12-1 after Joshua scored, and 8-0 in the last five minutes of regulation time. Toffoli’s tying goal came as San Jose skated six against five. Tocchet has been preaching since training camp to meet pressure with pressure, but the Canucks keep retreating from it.
THATCHER’S BACK
“You’ve got to do it again,” Thatcher Demko said after his 25-save shutout on Tuesday, which was the struggling goalie’s best game since returning from a serious knee injury in December.
On Thursday, Demko did it again.
He was the best Canuck and made a pile of big saves at critical times. Demko seems to be tracking pucks again, keeping himself ahead of plays instead of chasing them. Demko denied Will Smith twice on breakaways, robbed Carl Grundstrom and Celebrini on rebounds, and got across his net to stop Toffoli at the back post about three minutes before the Shark finally scored on his seventh shot of the game.
Only two games ago, Demko was 64th in save percentage (.873) among 67 goalies who had appeared in at least 10 games this season. In the last two, he has stopped 58 of 59 shots and looked again like the elite netminder who finished second in Vezina Trophy balloting last season.
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GARLAND HURT?
Conor Garland, who co-leads Canuck forwards in scoring with 34 points, played only three shifts for a total of 2:05 of ice time in the final 13 minutes after getting crunched into the boards by Sharks defenceman Jake Walman.
Garland appeared to be favouring his right side, which could mean an arm or shoulder injury or a problem with his ribs. Walman was a little lucky to escape with only a minor penalty in the second period when, with Garland already down on the ice, he crosschecked the Canuck near his neck and behind the play.
At least the Canucks will soon have two weeks between games for players to heal.
QUINN-LESS POWER PLAY
Not surprisingly, Vancouver misses the most dynamic, offensive defenceman in the world as Quinn Hughes sat out a third straight game with what appears to be a lower-body injury sustained Friday in Dallas.
With only one NHL game left before he is supposed to join Team USA for the Four Nations tournament, Hughes will make everyone in the Canuck organization feel more at ease if he is healthy enough to play Saturday night against the Maple Leafs.
Vancouver general manager Patrik Allvin told Sportsnet on Thursday that whether or not Hughes goes to Montreal and Boston to play with his brother, Jack, on the American team is largely up to the Canuck captain.
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“I think Quinn is extremely professional,” Allvin said. “He knows his body, and what he can do or not do, so I trust him a lot. We’re supporting him in his position. I know that all the biggest players want to participate in this tournament. I know that he trusts the medical staff that he’s working with here, and we’ll see over the next couple days what the decision will be.
“Obviously we’re communicating. I’m supporting him, and I know that he has full trust in our medical staff.”
Hughes hasn’t been happy about missing the last three games, but Tocchet volunteered to be “the bad guy” for keeping the defenceman out of the lineup as a precaution.
“I don’t know, it’s a tough one,” Tocchet said Wednesday of the Four Nations decision. “I know Quinn is a USA guy, loves his country, (wants to) play with his brothers. A lot of positives to it. But, like I said. . . he’s a smart kid, too, and he understands what’s at stake also.”
The Canucks have practice ice scheduled for Friday, although it was unclear late Thursday if they will use it after the early-hours arrival of their post-game charter from California.
TOC TALK
To reporters in San Jose, Rick Tocchet on O’Connor: “Obviously the speed, he really adds a lot to our team. That was obviously a big goal for us. Just a real coachable kid. He wants to learn.”
Tocchet on Demko: “I think the last three, four weeks, just in practice, the games he’s played, he’s getting some traction under him. He’s playing really well for us. You know, he’s a world-class goalie; he’s played a lot of great hockey games for the Vancouver Canucks. I always expect Demmer to play that way. He’s that good of a goaltender.”
