3 major Vancouver Canucks takeaways: Resilience after Hughes ejection, Pettersson remains hot, and more from 4-3 win over Ottawa Senators

NHL: Vancouver Canucks at Ottawa Senators - Source: Imagn
NHL: Vancouver Canucks at Ottawa Senators - Source: Imagn

The Vancouver Canucks began a challenging six-game road trip with a stop in the Canadian capital city, taking on the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Center on Saturday.

Ad

For Vancouver, they were hoping to end a two-game winless streak that saw them drop games on home ice against the Nashville Predators and the New York Rangers. Thanks to first-year Canucks forward Jake DeBrusk, the Canucks got back into the win column with a 4-3 triumph.

Vancouver scored the game's first tally, thanks to Jake DeBrusk's fourth goal of the season, a power-play marker. The Senators responded early in the second period through captain Brady Tkachuk, but the Canucks' offense took off soon afterward.

Ad

Goals just minutes apart from Teddy Blueger and a second from DeBrusk increased Vancouver's lead to 3-1, which they took into the second intermission.

Kiefer Sherwood extended the Vancouver Canucks' lead to 4-1 early in the third period, and the Canucks appeared poised to cruise to a win. However, the Senators fought their way back into the contest, thanks to goals from Claude Giroux and Tim Stutzle, the latter of which came with 46 seconds remaining.

Ad

Despite goaltender Linus Ullmark pulled, the Senators failed to find the equalizer. Ullmark finished with 14 saves in the loss, while Kevin Lankinen picked up the win with 26 saves.


Three major takeaways from the Vancouver Canucks' win over the Ottawa Senators

#3 Newcomer Jake DeBrusk remained hot

The former Boston Bruins forward was one of the key offseason free agents signed by the Vancouver Canucks, but it took him a while to adjust to his new team and their playing system.

Ad

However, he played arguably his best game for the Canucks since signing in the offseason, with a pair of goals along with an assist. The goals were DeBrusk's fourth and fifth of the season.

#2 Elias Pettersson remained hot with a pair of assists

The Swedish star had a slow start to the season but has picked up his play considerably in recent weeks.

Not only has he been scoring goals, but he has dished out assists as well. With his pair of helpers against the Senators, he's now up to nine assists on the season.

Ad

#1 The Canucks were resilient in the face of Quinn Hughes' ejection

The Vancouver Canucks are already playing without top forward J.T. Miller, who took a leave of absence from the team due to personal reasons.

They lost defenseman Quinn Hughes after he was slapped with a match penalty and ejected from the game after he had hit Ottawa's Josh Norris from behind into the boards.

Instead of collapsing with two of their top players unavailable, the Canucks instead took off, thanks to the goals from DeBrusk, who stepped up when he needed to. Their road trip continues to the site of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, TD Garden, where they face the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

Wayne Gretzky’s wife Janet responds to critics questioning his loyalty to Canada, Bobby Orr's support following 4 Nations drama

Quick Links

Edited by Bhargav
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications