The Go-To Guy: Suter’s hat-trick, chrome domes, and Pettersson’s struggles in Canucks’ OT loss vs St. Louis

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Pius Suter scored a hat-trick and the Canucks STILL found a way to lose.

The Vancouver Canucks just lost to the St. Louis Blues, 4-3 in overtime. While the end result was not ideal, the Canucks still came out of this game as the sole leader in points and points percentage, thanks in large to Boston dropping their game vs Carolina in regulation.

69 points (nice) over a 48-game sample is so far above what was expected from this team and I can’t stress that enough. With that said, I would’ve liked a win over the most middling team in the NHL right now. The Blues had zero business winning that game, yet here we are talking about the Canucks coming out of the game with just one point.

There were multiple reasons as to why the Canucks dropped this one despite their efforts in the game’s final frame. Luckily for you, I am literally “The Go-To Guy”, so I’ll be able to help you determine what those factors are; but first…

A quick nod to the chrome buckets

On December 8, the Canucks official X (formerly known as ‘Twitter’) account dropped a teaser to something that would be released in the new year.

Some shrugged it off thinking it may be a new sponsorship for the helmets, but “NextGen” is still present on the animation and has been the Canucks’ helmet sponsor over the course of this season. So, naturally, fans began to speculate.

The speculation across the fanbase had many worried. Why? Well, if you watch the teaser video, the only thing of note is the shiny streak at the top of the helmet. Many connected the dots and concluded that the Canucks were going to add chrome blue helmet’s to their rotation.

I mean, it wasn’t very difficult to figure out, but Canucks Twitter ended up being proven right.

The chrome domes made their debut vs the Blues and I loved it. While I don’t love how it blends with the home jersey’s, the helmet itself looks gorgeous. Throwing those puppies on the white jersey’s would make for a banger combo.

Oh yeah, there was a game. Alright, let’s actually talk about the game.

2nd Period – Suter-Miller-Boeser and future-Canuck Pavel Buchnevich

The first ten (or so) minutes of the game had the Canucks putting the Blues on their heels time and time again. The Lotto Line were also split up for the first time since early January.

One of the new combo’s really worked. The other…

More on that later.

The new-look Suter-Miller-Boeser line looked dynamite all game. The Miller-Boeser duo has struggled in the past depending on who’s played on their wing. The Phil Di Giuseppe experiment only lasted a handful of months, and Nils Höglander got an even shorter leash in December.

I was of the impression that Ilya Mikheyev would be a good fit considering his speed and defensive profile, but Rick Tocchet opted to go full experimental mode on everyone.

Pius Suter has been a wicked find for Vancouver on a wildly valuable contract (2 years, $1.6M AAV). The production may not jump off the page, but if you watch him, you know how valuable he is. The high-end defensive results have been staggering and he’s been the glue of the Canucks’ penalty kill. He may not have the speed of an Ilya Mikheyev, but I think Tocchet has found something here.

It’s a shame their run of form in that first period didn’t end up meaning anything, as the Blues scored two goals in the final ten minutes of the frame. Robert Thomas made a great play to Jake Neighbours for the first tally, and it was Neighbours on playmaker duty on the second goal, with him taking advantage of a Nikita Zadorov miscue to get the puck to Pavel Buchnevich, who made no mistake.

Buchnevich hasn’t had his best season production-wise, but his play-driving results have been high-end for years. If the Blues are looking to sell, he would be my #1 target for the Canucks, especially if they’re looking for a fit with Elias Pettersson.

One thing to note at the end of the period was that Andrei Kuzmenko stayed on the Canucks bench long after his teammates had already left for the dressing room.

What a sight for sore eyes.

 

 

Kuzmenko showed glimpses of his talent in his previous two outings, but Wednesday night’s match vs St. Louis was more of what we’ve seen throughout the start of 2024.

It looks as if The Kuzmenkshow will be heading to another city in shirt order, and he knows it.

2nd Period – ‘UGH’

That 2nd period was awful.

Sure, the Canucks controlled the puck throughout the period’s duration, but… what did they do with it?

Besides a successful four-minute penalty kill and a goal by Brayden Schenn that was immediately waved-off, there was next to nothing of note from this period.

Blegh, blah, and everything in-between.

3rd Period – Pius, Pius, Pius

Before we get to the Pius Suter fireworks display, one thing to note is that Nikita Zadorov played just one shift in the third period and worked 1-on-1 with Rick Tocchet at practice on Thursday morning. His lone third period shift came on the Blues’ third goal where, again, he was late to cover his man in front of the net.

Yeah, I said “the Blues’ third goal”. Luckily, the Alexey Toropchenko tally only made the score 3-1; because Pius Suter scored at the start of the third period. The Miller line got back to work with some solid pressure in the very next shift with nothing to show; but Ilya Mikheyev drew a penalty and the power play didn’t disappoint.

With Andrei Kuzmenko’s ice-time dipping, Pius Suter has gotten repeated looks on PP1, and the Canucks have found some modest success with the new-look first unit. Suter scored again in the bumper spot, receiving a pass from Brock Boeser after the puck took a funny hop in the left corner.

Suter’s second of the night was the rally cry the team needed, as the Canucks really started to heat up. Quinn Hughes was dancing and spinning…until he got hit in the numbers.

Oskar Sundqvist cross checked Quinn Hughes into the boards, and the latter was struggling for the remainder of the third period. But what have we learned about Quinn Hughes this year? He’s a machine. Nothing is going to stop this guy from getting on the scoresheet.

In the final minute of play, with the Blues’ net empty, the Canucks found a way to tie the game.

Pius Suter recorded the hat-trick with Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek picking up the assists. It’s official, Pius Suter is required to wear a chrome helmet in every game from this point on.

Overtime – GET UP!!!!!

Brayden Schenn would get retribution for his disallowed goal and won the game in overtime. He just had to blatantly cross check Elias Pettersson to do it.

Yes, Elias Pettersson was cross checked. Yes, it directly led to the game winning goal. Yes, NHL officiating is a joke and there’s a serious lack of accountability.

But man, Petey, GET UP.

That entire shift was nightmare fuel for Pettersson. Several turnovers, terrible defensive reads, and a lack of effort to get himself back in the play after being hauled down; but it wasn’t just overtime, he was off all night.

Should we be worried? Not at all. We are just a week away from the All-Star break, after all.

His performance just emphasizes even more how much the team needs another top six forward that can control play. You notice how most top players in the league have a play-driver along side them? Yeah, Pettersson hasn’t had that since J.T. Miller was a consistent fixture on his wing in 2020.

Kuzmenko and Mikheyev aren’t efficient enough at creating offence. Pettersson needs someone else to help get the most out of him. Whether it be a Pavel Buchnevich; or a Jake Guentzel; or even a Trevor Zegras, anyone!

The Canucks have one more game before the All-Star break vs the Columbus Blue Jackets. After that, I think it’s time for Patrik Allvin and co to start looking at ways to upgrading this team, and judging him and Rutherford’s track records, I’d expect at least something over the next few weeks.

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