Canucks Game Night Notebook: Hands up, what is the true identity of the team?

“When we get clean pucks through the neutral zone, put pucks behind their defense and get on the check, that’s when we play our best.” – Bo Horvat

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The Vancouver Canucks are 3-3-1 and with the Flyers fighters arriving in town on Thursday, they will have to constantly score every aspect of their game, which they did on Oct. 15 on a 5-4 roller coaster. victory in the shootings in Philadelphia.

Here are three implementation points to consider:

1. What is identity? As captain, Bo Horvat often expresses his words and accentuates the positives, but the center got to the point after a sobering 3-2 loss to hardworking Minnesota on Tuesday. He did his part with great effort late in the third period to bring his club closer to goal. He picked up five shots and six attempts, won 58 percent of his draws and has three goals in his last two games.

“I’m just trying to help, whatever happens,” he said. “Whether it’s scoring goals, playing a round trip and closing the upper lines. For me, scoring is an advantage. “

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Your mantra should be posted on the locker room board.

“What drives our offense is playing well on defense,” he added. “When we get clean pucks through the neutral zone, put pucks behind their defense and put ourselves on the check, that’s when we play the best we can.

“That’s when we get excited and guys start making plays and putting more bodies on the net is a staple of our game. We have to be smart and aggressive, and we have to get back to that. “

2. The pursuit of Pettersson’s goal: Coach Travis Green called the center’s effort “average” on Tuesday. It was a fair assessment.

Encouraged by the first chants of “Petey, Petey, Petey”, there were still some struggles with the force on the discs and playing on instinct. Elias Pettersson sent Nils Hoglander in for a good scoring opportunity and his three shots from neutral on a PP1 opportunity that led to an Alex Chiasson goal were encouraging.

Despite missing camp and playing just two preseason games, a goal for the skilled Swede in seven games will attract scrutiny. He watched some time Tuesday with Lotto Line in hopes of sparking chemistry.

3. Timing is everything: Tucker Poolman’s loss to an upper body injury Tuesday came hours after a vaccinated Travis Hamonic rejoined the organization. He skated solo at Abbotsford on Wednesday. He needs AHL conditioning and games, and it would be a natural fit to line up with Quinn Hughes, especially if Poolman is out for the long haul.

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Reference-theprovince.com

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