“I feel better. I’m just trying to work hard. Now we’re winning. We’re happy with that. I just have to keep up the momentum and try to win as many games as possible.” – Elias Pettersson
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Elias Pettersson’s winning goal on Friday night for the Vancouver Canucks against the Winnipeg Jets had a very familiar look, where he skidded to the left but pushed the puck to the right, dragging his stick to guide the puck around. of the sprawling archer.
It’s called ‘The Forsberg,’ after retired Swedish superstar Peter Forsberg, who used the move to score the gold medal goal at the 1994 Winter Olympics against Canadian goalkeeper Corey Hirsch, who now works as an analyst. on Canucks radio transmissions for Sportsnet 650..
After Friday’s game, Hirsch asked Pettersson if he knew to whom Forsberg had scored his most famous goal.
Pettersson admitted not, although he had seen the highlights many times.
“Corey Hirsch, the guy you’re talking to right now,” the retired goalkeeper told him, drawing laughter from all sides.
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On Saturday, Pettersson said he felt more confident in his game.
“I feel better. I’m just trying to work hard. Now we’re winning. We’re happy with that. I just have to keep up the momentum and try to win as many games as possible,” he said smiling. “And of course after that shootout, I feel very, very good. “
Pettersson also revealed that he returned to playing with a Bauer club, similar to the one he had used in past seasons, with a flex index of 82. He said that in the summer they sent him a batch of clubs that he only realized later were not. correct.
“I thought I had gotten a lot stronger in the summer, but the clubs deceived me, so I thought I had to go up a bit (in stiffness) and then I had to lengthen the stick. (But) I tried the 82 flex again and it felt good, ”he said.
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System change
Head coach Bruce Boudreau said one thing he will work on with his team is to propel his offense out of play from behind the net, rather than working on shots from the point, as they had with Travis Green.
“If you’ve ever seen my teams, I mean there is cycling, working behind the net, under the circles, being very difficult to play against them, having three guys on the same side, instead of scattering them. They have to be very close, “he said.
Two of Boudreau’s previous teams, Washington and Anaheim, had some big, powerful stars, but he noted that he also had success playing this way in Minnesota, where his lineup wasn’t that great but was full of speed skaters.
“And that’s what we are going to try to achieve here, is to be really good under the circles.”
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Defensive depth
Travis Hamonic is on injured reserve and will be out with a lower body injury for at least two to three weeks, Boudreau said before Friday’s game, while Oliver Ekman-Larsson will likely return at some point in the game. next week.
The Canucks called up Noah Juulsen to serve as the team’s seventh defender for the time being. The team also has a replacement forward in Justin Dowling.
But if there’s another injury, the Canucks won’t be able to call anyone, as they currently only have $ 600,000 in the salary cap.
If they made the minimum roster (12 forwards, six defenders and two goalkeepers) and sustained another injury, they would be allowed to call an Abbotsford player under emergency conditions.
Reference-theprovince.com