Tocchet comments on Elias Pettersson's play and the pressure he faces

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Cooper Godin
April 24, 2024 (11:14)

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The Vancouver Canucks headed into Game 2 on Tuesday night with an opportunity to take a 2-0 series lead before heading off on the road to Nashville for Games 3 & 4. However, that didn't happen and now the series is tied up at 1-1 with many questions needing to be answered.

One Canuck that hasn't played that well, at least offensively, is Elias Pettersson as he's been held to no points and two shots through the first two games of the series.

During Tuesday's game, he even missed a wide open net on a one-timer late in the first period that would have tied the game up at 1-1 heading into the intermission and given the Canucks a big momentum swing.

After the game, Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet met with reporters and said that Pettersson is dealing with his first taste of pressure and he needs to learn from it and be ready to go for Game 3 on Friday night.

"Petey's a young kid. This is his first taste of pressure. This is good for him. He's gotta learn. He's gotta dust himself off and be ready for Game 3." Tocchet said.

Tocchet is right. Pettersson needs to learn to deal with the pressure of playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and has to be ready for Game 3 in a couple days from now. With Thatcher Demko likely out for the remainder of the series, the Canucks know that they won't be bailed out as often by Casey DeSmith and they'll need to drive more offense in order to take home the victory. Elias Pettersson will be relied on heavily to create offense for the team and needs to start getting more pucks on net as two shots through the first two games just isn't good enough.

Puck drop for Game 3 in Nashville on Friday night is set for 4:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. ET across Canada on Sportsnet.