First game of the year.
Then Elias Pettersson stepped forward directly.
The Swede was responsible for a real scoring success when the Canucks crushed the Stanley Cup favorite Edmonton – and he is now also praised enormously for an absolutely magical tackle.
Elias Pettersson is coming off a record year in the NHL, when he reached over 100 points in the league for the first time. This despite the fact that the Vancouver Canucks were in crisis for most of the year, and they clearly missed the playoffs. It has meant that Elias Pettersson was instead able to prepare, and become stronger, for this season – and last night he showed that it has paid off.
Huge success right away
However, Elias Pettersson entered the season with a lot of talk around him. He is in the final year of his contract with the Canucks and has been open that he is not sure there will be a continuation. It has led to speculation that the Canucks will also let Pettersson go at some point during this season. But last night the Swede showed once again that he is one of the world’s absolute best players, and that the Canucks would be really stupid to let him go.
The Canucks faced the hardest possible opposition in this year’s NHL premiere, in the form of the talked-about Edmonton Oilers, according to many the very biggest favorite to win the Stanley Cup this year. However, Pettersson started the season’s scoring just eight minutes in, when he released Connor Garland with a completely magnificent pass. In the second period, Elias Pettersson was able to make his second assist of the night, and a short time later he himself got on the score sheet with a complete hit in the power play.
Praised for the monster tackle
The match ended 8-1 to the Canucks and for Elias Pettersson, in the first match of the year, it was an impressive four points. A real taste start for the Swedish star – who, however, away in North America is celebrated for something completely different. Elias Pettersson is often praised for his defensive play, and last night he handed out one of the absolute best tackles of the NHL premiere. Edmonton’s Cody Ceci didn’t stand a chance as “EP40” dished out chest warmers.
Tributes to Pettersson poured in on social media.
“I can’t stop looking at this,” writes a user on X, formerly Twitter.
“He’s too small, they said…”, writes another.
“The guy can’t stop developing,” writes a third.
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