PHOTO: TT Nyhetsbyrån/Twitter
Elias Pettersson and his Vancouver Canucks fell with the odd goal in the night’s meeting with the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Swede accounted for a goal in the match when he put his own rebound into the net.
But he was also responsible for a matchless save on the goal line.
Vancouver Canucks with, among others, the Swedish star Elias Pettersson in the team has gone hard in the lead-up to the NHL season and the team places itself in the bottom tier of the table. During the night of Tuesday, there was another defeat when they received the Vegas Golden Knights at home in Rogers Arena.
Pettersson goalscorer
Elias Pettersson was the scorer when he made it 4-2 for his Canucks, but the goal would prove to be meaningless after the visitors turned the tables late in the third and final period.
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Despite Pettersson’s goal, it was perhaps not the action that the Swedish center will remember most strongly from the match. Rather, a situation where Pettersson had to act as goalkeeper when the Canucks were chasing an equalizer in the final stages of the match.
“Best goalkeeper in the league”
The home side had taken out the goalkeeper and were pushing for an equalizer when the Golden Knights got a conversion into the empty net. Then Elias Pettersson stood on the line, and in classic goalkeeper fashion, he saved the team from another late goal.
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Pettersson is now being praised for his effort, both for the match performance in general but also for his actions as the Canucks’ last outpost.
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“It is a player who gives everything out there on the ice while the rest of the team capitulates around him. Elias Pettersson is our entire future,” writes a supporter on Twitter.
“Elias Pettersson is the best goalkeeper in the league,” writes another about the save in the final stages.
“He is a better goalkeeper than Eddie Leak”, says a third.