Story on the Canucks’ No. 3 defenceman, who is almost back to the player he was last season.
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With the puck suddenly between his legs and Blue Jacket sticks ready to pounce, the puck needing a simple shove to get into the Canucks’ net, Soucy calmly, confidently, whacked the puck straight back between his legs, out of danger.
It was the kind of “I’ll just sort this out right now” play that Canucks fans became accustomed to seeing from the lanky blueliner last season, but which had been rather rare so far this season. Take it as a sign that he’s finding his way back.
“I’m definitely feeling better with the puck,” he said, with a grin, after Friday’s game. “Just every game, trying to get more puck touches, just taking that on myself.”
In many ways, his own play in the Friday game was a microcosm of the Canucks’ overall defensive performance against the Blue Jackets.
In the first period, everything was chaos. No one looked good.
But the Canucks came out gangbusters in the second. They turned the game back on the Blue Jackets: Soucy and his mates started to deny Columbus smooth sailing through the neutral zone, and stopped their efforts to dump the puck in.
“You’re almost ready for the dump, but then they make that last little move that a lot of these teams don’t make, because getting the puck in is so important. They’re good at that. Obviously it can come to teams at times when you try that stuff,” he said.
“They did a good job early of swinging and finding their speed. Then I think as the game went on, we were just better at getting in front of that. You know, a chip in the body, just slow them down a touch. I think we got better at that.”
And on Friday, it was Soucy who helped his team find their way in the second period.
“There weren’t many guys who were positive (in the first),” Tocchet said. “I thought Soucy was one of those.
“I thought that Soucy kinda settled everybody.”
In a league of copy cats, Columbus’ rush approach under coach Dean Evason stands out.
“They are one of the best rush teams in the league. I think that’s credit to us for adjusting where they’re finding their speed,” Soucy said.
Pettersson finding his way too
But on the previous sequence, a Pettersson moment stood out for personal reasons: he took on Dante Fabbro on the side boards, faked to the inside and skated hard around the Columbus net to attempt a wraparound. It showed confidence he was struggling to find late last season.
Tocchet is seeing more from his No. 1 centre.
“He’s coming up with moments. It’s like everybody, we’re trying to squeeze more. We need more from everybody,” Tocchet said before Friday’s game.
“I think his approach to the game, the mental aspect, he’s really worked on. We’ve talked about it a lot. You know, you guys know me: with moving his feet, wanting the puck, shooting the puck, more things like that. And I see glimpses of it and chipping away at that,” he added.