“Yeah, can you believe it?” said Pettersson, on scoring four goals in the last five games. “Feel great, obviously. It feels good, I’m happy.”
The Swedish centre scored his 15th goal of the season and contributed an assist Saturday, helping the Canucks trounce the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2.
Pettersson now has four goals in his last five games.
“Yeah, can you believe it?” he said of the feat, grinning. “Feel great, obviously. It feels good, I’m happy.”
It’s been a difficult season for the 26-year-old star.
After signing an eight-year, US$92.8-million contract last March, expectations were high for Pettersson coming into the campaign.
Amid all the speculation, he struggled to produce offensively and went 15 games without a goal between Jan. 21 and March 5.
Since then, Pettersson has four goals and two assists, and has scored in three straight games. He’s now up to 41 points on the season.
“He’s still the same guy. He’s a great kid. He’s a really good kid,” he said. “I think now he’s having a little bit more fun in the sense — listen, you score, you should smile and stuff. But he’s playing soccer with the guys, doing some stuff that I think he’s just mixing in.
“I don’t think he has a world on his shoulders right now. But I think he’s just enjoying this run. … I think he’s enjoying the pressure of playing in these type of games.”
Pettersson blasted a shot past Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom at 6:01 of the first period, skimming the top of the inside of the net before the puck bounced back out.
The play sparked a three-goal third-period that sealed a key victory for a Vancouver (31-24-11) side that’s battling three other teams for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
It’s a result the Canucks can build on through the final stretch of the season, Pettersson said.
“Learn from the stuff we didn’t do well and then obviously, keep doing the good stuff we did in the first and the third period,” he said. “And hopefully score a lot of goals.”
CHYTIL EXITS
Filip Chytil left the game with about five minutes to go in the third after being hit from behind by Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson.
The Canucks centre’s head snapped back and he went down hard, then struggled to get to his feet before skating off the ice and heading directly to the locker room.
There was no call on the play.
Tocchet did not have an update on Chytil after the game.
“It’s a pretty bad hit. So we’ll see how he is,” he said.
RETURN OF SILOVS
The 23-year-old Latvian goalie improved to 2-6-1 at the NHL level this season with a .861 save percentage and a 3.65 goals-against average.
“There’s always a lot to learn from. And I think for me, it’s maybe not the best experience, but it’s experience, and I think I can grow from that.”
