The Vancouver Canucks picked up a 2-1 victory over the league-leading Washington Capitals on Saturday evening and it was a particular evening for defenceman Elias Pettersson, who made his NHL debut.
“It was a variety of enjoyable, and I used to be simply making an attempt to benefit from the second,” stated Pettersson. “Yeah, I am actually glad.”
D-Petey, as he’s known as across the locker room, was chosen within the third spherical of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and performed in eight AHL video games final season. He has performed in 36 AHL video games this yr and has one objective and twelve assists whereas consuming up a ton of minutes on the penalty kill.
Earlier than we started recording our interview, D-Petey requested in regards to the outcome for the Abbotsford Canucks as they gained their eighth sport in a row with a 6-2 shellacking of the Tucson Roadrunners. No group is hotter within the AHL than Abbotsford and so they journey to Coachella Valley for a Wednesday sport to wrap up a three-game highway journey earlier than returning to the Abbotsford Centre on Friday.
Pettersson spoke about experiencing the NHL first-hand and the variations that he felt between the NHL and AHL.
“I imply, it is completely different from down within the AHL, however yeah, assume I slot in fairly good in my first couple of shifts. I believe I grew into the sport an increasing number of, and simply having these guys round you, it is helped a lot too. They talked loads, and it helped me loads. So yeah, it feels good to have them help me. It was a fantastic sport,” stated Pettersson.
“It was enjoyable to play at this degree, that is the place you wish to play in and as I stated earlier than, I’ll do every little thing to play right here full-time sooner or later. I realized that you must be prepared each shift. Tonight, I felt like I stored it fairly easy, however realized that you must be able to go on each shift.”
Pettersson gave credit score to assistant coach Adam Foote for making him really feel comfy within the sport plan and laying out the expectations for the 20-year-old defender.
Canucks’ captain Quinn Hughes spoke to the media following Saturday evening’s sport and gave a glowing overview on Pettersson whereas being excited to see him proceed to develop.
“He can skate, he’s acquired good dimension, [and is a] aggressive, good child, and he’ll play a very long time,” stated Hughes. “That is the beginning of hopefully a protracted profession for him, and it isn’t straightforward coming in with how the final couple of video games have gone. I assumed he did nicely, and particularly a participant like him, he’s simply going to proceed to get higher and higher, and particularly with Footy again there, the way in which he can propel guys’ improvement. He may pop earlier than you may assume.”
Pettersson performed 14 shifts for 10:37 of ice time and had two hits and a blocked shot within the sport. He was on the ice for one objective scored and 0 targets towards.
