Canucks 4, Penguins 3: Big night Elias Pettersson and Arshdeep Bains

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Talk about a battle of the narratives.

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You have the hometown rookie driving the net and banging home a hard-working goal for his first in the NHL.

You have the struggling superstar, who’s been showing signs of life, finally bag his first goal of the season.

Which is the biggest story tonight? Can we call it a tie?

Either way, it was a big night at Rogers Arena Saturday for the Vancouver Canucks as they eclipsed the plodding Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3.

The look of relief

Elias Pettersson’s face said it all. Finally, maybe, people would start saying only good things about him.

He took a fabulous pass off, who else, Conor Garland, and made no mistake on his release, picking the top corner over Alex Nedeljkovic.

It was a goal that got everything rolling. Down 2-0, the Canucks had looked a little stiff against the not terribly good Penguins squad, a shadow of their Stanley Cup days.

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The Canucks scored two more times in the ensuing 1:05. First a fantastic two-on-one strike by Kiefer Sherwood, the sequence launched by a marvellous neutral-zone poke check by Vinny Desharnais. Then there was a winning ugly tally by J.T. Miller, who was launched on a breakaway by Brock Boeser. Miller drove the net and the puck ended up in the goal because the Penguins were a mess on the backcheck.

The rush

By the way, those two tallies coming on the rush were no mistake: that’s how the Canucks want to play hockey.

It’s worked well over the past week against bottom-feeding teams.

How will it look next week versus Carolina and New Jersey, both Stanley Cup contenders?

The look of happiness

And then there was Arshdeep Bains, who scored the Canucks’ fourth goal, banging in a rebound from Daniel Sprong.

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Bains almost forgot to celebrate, the moment was so good. Sprong was electric with the puck all night, doing exactly what he’s expected to do when the Canucks are on the attack.

Credit to the rookie, who drove down broadway to collect the rebound, an obvious shot-pass by Sprong.

How good are these two? 

Or, why Garland and Nils Hoglander are the perfect wing pair for Pettersson.

There was a first period shift that saw Garland and Hoglander put on a forechecking clinic, creating all kinds of chaos in the Penguins’ end.

Pettersson had changed just before so he wasn’t there for the fruits of their labour, but when you have forwards controlling play like that, your superstar is going to thrive.

And that he did on his goal, burying a perfect setup from Garland.

How fast are ya?

So we’re clear: the Canucks scored four goals in a wildly fast 1:23 sequence in a game versus Pittsburgh in 1980, yielding what are today the second and third fastest three-goal sequences in team history. 

The fastest was a 1992 sequence, while Saturday’s three-goals-in-one-minute-five seconds is the fourth-fastest all time.

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No Beauvillier video

Anthony Beauvillier didn’t get a welcome-back video on the big screen, so he took matters into his own hands.

That was a heckuva tip to open the scoring.

Jake where are you?

In all the Pettersson angst…what about Jake Debrusk?

He’s struggling to make himself visible this season. His scoring chances have been few and far between. His shot rate is way below his career average.

Was there a more apt analogy for how the winger is struggling to fit than when he passed, badly, on a two-on-one with  Boeser moments before Beauvillier’s goal?

Where do the Penguins go from here?

The Penguins are slow.

Half the lineup is older than the general manager.

They have only a couple prospects.

Sure they made it close late — it sure helps to have Geno Malkin still flying — but in the end this is a team of ill-fitting and poor parts.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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