It was his second hat trick in his six-year NHL career and Head Coach Rick Tocchet hopes there’s more to come. Tocchet talked about Pettersson’s great release and packaging speed and quickness in his scoring ability.
“I love that he’s doing that outside-in – the puck on his forehand – it's a dangerous shot, it’s hard to defend. I remember Dale Hawerchuk back in the day in our era was so good at that – going wide, bringing it to the middle and shooting it. Petey’s got that option in his bag right now and it’s effective,” Tocchet said.
Pettersson’s enjoying his season so far, taking it game by game. After a 5-2 comeback win against the Nashville Predators, he feels confident in the team’s defensive structure, and the universal understanding of the players and coaching staff of the level they’re expected to play at.
“We’re definitely having more fun. It’s more fun being this side of .500 so it’s good. Everyone’s happy but we can’t be satisfied we’ve got to continue and be humble about it,” Pettersson said.
“I think it’s good to get different kinds of wins and wins when we haven’t played our best. Maybe in previous years we haven’t won these games, but now we’ve got good goaltending and I think we’re defending ourselves better.”
Pettersson logged 27:03 of ice time against the New York Rangers which is the most minutes he’s played in a game all season and 3:45 more playing time than his second-highest game this year against Philadelphia. He spent 9:40 on the power play, his longest shift was 3:01 in the second period, getting a secondary assist on J.T. Miller’s goal. Tocchet knew it was a bit too much time for Pettersson and his top power play unit.
“I was surprised it was that much [time]. I think I should have used the second unit on the power play a little bit more. I thought that’s why those minutes were up, and I thought it got a little bit sloppy because of that. Some of those guys were tired,” he said.
As the Canucks turn the page to the month of November, they want to continue their winning record and Pettersson wants to hold himself and his teammates accountable to the standards they’re capable of.
“Finding the balance of being happy with a win and also you have to be honest with each other of when we’re playing well, when we’re not, and what we can do better,” he said.
The second star accolade is a byproduct of his hard work and while he points to his teammates for helping him accumulate points, he’s appreciative of the award.
“Feels great, honoured with that. I think it’s my first time too so very happy with it,” he said.
