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TAKEAWAYS

 

1) For much of the past week, the storyline around the Canucks has been depth and spread scoring. But on Wednesday at Staples Center it was all about top end talent. And while the depth scoring is terrific and necessary to have team success, it's depth scoring for a reason because you can't count on those players to produce each and every night. In the NHL, you need your best players to come through with regularity and the Canucks are getting that right now. Brock Boeser had his third career hattrick and added an assist. Boeser now has six goals in his past five games and has scored in four of them. Elias Pettersson had a goal and three helpers. It was his third game of three or more points in the last eight outings. Bo Horvat had a goal, added an assist and crushed the Kings in the circle winning 16 of 20 face-offs. And Quinn Hughes had his first three point game in the NHL. With 5 goals and eight assists, it was an incredible night for the Core Four. And it's possible that they're just getting warmed up.

 

2) The power play had a night for the ages. The Canucks went four for six with the man-advantage striking four times in a game for the first time since 'Game 8' in Boston in January 2012. The power play now has 13 goals through 12 games this season. To put that in perspective, the team scored 43 goals with the man-advantage all of last season. After going better than a goal game in October, the Canucks now need 30 power play goals over their remaining 70 games to equal last season's output. Of course, the goal is not to match last season's struggles but to raise the bar and to raise it by a considerable margin. In the five full games since Quinn Hughes joined the top unit, the Canucks have have struck eight times on the power play. 

 

3) Elias Pettersson's vast array of talents were on full display on Wednesday night. As much as his goal and three assists will jump off the page, it was the physical side of Pettersson's game that had his teammates raving in the locker room afterward. In the second period, as Pettersson crossed the Kings blueline he was jabbed in the midsection by veteran forward Jeff Carter. Without breaking stride, Pettersson took his frustration out on Alec Martinez and crushed the Kings defender behind the LA net. In the third period, Pettersson had Martinez in his crosshairs again. Just inside the LA line, Pettersson steamrolled Martinez on an aggressive forecheck and in the same motion stole the puck and moved in on goal. With JT Miller moving to the front of the net, Pettersson showed remarkable patience eventually trying to slip a pass through sticks to Miller in the blue paint. The pass was broken up otherwise it would have easily been a play that would have shot to the top of Pettersson's personal highlight reel. On the night, Pettersson finished with a share of the team lead with three hits. It won't be that way every night, but it's just another element to his game that certainly got his teammates going and clearly got the Kings attention.

 

4) Micheal Ferland's night ended almost before it began. With the Canucks down 1-0 early, Ferland engaged in a scrap with Kings grinder Kyle Clifford off a face-off deep in Los Angeles territory. Ferland left the game and did not return with what the team is terming an upper body injury. Post-game, head coach Travis Green did not offer any further update on Ferland. There were reports following the game that the injury is perhaps to his hand or finger. In all, Ferland played just three shifts and 1:19 on the night. With a team day off Thursday, it will be interesting to see if the Canucks offer any update or make any roster move that could indicate that Ferland will be out for any length of time. Adam Gaudette is here in California with the club and could easily be inserted with Brandon Sutter sliding to the wing as he had done earlier in the season. Gaudette has been patient having not played an NHL game since October 12th against Philadelphia. This may be the opportunity he has been waiting for to get back in the Canucks line-up.

 

5) If October started with a whimper, it ended with a roar. The Canucks dropped their first two games of the season in Edmonton and Calgary, but since then have been on an 8-1-1 rampage. Their 17 points are tops in the league since October 6th. Over those 10 games, they have outscored their opponents by a whopping 43-23 margin. In the past four games alone, the Canucks have scored five times on three occasions and seven in the other game. Over that span, they've outproduced their opponents 22-12 going 3-0-1 along the way. Since a 1-0 loss in New Jersey, the Canucks have responded with three straight road wins and are 4-1 away from home since going 0 for Alberta. They'll have a chance to add to that total on Friday in Anaheim. That will be the team's first game of November. The Canucks probably wish it could be October forever.