Elias Pettersson took a heavy hit from Cole Clayton in the corner Saturday, and the Penticton crowd groaned for the Canucks star.
Clean hit, right up near the boards. Next shift he went out and delivered one of his own on Clayton, clean again.
The building loved that. And that's the moment his afternoon turned.
He tied the scrimmage by batting the puck out of the air a couple of times, the last one up and over Ty Young.
Eight minutes in he'd already had his side's best look, a 2-on-1 with Brendan Gallagher that Chris Driedger turned aside short side.
All of this matters because last season didn't go well. He finished with 51 points across 74 games.
He also sat at a -30 on an $11,600,000 cap hit. Vancouver needs Saturday's version for a full calendar.
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Elias Pettersson steals the show after massive training camp hit
Öhgren opened the scoring on a 2-on-1 with Brock Boeser, looked him off, and fired it himself.
Next shift he did it again from the other side of the ice. Both came off the rush, both beat Lankinen clean with nobody screening.
The 22-year-old managed 18 points across 69 games last season. Two in a scrimmage isn't a career, it's a start.
Lankinen went .875 across 47 appearances last year. Saturday afternoon didn't help that conversation any.
Ty Mueller made it 3-0 in a hurry after Team Blue got pinned in its own end.
Drew O'Connor pulled one back on a rush with Gallagher. He scored 17 goals last season, so that one wasn't an accident.
Team White took it 4-3 in a shootout. Luke Schenn scored, which the Penticton crowd enjoyed more than anybody on the ice.
Zeev Buium skated pucks out under pressure and jumped into the rush without hesitating. He signed an eight-year deal earlier this month.
Tom Willander flashed some hands, walking in from the point before cutting to the middle for a backhand attempt.
Vancouver finished 25-49-8 last season and landed 32nd overall. Manny Malhotra took the bench job on June 1.
They went 9-27-5 at home and gave up 316 goals. No scrimmage on the planet repairs that.
Thatcher Demko is also questionable for the start of the season with a hip issue. The crease has its own list of problems.
So how much does 30 minutes in September actually tell you? Judging a season off a camp scrimmage works like tasting the batter and calling it cake.
The rest of the group flew to Seattle for the preseason opener. Pettersson gets a full schedule to prove Saturday meant something, and none of it starts until it counts.
Source : Instant Reaction: Öhgren and Pettersson put on a show in Canucks' training camp scrimmage
Will Elias Pettersson bounce back to a point per game this season?
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