Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra may have been understating it a bit in describing his team’s start in Game 4 on Thursday.
“We continuously talk about wanting to start on the front foot and apply pressure on teams,” Malhotra said.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki finished off a two-on-one rush 75 seconds into the contest and the Canucks fended off a late Charlotte comeback attempt to nail down a 3-2 victory. Abbotsford is 9-1 when scoring the game’s first goal this postseason.
“I liked the start of our game, just establishing our forecheck and making plays earlier, and when we had opportunities to capitalize, we did,” Malhotra added.
Said forward Arshdeep Bains, “I liked that we started on time.”
The top line of Bains, Max Sasson and Calder Cup Playoffs leading scorer Linus Karlsson again had a dominant performance. Malhotra is pleased that the line takes care of its defensive responsibilities first before looking to create offensively.
“The thing I like about those guys, is they do all the little things right,” Malhotra said. “Their wall battles were really good. They get pucks out of the zone for us. They get us up the ice, and from there their offensive talents take over… They’re not forcing plays and trying to force the offense.”.
“For me, it was a better overall game from our group,” Charlotte head coach Geordie Kinnear said after Game 4, although he acknowledged there were too many mistakes that cost them.
With defenseman Tobias Bjornfot still unavailable, Kinnear brought rookie Eamon Powell into the lineup for the first time since Game 4 of the division semifinals against Providence. Forward Jack Devine also came back in and picked up his first pro goal in the third period.
The Checkers are now facing elimination for the first time since their winner-take-all victory against the Bruins on May 11. Kinnear will take some solace from Charlotte’s two third-period goals Thursday that forced the Canucks to scramble to close out the game in the final minute.
That fight will need to continue if the Checkers are to push this series to Game 6 back at home, but Kinnear remains confident.
“The fight that we have, we’ve done it all year,” he stated.
― with files from Patrick Williams
