VANCOUVER – If you wanted to see a manifestation of what Vancouver Canucks' transition-restructuring looks, rookie defender Tom Willander provided the perfect shot on Friday night.
Stuck on the ice for a marathon two-minute shift that led to the Seattle Kraken's first goal, Willander faced 20-year-old defenseman Ziv Buium on a three-on-one, then lost a battle for the puck to Kaapo Kakko and then covered his goalie as his shot found the back of the net as Cale Fleury sped past Thatcher Demko.
But Willander moved the puck steadily in the second period, getting a try on the first power play that scored twice in six minutes to keep the Canucks in the game.
Willander, who played just five games in the minors between college hockey last spring and what appeared to be a semi-permanent move to the National Hockey League in October, even got a shift in overtime before Matty Beniers scored the lone goal in the shootout to give the Kraken a 4-3 victory at Rogers Arena.
Having several first- or second-year prospects, including forwards Linus Carlssonscoring the tying goal in the third period hours after signing a two-year, one-way extension with the Canucks, there's a lot to learn on the fly in Vancouver.
“Yes, we do,” Willander said after his 30th NHL game. “But I think I'm a lot more comfortable now and making a lot fewer mistakes than I did in the beginning. At the same time, you know, I always try to look at the mistakes and learn from them. You always try to cut them down, but especially at this level, there are so many good players, it's so hard not to make mistakes.”
“I think it's important to be critical of your game. If you're not, I think it's hard to get better. But there are all kinds of mistakes. Sometimes at this level there's something new… and it's like something new. I think it's a lot easier to deal with. But there are also, I think, those mistakes where you know you get really angry because you know you shouldn't do it.”
Willander said he couldn't remember all the details of his 138-second shift that preceded Fleury's goal at 17:34 of the first, but admitted it included “a series of bad plays.”
“We were caught there for a long shift, and that’s always hard,” he said. “I don’t remember the whole shift… but the longer you’re there, the harder it gets.”
The No. 11 overall pick in the 2023 draft got his second assist on Kiefer Sherwood's power-play rebound goal that halved the 2-0 deficit at 13:06 of the second period. Willander has 12 points in 30 NHL games. In his two years at Boston University, he didn't even have much success as a power play on the first line, he said.
“When you get into the first block of a power play, you get a little nervous,” veteran Jake DeBrusk Said after breaking out of a personal slump with a three-point play. “It's a big responsibility. But he has a good head on his shoulders and he's a confident guy. But there will always be trial and error. We veterans have trial and error.”
DeBrusk's second goal in 18 games gave the Canucks a one-game lead, 3-2, with 37.8 seconds left in the second period. DeBrusk rushed to the net and stuck his stick in front of Kraken penalty shooter Ryan Winterton's stick just in time to dispatch Brock Boeser's hard centering pass 10 seconds after Elias Pettersson won the faceoff to start the power play.
The man advantage team also scored Vancouver's first goal when Sherwood blocked a rebound past goaltender Joey Daccord, who was unable to control DeBrusk's deflected shot.
Karlsson, who had been in Seattle's net all game, coolly made it 3-3 at 6:15 of the final period, rebounding off Filip Hronek's shot and sliding a backhand between Daccord's pads for the rookie's 10th goal, tied for second with the Canucks behind only Sherwood's 17.
Karlsson and Willander are among a large group of young players who have made it onto the Canucks roster this season.
Another of them, sophomore center Max Sasson, was easily beaten by Ben Meyers in front of the Canucks' net on the Kraken's third goal at 18:13 of the second period.
“It's always fun to play on the power play,” Willander said. “But I didn't think too much about it. I mean, Zeev has been on this before and he's an amazing player. I think he did a great job. So I don't know exactly the reasons for it, but maybe just trying something new. I'm happy about it. It's always a bonus to score some goals.”
Willander said it's also a bonus to have players his age (or at least his experience level) on the team who are also trying to establish themselves as Canucks. Players like Buyum, Karlsson and Sasson, as well as Swedes Elias Pettersson and Liam Ågren, and center Aatu Rathi.
“I feel like we have a lot of veteran players that I think are easy to relate to,” Willander said. “Maybe the best one is Tyler Myers. He's very easy to talk to, he's very helpful. I think our coaches do a good job of trying to teach us, too. But I definitely feel like some of us are in the same boat. You know, it's good to have a good team to talk to. And that's not just in hockey, but outside of hockey as well. It's nice to have people who are in the same boat as you.”
“Of course it's fun,” the 26-year-old Karlsson said of re-signing midway through his rookie season. “I love playing here. I'm really excited to spend two more years with the organization. I'm really excited about the future.”
The Boston Bruins visit Vancouver on Saturday and then the Canucks take a six-game road trip east, starting Tuesday in Buffalo.
