“I’m doing everything I can to help our team score,” Boeser said Saturday. So if they want to start hitting me with a stick or whatever, and it distracts the guy, it’ll allow someone else to get free or something. I decided to adopt this role. »
But Boeser needed time to learn how to play the role. During his career, he was mostly found on the periphery or at the point during the Canucks’ power play sequences.
“It took me a few years to figure out how I could stand out,” he explained. It’s a matter of wanting to take on the challenge and working hard. It helped me a lot. »
Boeser and Miller have been the Canucks’ two mainstays in net on the power play over the past few years, but Miller finds himself more in the playmaker role on the wings or the top of the slot now, meaning that Boeser must appear more often in front of the semi-circle.
Head coach Rick Tocchet said he and his staff had a conversation with the 27-year-old forward early in the season about the issue, and the fact that he found early success made Boeser realize that he could be very useful in this role.
“I wouldn’t say he bought the plan immediately, but it allowed him to understand that he had to go in front of the net,” Tocchet said. It’s difficult to play this position because you can go four or five games with no results, even if you’re the one who screens. But he quickly found success, and that’s what allowed him to adopt this role. »
Miller stepped up to teach Boeser how to play near the semicircle.
“He taught me a lot about position and the type of chances I’m going to get when I get the puck,” Boeser said. It helped me a lot. »
After starting the series 0-for-6 with just five power play shots in two games, the Canucks scored twice in three chances in Game 3, and Boeser had a big say in those successes.
“Without him, these throws don’t go in,” Miller said Friday. He’s starting to get really good at forcing the goalkeeper to look at his back when I take a shot. [Saros] is too good to give up easy goals, so we won’t score if we don’t harm his eyesight and he knows it. We try different shooting lines, but if he can see the puck, he’s going to stop it. So Brock is doing a great job. »
