HC Rick Tocchet raves of Pius Suter's increased responsibility during $92,800,000 Canucks forward's absence due to injury

Vancouver Canucks coach Rick Tocchet praised Pius Suter for taking on more responsibility in the absence of forward Elias Pettersson, who's out with an undisclosed injury, alongside Nils Hoglander.

Both players are expected to be sidelined until April. 2. In the Canucks' 3-1 defeat to the Winnipeg Jets, Suter stepped up and scored the team's only goal. Coach Tocchett was impressed with Suter's performance during the absence of key players.

After the game, he said:

"Yeah, I mean, he's taken a leadership role. He's one of the guys that has really stepped up for me. I play him in all situations."

The Vancouver Canucks had a strong start but couldn't finish the game as they had hoped. Reflecting on the outcome, Tocchet said:

"We battled hard. Guys—really proud of the guys—that they played hard. Came down to, you know, kind of a goalmouth scramble, but I thought for the most part, that's a good hockey team that has a chance to win a Cup. And I thought we went head-to-head with them pretty well."

Elias Pettersson, who's currently signed to a $92 million contract, has amassed 45 points through 15 goals and 30 assists in 56 games this season. The Canucks, meanwhile, wrapped up their six-game road trip with a 2-2-2 record.

Pius Suter was the lone scorer as Canucks wrapped up their road trip with a loss to the Jets

On Sunday, the Canucks wrapped up their six-game road trip with a 3-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.

Pius Suter opened the scoring for the Canucks after putting them ahead 1-0 at 18:55 into the first period. Coming into the second period, Kyle Connor tied it 1-1 for the Jets at 9:26 into the period.

Mason Appleton scored 6:24 into the third period to increase the Jets' lead to 2-1. Cole Perfetti scored the final goal to make it 3-1 for the home team at 12:11 into the third period.

Kyle Connor accumulated two points while netminder Connor Helluyck made 23 saves and posted a .958 save percentage. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Canucks trail a wild card spot by six points in the Western Conference following their loss to the Jets.

Pius Suter and the Canucks return home against the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Arena next on Wednesday.