Pettersson: 'Maybe not trusting' my shot amid 14-game goal drought

Vancouver Canucks star forward Elias Pettersson admitted he's struggled with his confidence amid a 14-game goal drought.

"Yeah, definitely," Pettersson said Tuesday when asked if he's hesitating to shoot. "I mean, that comes with not getting the looks, trying to make the perfect pass instead of maybe simplifying it. I've always been a pass-first guy, but I also have a good shot, so I should use it more, yes. It's definitely been, maybe not trusting it, but hopefully, that's not a headline. I'll definitely look to shoot more moving forward."

Pettersson last found the back of the net Jan. 21 against the Buffalo Sabres. He has just five assists over his goalless drought, and he has one or fewer shots on goal in his past nine contests.

The 26-year-old also walked back his comments about the media. Pettersson said it was "more annoying dealing with the media" than his scoring slump after a loss against the Utah Hockey Club on Feb. 23.

"I missed a breakaway, and I got asked about it and how frustrating the season has been," Pettersson said. "I was really mad in that moment and said something I didn't mean, and said media is annoying, which some days it can be, but it's the last thing that's making me play bad, or not myself this year. I just wanted to make that clear."

Pettersson has gone another three games without a goal since his comments and is a minus-5 in that stretch. He appreciates the mounting pressure to turn things around.

"Pressure is good, it means you care," Pettersson said. "If I wouldn't care, I wouldn't think too much about it. I want to turn it around more than anyone."

Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet is hopeful Pettersson's positive flashes in practice lead to a turn in form.

"The last 48 or 72 hours, he's doing stuff that I'm like, 'wow,'" Tocchet said. "Like, that's the stuff we need from you. The way I look at it, if he has a good 22 games for us, we might all forget about the 60 games this year. I've seen players have just average years, then have great playoffs."

"Don't waste games," Tocchet added. "Like, he's got enough time to turn this around and help this team get where they wanna get."