However, the stride he made toward Norris Trophy front-runner Mark Giordano at the Vancouver Canucks blue-line on Saturday at Rogers Arena — a fly-by that led to the third goal in a 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames — is still stuck in the memory banks of the perplexed Vancouver faithful.Wingers are supposed to cover the points to take away shots and passing options and not do a breeze-by. The Canucks couldn’t clear the zone to trigger the third-period sequence in question.
Virtanen is first in team take-aways, second in hits and has gone from second most give-aways on the team last season to being 11th this year. That’s a marked improvement in understanding where he needs to be on the ice and how quickly he has to get there. “Those kind of mistakes can cost you and it wasn’t just him, there were probably three mistakes made on that play,” recalled Green. “That’s part of having a young team, mistakes are going to happen and they usually show up against teams that can really exploit you.
Virtanen turns 23 this summer and with another year left on his two-year $2.5 million US contract, there is lots of incentive for the sixth pick in the 2014 draft to get his game to another level. He had 10 goals in his first 33 games this season and had he kept that pace, a 24-goal campaign would have been applauded.
“I don’t know where he’s going to slot in long term — second, third or fourth line — on a good team and that’s up to him to decide. You hope young guys are pushing to play in those roles.”