The series is knotted at 2, with Game 5 set for Thursday evening at Rogers Arena.

“Be more dynamic,” the coach went on. Move your feet but also be moving, was the implication. Pettersson, from the outside, looks far too static at times, not finding the seams like he has in the past.

The simple truth is that Pettersson has never before struggled like this. He’s always found a way to score, his slumps lasting no more than a few games.

This is uncharted territory for him and when he speaks to the media, as he did Wednesday, you can see how uncomfortable it is for him. The lack of success has affected him, he admitted Wednesday.

“It’s challenged me but I always said I like challenges and I always like to think I answer them,” he said.

For his part, even as Pettersson acknowledged his struggles, he insisted it’s not for lack of effort.

“I’m trying out there,” he said. “Maybe not going in the best way.”

“I want to be the difference maker.”

But as to why he hasn’t been able to make it happen he wouldn’t say.

“Good question,” he replied.

Across the aisle, the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl is suspected to be dealing with a back issue, but that hasn’t stopped him from being a dominant force.

He’s been using his skills to draw Canucks defenders, to create space for his linemates, be they Connor McDavid or Evander Kane or whomever.

“We need more of an assertive mentality,” Tocchet said of Pettersson and his teammates.

Pettersson said it’s on him to make things happen. Sure, he acknowledged that maybe he needs new wingers, but he can only control what he does on the ice.

And in the midst of all this, somehow he’s having some fun.

“It’s very fun playing (in the) playoffs and I’m trying to make the most of it,” he said.

“At the end of the day, what can I do? That is to try to play next game better. I can’t dwell on those games or not my best performance (in) previous games.”

There are little moments of success, like the faceoff win that led to the tying goal in Game 4.

But overall his game is sluggish. In the regular season the Canucks were scoring 3.69 goals per 60 minutes of even strength ice time. In the playoffs that rate has fallen below one.

His shot rate is down 50 per cent as well. He’s just not driving play.

To give Pettersson more to work with, Tocchet said he’s looking at changing Pettersson’s wingers. Both Elias Lindholm and J.T. Miller’s lines have been playing well and he said he didn’t want to change, but changes are possible elsewhere in the lineup.

Ilya Mikheyev has been practically stapled to Pettersson all season, but has just one goal in his last 60 games.

Nils Höglander had a strong regular season — he scored 24 goals — but has been invisible in the playoffs.

The last two games Höglander has been replaced by first AHL call-up Linus Karlsson and then struggling fourth liner Sam Lafferty.

But none of this is sustainable. Even if Pettersson were dominating on his own, he can make his wingers shoot better.

Still, Tocchet suggested he could bring new wingers in. Perhaps Arshdeep Bains or Vasily Podkolzin will find themselves in the lineup, he mused.

Whatever the solution, be it deep inside Pettersson or simply someone who interplays with him better, the Canucks need to find a solution or else their playoff run is going to come to a sudden end.

DEMKO CLOSING IN

— With the series now certain to be at least six games long, Thatcher Demko’s return from a suspected knee injury is a possibility. An exact time line still isn’t clear, but Tocchet struck an upbeat tone: “He’s improved immensely the last 72 hours.”