The Canucks had a better group effort Saturday afternoon, but despite having a 29-0-1 record this year when leading after two, they let the game slip away in the third after being up 3-1. A couple mistakes, some costly plays, and they’re on a two game losing streak – their first since November. Here are your highlights:
The boys played better, controlled a lot of the game, and were on the path to victory when their bounce back effort took a turn in a third period they’d want back.
“A better overall game from us but definitely we want that third period back,” Pettersson said.
Exactly.
“I thought we were in control of the game,” Tocchet lamented after the game. “A couple of turnovers, yeah, in our net. We've got to learn with the pressure starting to hit us even more, you've got to lock these games down. And I thought there was a couple of turnovers when we shouldn't have to have turnovers; we've just got to get the puck in deep. And box out. You've got to box out, too.”
Even though JTM found the team’s play better than in Boston, he thinks there’s still another level to go. “I still think we have more to give. I thought we were a little careless with the puck today. We gave the puck back to them way too much. Our bread and butter is playing below the hashmarks and I feel like we've kept getting away from playing down there. That's where we grind teams down and make them make mistakes, so I think we need to get back to that.”
A little adversity? Maybe. That’s probably a positive on the whole for a season where things have been breaking well for the team. Tocchet shook up the lines yesterday – a good problem to have with Lindholm creating more dimension in the lineup – and it paid off for Petey as he looked more engaged and potted a goal and two assists. But shaking the lines up meant something was off.
“If you're making changes, it means something needs fixed,” Miller said. “At the same time, we have a lot of options and I think when things aren't going the way we want them to go, we have the luxury of putting people in different places. We all have to be prepared to play with other people; it's just the nature of the game. I expect us to be even better tomorrow.”
We’ll see how the lines shake out today, especially with Zadorov getting a two game suspension for his hit on Raymond. The Canucks have been carrying Mark Friedman on the roster, so expect him to draw into the lineup today against the Caps.
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