The Canucks battled shorthanded as they could, but they couldn’t muster enough to beat a beatable Calgary Flames on New Year’s Eve, losing the contest 3-1. What has some of become emblematic of the season so far, there just wasn’t enough there to pull out a win. If you want to watch the highlights:
With that, the Canucks find themselves out of a playoff spot without some of their top players in the lineup and rumors galore spiraling around the team. For everything that went right last season, it has all gone wrong this season so far. There’s still time to turn this around, but the organization seems slightly disjunctured and the team sputtering in it’s identity. There’s a lot of resilience in this team, but last year they could bank points off it, and this year it seems they can’t.
The game itself was a chippy affair with some fights sprinkled in for good measure. The Canucks had a backbone, got some shots (24 in total, but only 5 in the third period), and made a game out of it. But without 3 of their top 5 skaters, along with the defensive depth issues, it wasn’t enough. The top line held their own last night, with the Miller line generating 13 of the team’s 5 on 5 shots, but after that it sort of fell off.
“A hard-working game,” Tocchet said after the loss. “A lot of emotion. Guys stuck together. A couple of self-inflicted goals that are preventable. But for the most part, I thought the guys worked hard. A lot of guys gave effort tonight.”
A lot of effort – which has been in short supply this season for the team – but it didn’t push them over the line.
“We can’t give up a 3-on-2 and not play it right and with the 6-on-5 we were a little antsy with the puck”, Tocc added. “(There were) a couple of moments where you’re looking for big moments from people, but for the most part, the guys worked hard.”
The Canucks trailed the Flames 11-7 in high danger chances for the game, only beating Calder-candidate Dustin Wolf on a Boeser powerplay goal.
“I was just happy that we stuck together out there, but we gave up some rush chances and small details that cost us,” said Boeser. “We’ve been playing a lot of close games and we’ve got to make sure that we learn from them.”
Hopefully all these close-loss learning experiences coalesce quickly in 2025.
The Canucks ended December 5-4-5 in what was a home-heavy schedule. The team has back-to-back games Thursday in Seattle and Friday in Vancouver against the Nashville Predators, then they depart for a five-game road trip to Montreal, Washington, Carolina, Toronto and Winnipeg. Without Hughes and Petey, it’s looking like tough sledding going forward.
Here’s to hoping they start 2025 off on the right foot.
As for the rest of us, Happy New Years! Hope you had an enjoyable night with whatever you were up to, and your head doesn’t hurt too badly this morning.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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