Well, the 2025 win streak didn’t last long, as the Canucks were shut out Friday night at home against the Nashville Predators. It wasn’t a terrible game from the Canucks, as the 3-0 scoreline featured two empty netters… but there just wasn’t enough juice up front against one of the worst teams in the league. If you wanna see for whatever reason:
At least they tried? That was the general consensus after the game. The Canucks are down a number of high-impact players, and it’s starting to show on the offensive side. They just don’t have enough players to cover being down Petey, Hughes, and Hronek. And as Allvin said the other day, the guys you expect to be stepping up just aren’t.
While the whole team was pointless, the top line was definitely a bit more absent. Miller had four shots (they came in the first period), and Boeser and DeBrusk combined for one shot. Saros was big when he needed to be, but against a Predators team that has a grand total of four road victories this year (half of them from the Canucks), that’s not good enough.
“Listen, our D are trying, everybody's trying,” Tocchet said after Friday’s game. “Let's face it, I mean, you guys can say what you want (but) we're trying. We didn't score tonight, but we had some opportunities. We didn't score.”
This season is a little opposite to last season: injuries, defensive game, scoring… it’s just not breaking for the team. Not that they’ve quit, but with the drama surrounding the team it seems to be affecting the room more and more. As a few of you pointed out, Miller looks a little disinterested – not what you’d expect if he’s someone championed as a leader.
“Clearly, I’m a little snakebit right now,” Miller said after the loss. “I definitely put pressure on myself to step up in the scoring department right now.
“They're three of our more highly-skilled players (who are injured). So I think with who we have right now, obviously we have to do a little more as a group. But the hard thing is, you don't want to try to do too much. You have to kind of let the game come to you, get on the inside and score some ugly goals.”
Boeser echoed the sentiment.
“We've just got to find a way to create some offence,” Boeser said. “I think tonight we just needed to get some more bodies in front of Saros.
“Obviously, it's hard. We know how much Quinn helps our team on offence, and produces so much and makes so many plays out there. He draws a lot of attention, which opens other plays up. So it hurts missing those guys. We knew it was going to be hard without those guys. Quinn's our best player and anytime you're missing your best player, you've got to find ways to contribute more and get other guys to step up.
“For sure, we expect ourselves to be a line that can be difference-makers.”
The team clearly misses Hughes. Maybe his absence just adds to his case for being the league MVP? Not only has the 5 on 5 control gone away, but the powerplay has also struggled. Last night the Canucks had two man advantage opportunities in the third, but didn’t even get a shot off. Woof. But, it’s hard when you’re going from Hughes to Myers on the PP… though Tocc doesn’t blame Myers for it:
“He’s shooting the puck. I thought he’s doing a good job. So it’s not, not him.”
The Canucks will look to rebound as they embark on a five game road trip on Monday starting in Montreal. This next stretch of games for the team is going to be difficult, to say the least. After Montreal, they have Washington, Carolina, Toronto (which is a back-to-back), Winnipeg, Los Angeles and Edmonton. Petey and Hughes are going to be on the road trip, so hopefully they draw back in and help the team score, because scoring can be difficult.
“I mean, it's hard to score,” Miller said, “and especially without the guys that typically drive offensive play a lot of nights for us. I'm trying not to get too wrapped up in it (mentally). Like I tell you guys all the time, I've just got to play solid hockey, and that other stuff will come. I believe that.”
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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