Tuesday December 15 - Minnesota Wild 6 - Vancouver Canucks 2

The Vancouver Canucks have playing some tough games in Minnesota over the years, and Tuesday's night's blowout loss will rank among the worst.

If you can stomach it, here are the highlights:



The Sharks and Flames won last night but last night's performance makes it seem like the Canucks actively catapulted themselves down the standings into sixth place. The Pacific Division logjam means they're still just one point out of second—but how can they fix this mess?

The defining moment of Tuesday night's game was Minnesota's third goal, which came early in the second period.



With Yannick Weber in the box for hooking, Ryan Miller makes two fantastic saves off Zach Parise while all four penalty-killers stand passively behind him. On his third try, with Miller down and out, Parise finally puts his team up 3-0.

I don't feel sorry for Miller very often, but I was surprised that Willie Desjardins left him in the net after the goal. He was eventually pulled after 40 minutes, with the score 6-1, but I wouldn't have blamed him if he'd gone full Patrick Roy any time in the second period.

Miller's body language showed his frustration and his dark eyes were blazing in that second period, but he wanted to stay in. From Ben Kuzma at The Province:

“It’s not my decision and I didn’t talk until after the (second) period,” he said of Willie Desjardins finally giving him the mercy hook. “Might as well and try to battle through and see what happens. But I think we’re trying to have a different mindset and build toward something beyond this game. It was the coach’s call and not something I was going to get into with him tonight. It was just not a good night.”

Said Desjardins: “If it wasn’t for him, it would have been bad because he made so many great saves. He plays so hard and he hates coming out — he just hates it. But I knew I was going to take him out the end of the second.”

With the loss, Miller's stats for the season drop to a 2.70 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. Jacob Markstrom was perfect on the five Minnesota shots he faced in a third period that was practically played in straight time.

One player did call out his teammates after the game—Daniel Sedin. Once again, the first line produced the Canucks' only real offense, chipping in both goals. Jannik Hansen led the team with five shots on goal, while Daniel had four. No other Vancouver forward had more than two.

"This is unacceptable. Where we are in the standings is unacceptable. It starts with each and every guy stepping up their game" - D. Sedin

— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) December 16, 2015

Despite their busy schedule on this road trip, the Canucks took a proactive approach this morning in an effort to stop the bleeding.

For those wanting a pound of flesh, only 3 #canucks were supposed to skate this morning, but the whole crew (minus 33) hit the ice at 9:15.

— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) December 16, 2015

Can they right the ship on Thursday in Philadelphia? They'll face a Flyers team that they beat handily at home in early November, but for all the talk of Philadelphia's porous defence, they've allowed 86 goals against this season—six less than the Canucks, who have now fallen to 23rd in the league defensively. Giving up 10 goals in two games will do that to a team.

The Canucks are heading into a back-to-back, also playing Detroit on Friday, so that leaves room for some lineup shuffling. Michigan-born Miller will certainly get the Red Wings game, so Markstrom should play in Philly. I'd also expect, at the very least, we'll see Ronalds Kenins and Andrey Pedan in the mix at some point—and frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing more Comets call-ups.

Maybe management will shuffle the deck more tomorrow?

Willie Desjardins, Trevor Linden and Jim Benning expected to watch Utica at home to Rochester tonight. #Canucks

— NEWS 1130 Sports (@NEWS1130Sports) December 16, 2015

I'll be rooting for a good game from players like Brendan Gaunce, Alex Grenier, Alex Friesen and Jordan Subban. Maybe more fresh blood is needed.

The door's still open to send Jared McCann to Finland for World Juniors, which sounds like it's the focal point of this visit to Utica:

Jim Benning watching Utaca tonight - Vey/Friesen are they good enough to fill in for McCann during WJC. #Canucks

— NEWS 1130 Sports (@NEWS1130Sports) December 16, 2015

Ben Kuzma wrote this story yesterday about McCann's mounting frustration at his inability to score.

“There have definitely been some tough nights with sleeping and it’s never easy,” McCann said Monday. “The compete in you comes out and you always want to win. But I’ve got to learn to let things go, sometimes. It’s a long season, but I’m a rookie and I can’t speak to how things go, but I’m learning how to get over games and improve my defensive habits.

“I know I can play better. I’m over-thinking things and always trying to be perfect. I’ve got to get back to the way I’ve always played. Not taking anything for granted — and when I get chances, bury them.”

If the Canucks do make any roster moves before the holiday freeze on Saturday, it sounds like they'll come from within the organization.

Meanwhile, over in Helsinki:

VIDEO: Jake Virtanen on a line with Brayden Point & Brendan Perlini as Team Canada sets up camp in Finland https://t.co/LUcVq9U21G #HereWeGo

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) December 16, 2015

Team Canada's first pre-tournament game goes Saturday morning at 9 a.m. against Belarus and will be broadcast live on TSN.

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