The Canucks squandered another 2-0 lead, this time after the first period, to the lowly Anaheim Ducks. The Canucks have now lost 17 games where they’ve had the lead this season. That is… not great. If you want to watch the highlights…:
The Canucks knew what they were in for. Back-to-back games against a fast team. They needed to score and defend the rush. They needed their top players to step up. They somehow had Hughes back in the lineup. They needed to show their desperation in this playoff stretch. They did that for 20 minutes, then let everything fly out the window.
“Well, we had a game plan,” Tocchet lamented to reporters. “They're a rush team. We got a 2-0 lead, and we had a two-on-one (and) we didn't connect. And I think we had a breakaway. A couple of missed opportunities. And then all of a sudden, we had a rush game. And then we decided to forever abandon the game plan.
“We need some guys to rise to the occasion, whether that's a middle drive or go to the net. Like, we had shots on net with nobody going to net, so (I am) a little disappointed in the grit part of our game.”
In a game you expect a desperate team to make plays and show their drive, the Canucks lacked. They said the right things before, during, and after the game, but it didn’t show on the ice for 40 minutes.
“I mean, we're in the room and we're saying all the right things,” Forbort said. “We talk about how we've got to stay on them, stay on our feet and don't sit back. And then, I think, they get a goal and then you can kind of feel it. We just need to be mentally stronger when they get the first one.”
“We knew they were going to come out harder in the second (period),” Myers told reporters. “We've got to find ways when we do get those leads — it happened last night, too — we've got to find ways to still keep pushing. We don't want to sit back and have defending be our main focus. The best way to defend is to keep our legs moving, keep puck possession and get it behind them.
“We made some tough plays that allowed them to get some rushes on us, and they were able to hit a lot of late guys and a lot of weak-side plays.”
The Canucks rush defense was hole-y last night. Silovs didn’t look particularly great, but the defending in front of him was suspect and the Canucks let the Ducks exert their gameplan without much push back.
“I thought our rush defence really killed us tonight,” Myers said. “They were hitting late guys and hitting the weak side way more than they should have been, especially when we talked about it.
“We have to make sure we come into the next game. . . and make sure we're ready to go. We're doing a lot of swinging right now. We've got to get back to playing simple hockey and just focus on doing our job.”
Tocchet was not pleased with the effort. I feel like he’s running out of ideas of how to motivate this group, to get them locked it. He had a really great breakdown on his coaching with Team Canada I’ll post in the comments, and it must be a big step back going from that team to this one at the moment.
“You've got to be crazy to think that anything's over,” Tocchet said of the lost lead. “We're a desperate hockey team. I don't care if it's 4-0, you have to keep playing the game plan. And we just had too many guys that instead of going straight, went right or left. A little too much perimeter for my liking.
“(Quinn) Hughes had a couple of opportunities; he shot the puck (and) we have guys standing at the side of the net. Like, that doesn't win hockey. Just a little disappointed in the team. We just, we kind of gave in.”
There are 22 games left in the season for the Canucks. There are three games left before the trade deadline. I’m feeling that Allvin and Rutherford are looking at this team and not seeing a playoff-ready team. How can a team that can’t even string together regular season wins make any waves in the postseason? It will be interesting to see how they navigate it coming up – if they’ll be both buyers and sellers, or if they’re going to have a larger eye on next year than this one.
The Canucks finish off their road trip in Seattle on Saturday night, hoping to salvage some points on a losing swing.
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