The Canucks lost 3-1 Sunday afternoon in a pretty even tilt against the West-leading Winnipeg Jets. It was a good game by the boys, but they couldn’t seem to bury the ones they needed against one of the best defensive teams with the best goalie in the league. Thin margins. If you missed the game, here are your highlights:
It seems like the playoff chase might be winding down for the Canucks. After going 2-2-2 on their road trip (which really should have been 4-1-1 with a couple unlucky/bad losses in there), they are currently sitting 6 points back of the Blues and Wild with 8 games to go. The odds are not in their favor.
As for the game, the team played well. They got caved in a little in the first, but for 50 minutes they held their own with the Jets. They’re a depleted team giving it their all, and it just wasn’t enough last night. Missing Petey, Chytil, and Hoggy at the top of the lineup shows, and Hughes seems pretty run down at the moment… they’re missing some top-end talent to push them over that edge. But, you play the cards you’re dealt, and Tocc was happy with the effort.
“We battled hard,” said Tocchet. “I’m really proud of the guys. It came down to a goal-mouth scramble. That (Jets) is a good team and has a chance to win the Cup, and we went at them pretty well. We just have to worry about the next game and it just seems like we’ve had a lot of these.
“Lately, we’ve been coming up with some nice moments but today we just came out on the wrong side. I liked our game and we had some chances, but they get a puck on net and outmuscle us and get that (winning) goal.”
The game was 1-1 heading into the third, but a couple goals from the Jets was enough to secure the win.
“We battled right to the end and couple of unfortunate breaks in the third,” said Myers. “And then it’s hard to come back because that team defends pretty well. It was tough to get to the net, but we’ve got to stay positive.
“Given the situation we’re in, we had situations for more (2-2-2 road trip) and guys worked hard. We can’t get discouraged or negative. We’re going home to get some momentum and keep pushing. You never know what can happen.”
The Canucks are sort of left hoping for a miracle in that department now. There hasn’t been any word that I’ve seen about Hoglander or Pettersson, so maybe they’ll be able to join the team when they’re back home and facing the Kraken on Wednesday. If not, it’s just a one-game-at-a-time mentality from here on out.
“You can only focus on one at a time and just battle hard and make sure the next game we get two points out there,” Suter said. “And then go from there. You can't really think too much at this point about all the other teams. You’ve just got to win.”
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»