The only good thing to come out of last Thursday night’s game against the New York Islanders was Jonathan Lekkerimaki scoring his first NHL goal. The rest of it was awful for the Canucks, they looked lifeless and uninterested. The shots on goal early in the third period were 23-5 for the visiting team. 23-5, let that sink in.
Head coach, Rick Tocchet, was irate post-game, but he blamed himself to the media; “I’ve got to apologize to the fans. We’re not playing good enough at home. It’s on me. Guys played light tonight, I thought we were ready to go; we weren’t. That’s on me. I’ve got to get this team playing harder.”
That is very admirable of Tocchet to deflect the blame from his players, but come on, these guys make millions to play the game they love, at a high level. It’s rather perplexing how good they are on the road (6-1) as compared to at home (3-3-3.)
Saturday night’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, was North Vancouver native Connor Bedard’s first NHL game in his hometown. He was injured last year when the Hawks came to town. Although he was a non-factor in this one, only registering one shot on net as the Canucks cruised to a 4-1 win.
Goaltender, Arturs Silovs, was outstanding after a shakey start to his season. After allowing a goal in the first seven minutes of the game, he settled in and stopped all 26 shots after that.
Kiefer Sherwood joined the top line with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk. The trio had an excellent game and looked good together. Tocc may be onto something here.
Prior to Sunday night’s game, against the Nashville Predators, GM Patrik Allvin announced that defenceman Derek Forbort was placed on LTIR, and defenceman Elias Pettersson (D-Petey) was called up from Abbotsford, although he did not play.
The game itself resulted in a 5-3 win for the NHL basement-dwelling Predators. The Canucks looked fragile and inconsistent, although I still believe the Preds will turn it around, and maybe last night was the start of that. There is just too much talent on that team to remain where they are in the standings.
Head coach, Rick Tocchet, benched JT Miller for the majority of the third period. Miller hasn’t looked good since his linemate Brock Boeser went down with an injury, and only had 11:41 of ice time. His lowest amount since signing with the Canucks 5 and a half years ago. Tocchet said post-game, “I just went with the guys I thought could get us back in the game.” Tocchet was then asked if it had anything to do with an injury to Miller, he replied with a blunt “no.”
There is something way off with this team. Despite a 9-5-3 record, they just don’t look anything like last year’s team, or the team under Tocchet since he arrived in Vancouver. Too many off season changes? Just seems like it’s much more then that.
One positive last night was Elias Pettersson scoring on a nice one-timer, his fifth goal in the last seven games. Word is he deleted all his social media accounts to keep the noise out, maybe the rest of the team should follow suit.
The Canucks have one game left on this current homestand against Igor Shesterkin and the New York Rangers tomorrow night. They then embark on a six-game eastern road trip, beginning Saturday in Ottawa. Maybe that will help them gel again; only time will tell.
