The Vancouver Canucks extended their losing streak to four games on Tuesday with a 4–2 loss to the Nashville Predators.
It was the first game of a six-game road trip billed by Canucks bench boss Willie Desjardins as the team’s’ “biggest test” of the season — which means they’re off to an unequivocally bad start.
Here are five things we learned from Vancouver’s most recent loss.
Vancouver’s road woes continue
With their loss on Tuesday, the Canucks’ road record drops to 6-16-3, increasing their hold on the league’s worst road points percentage, now at .300.
There had been reason for hope early on, with the Canucks’ Markus Granlund scoring first — and on the team’s first shot of the game no less — since Vancouver is 11-4-3 when recording a game’s first goal. By the end of the first period, though, the Canucks were down 2–1. Vancouver trailed for the remainder of the game despite adding a goal in the third courtesy of Alex Edler.
Pekka Rinne looked shaky at first, but saved 31 of 33 shots faced, including a lead-preserving stop on a late Loui Eriksson chance.
“We had a couple good looks off to the side,” Desjardins said of his team’s scoring chances post-game. “We played hard tonight. It certainly would’ve been nice to get that last across-ice pass, but we didn’t get it.”
Ugly collision
This one’s a particularly tough blow for the Canucks: After being blindsided by Predators winger Cody McLeod, Sven Baertschi — who hadn’t touched the puck on his shift — exited the game with a concussion.
Just how much time Baertschi will now miss is unclear, though even a short absence will sting for a team that has had trouble finding the back of the net. The 24-year-old has 13 goals this season.
While McLeod wasn’t handed a penalty for the hit, the league is likely to take a closer look.
Reviewing the reviews
The game featured two goal reviews, neither of which went the Canucks’ way: one on a would-be Jayson Megna goal that was waved off after Granlund was called for high-sticking the puck, and one on a Filip Forsberg goal that was initially waved off as not having crossed the line.
[blockquote]80.1 High-sticking the Puck — Batting the puck above the normal height of the shoulders with a stick is prohibited. When a puck is struck with a high stick and subsequently comes into the possession and control of a player from the offending team (including the player who made contact with the puck), either directly or deflected off any player or official, there shall be a whistle.[/blockquote]
Later in the game, Jacob Markstrom joined the growing ranks of NHL goalies wronged by the webbing of their gloves. Initially called a “no goal” on the ice, video review showed — through Markstrom’s webbing — that the puck had crossed the line.
“Toronto had some clearer pictures of the puck,” Henrik Sedin told reporters after the game. “They thought it was conclusive. It’s something we have to live with.”
Canucks fans could wonder whether this all amounts to karmic retribution following the “intent to blow the whistle” review the last time the Predators and Canucks met.
Guess who’s back
Ben Hutton returned to the Canucks’ lineup after suffering a fracture in his left hand on Jan. 6. The 23-year-old defenceman was paired up with Nikita Tryamkin and registered one assist and three shots in 18:49 of ice time.
“It’s been a long time. It’s been a tough time just sitting out and watching,” Hutton said ahead of the game, adding that he was eager to be back and part of the “playoff push.”
A look at the standings
The Canucks’ next test comes on Thursday when they face the Blue Jackets, and it won’t be easy: Columbus is 18-6-1 at home and will enter the game with a +44 goal differential to Vancouver’s -29.
For his part, Henrik Sedin said he thought the Canucks “deserved more” from Tuesday’s game. The team captain described the urgency to pick up points in terms that sounded oddly — but unintentionally, obviously — like childbirth.
“We have to bear down and get those,” he said. “It starts to run away from us now. We need points here coming up.”
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