VANCOUVER – Every coach’s go-to sermon includes “the process” and “playing the right way.” It’s almost like the results don’t matter, right up until the coach is fired.
But for players, it’s tough to trust the process when the National Hockey League standings keep whispering doubt into their ears.
The Vancouver Canucks played well Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens and lost 3-1. The Canadiens were pretty good, too, and crushed the Canucks with two power-play goals in 94 seconds early in the third period at Rogers Arena.
The Canadiens believe. They’ve won five of their last seven games.
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The Canucks say they believe, but their faith is being tested with four losses in five games in which Vancouver has outperformed its results. Will they keep believing? They’re four points out of the last wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference, suddenly six points adrift of third place in a Pacific Division that seems to be picking up speed while the Canucks falter.
“It sucks losing, but if you play the right way, the team knows,” veteran winger J.T. Miller, fervent in his belief, said after Vancouver managed one goal on 39 shots against Carey Price. “We’ve got an awesome leadership group in here that keeps the group accountable that way. Lately, I think we’re having more good periods than not.
“Sometimes (the offence) dries up. Earlier in the year, we were scoring a bunch – five goals a game it seemed like. Now we’re working our butt off to try to get two. It just kind of goes like that.”
Miller knows this because he’s been in the NHL for seven years. But the Canucks’ best forward, Elias Pettersson, is in his second season, Brock Boeser his third. Defenceman Quinn Hughes, who logged 28:04 of ice time on Tuesday, is a pure rookie.
“When you’re a young guy in the league, that’s the biggest thing, to learn that it’s such a long year and you’re going to go through tough spots,” another Canucks veteran, Brandon Sutter, said. “These last three games are probably the toughest we’ve been in so far. How do we respond? We’ve got three more games here until there’s a (Christmas) break. Just kind of look at yourself and try to raise your game individually, and as a team everything else will fall into place. Just stay positive.”
That’s not a problem right now for the Canadiens, who two weeks ago survived their own test of faith: an eight-game losing streak (0-5-3) in which they surrendered 38 goals. In the seven-game resurgence since then, they’ve allowed 12.
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They won Tuesday because their power play went 2-for-2 while the Canucks were 1-for-4.
Tomas Tatar beat Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom with a power-play deke to break a 1-1 tie at 1:51 of the third period, converting Phillip Danault’s pass after the Canadien was tripped to ice by Tanner Pearson.
Back on the power play, Shea Weber was unchecked at the back of the slot to score into a semi-open goal at 3:25 on a broken play that included the puck bouncing off Canadien Joel Armia before getting knocked straight to Weber by Canuck defenceman Jordie Benn, the ex-Hab.
“That’s a gutsy, character win for sure on the road,” Montreal centre Max Domi said. “That’s a good hockey team over there. . . a young team with a lot of skill, a lot of speed, well-coached. We capitalized on our power play. I think overall it was a gutsy effort and we grinded it out. It’s a great way to start a road trip.”
And a terrible way for the Canucks to start a homestand.
After losing twice on the road in less than 24 hours on the weekend – not winning Saturday in San Jose made it even more unlikely the Canucks would win Sunday in Las Vegas – Vancouver lost Tuesday another winnable game to start the homestand that will take them to the NHL’s holiday break and determine how far back in the standings the team will start the New Year.
Adam Gaudette scored the only Canuck goal with a meteor into the top corner on Price that made it 1-0 during a power play at 18:21 of the first period.
Soon after Price stuffed Miller on a second-period breakaway, the Canadiens tied it at 8:05 when Domi beautifully finessed a pass through Canuck defenceman Oscar Fantenberg to set up Nick Cousins on a three-on-two rush that began with Antoine Roussel’s turnover inside the Montreal blue line.
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“When you get the looks, you’ve got to find a way to bury one,” Miller said after his team-leading five shots on net. “In a game like that, there’s not too many . . . in Grade-A areas. It puts the onus on myself to get those in the back of the net if I can on some of those good looks.
“I thought we grinded it out, played north-south. Not all bad, but obviously special teams was the key tonight.”
Canuck penalty-killing, one of the engines that drove Vancouver’s 9-3-3 start to the season, has been scorched twice in four of their last 10 games and has operated at just 73 per cent since the team’s peak on Nov. 5.
No wonder the Canucks are again playing catch-up in the standings.
“Obviously, we know where we’re at,” Sutter said. “You’re going to go through funks throughout the year. It’s the team that finds a way to regroup from them on go on a run in the second half, that’s what it’s all about. That’s how you get in.”
To the playoffs.
