The last time the Vancouver Canucks lost eight straight games, it was the end of the 2016-17 season and their booby prize was the chance to draft Elias Pettersson, who has been the National Hockey League’s top rookie this season.
It’s hard to find any consolation in the team’s current 0-7-1 streak, extended by Friday’s dismal 4-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks in California. But if all these losses give them the chance to draft Jack Hughes in June, then maybe it will all be worth it.
Short-term, there was nothing positive to take from Friday’s game.
Canucks goalie Anders Nilsson returned from a finger injury, allowed four goals on 24 shots and did not generate any emotional spark from teammates in his first start since Oct. 25. Vancouver was shut out for the second time this season, and its third-period “push” – it was 2-0 San Jose after 40 minutes – consisted of three shots on Sharks’ goalie Aaron Dell. The Canucks have been lauded for their competitiveness and ability to stay in the fight, but in this game they surrendered a pair of power-play goals in the first period and never looked capable of winning after that.
At least they get points for creativity (they’re not getting any points in the standings) by finding a new way to lose: almost entirely on special teams, as the Sharks’ power play was 3-for-6 while the Canucks went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
San Jose barely broke a sweat, getting goals from Logan Couture, Timo Meier, Erik Karlsson and Melker Karlsson to move six points clear of Vancouver in the Pacific Division, which the Canucks led until a couple of weeks ago.
IN A PICKLE
You may have heard the Canucks signed depth forward Antoine Roussel to a four-year, $12-million free agent contract in July. Apparently, cannibalism isn’t cheap.
We’re not going to debate the value of that contract again, partly because there isn’t much debate. It’s too long and could prove especially onerous in a couple of seasons.
But Roussel’s poor night, which began with a pair of first-period penalties, ended embarrassingly when he tried to engage Marc-Edouard Vlasic in the final minute and appeared to bite the Sharks defenceman’s hand. On his way to the dressing room, Roussel then chirped the San Jose bench when the scoreboard above him showed Vancouver was about to lose 4-0.
Clearly, this isn’t the experience and leadership general manager Jim Benning and coach Travis Green touted last summer when trying to explain why Roussel was so coveted.
Roussel now has 13 minor penalties – and just one fighting major – this season and expanded his repertoire by adding elbowing, cross-checking and delay-of-game infractions on Friday. And he could face a fine or supplemental discipline if the league determines he tried to snack on Vlasic’s fingers, which he treated like Vlasic Pickles.
Former Oilers coach Craig MacTavish, when asked if players bite each other, once said: ‘Oh, yeah. Guys get hungry.”
The Canucks are hungry to see a better Roussel than they saw Friday, and a better leader.
HELP
If nothing else, the return of Nilsson will help moderate playing time for starter Jacob Markstrom, who should get more practice work with goalie guru Ian Clark and be sharper when he plays because of it.
Defenceman Alex Edler (sprained knee) will be the next Canuck back from the injured list, possibly as soon as Saturday when Vancouver plays its third road game in four nights against the Los Angeles Kings, the only NHL team that got the night off on Friday.
Green removed most of the suspense about who will come out of the lineup on the left side of the blue line by bumping Michael Del Zotto up to a pairing with Chris Tanev, while dropping Derrick Pouliot down to the third duo with Troy Stecher. Pouliot, who has vacillated between good and poor play this season, has earned his demotion.
The former eighth-overall pick said when he arrived in a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins on the eve of last season that confidence had become an issue for him. It still seems to be. Green, his junior coach in Portland, has given Pouliot lots of time to prove he is an everyday NHLer. But as the team has struggled in November, so has the 24-year-old, who had an extended run on the top power-play unit and is supposed to be an offensive defenceman but has just four points this season.
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THE BUTLER (SCHEDULE-MAKER) DID IT
We hate to keep going back to the Canucks’ ridiculous schedule but on nights like Friday, when the team looked exhausted in the third period and managed only three shots while trailing, it’s hard not to conclude that 16 road games in seven weeks – missing a handful of injured players – has been debilitating.
In playing at least two more road games than any other team, the Canucks have already endured two six-game odysseys to the East Coast, a two-game trip that saw them play back-to-back, and the three-in-four-nights California getaway that ends Saturday.
No wonder the team looked spent in the third period when they were outshot 7-3 by the Sharks. Wednesday in Anaheim, the Ducks outshot the Canucks 13-7 in the third period. The game before, Winnipeg outshot Vancouver 16-9 in the final 20 minutes. These are games the Canucks were chasing, when they should have been pressing in the third period.
There are lots of things the Canucks need to do better. Building a better schedule ought to be one of them for next season.
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HIT THE NET
The Canucks’ 19 shots on goal were a season-low. But they made it easier on the Sharks by missing the target on some of their best scoring chances. Pouliot, Nikolay Goldobin and Bo Horvat, among others, failed to force Sharks’ backup Dell to make saves from close range. That makes it harder to score on a rebound.
WHERE ART THOU?
Tim Schaller’s stat sheet Friday: team-low 9:46 of ice time, no shots on net and none attempted, zero hits and one block. He was on the ice for all three power-play goals by San Jose. After 23 games with the Canucks, who signed Schaller to a two-year, $3.8-million free-agent contract, the winger has no goals and three assists.
It shouldn’t be hard for Green to decide which forward to scratch against the Kings in order to get minor-league scorer Reid Boucher into the lineup.