VANCOUVER – For many of this season, the Vancouver Canucks’ most compelling battle cry has been: “Hey, we’re nonetheless in it.”
Goalie Thatcher Demko’s low season lasted till December, Elias Pettersson “educated round” his sore knee in the summer season, and winger Dakota Joshua had most cancers. Then Derek Forbort misplaced his dad and his well being, Brock Boeser acquired concussed and J.T. Miller took his depart of absence. And that was simply the first month.
However the Canucks have been nonetheless in a playoff place.
Filip Hronek acquired injured, Quinn Hughes acquired injured and Pettersson acquired worse, then acquired injured, too. And the Canucks have been nonetheless in it.
Miller acquired traded and Pettersson vanished. And even now, with Demko and Hughes nonetheless out of the lineup with their third accidents of the season, and Boeser goal-less in 9 video games, and Pettersson simply scoring his second in 18, and Joshua and Nils Hoglander at 9 targets mixed (after amassing 42 final season), Vancouver continues to be in the Nationwide Hockey League playoff race.
However the battle cry turns into much less hopeful by the day, and time is severely undermining the Canucks’ dream about getting all of a sudden wholesome and blasting off and surging into the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a puncher’s likelihood of upsetting somebody who completed a time zone forward of them in the standings.
Tuesday’s determined 4-2 loss at Rogers Enviornment towards the Montreal Canadiens makes it more durable to be hopeful. However verify again with us after the Canucks go to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday in the second of back-to-back video games.
In addition to the fading battle cry, at the least there was affirmation late Tuesday from Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet that Hughes, the key to all the things, was travelling to Calgary.
“A superb risk he could possibly be in,” Tocchet mentioned as he walked away from the microphones post-game.
Regardless of being barely outshot and outchanced, the Canadiens took benefit of egregious Canuck errors as Montreal’s greatest gamers, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, badly outplayed the guys anticipated to be Vancouver’s prime gamers.
A breakaway by Suzuki, a two-on-one completed by Caufield and a shot by Juraj Slafkovsky, which appeared to nick Canuck defenceman Tyler Myers’ stick earlier than rising previous goalie Kevin Lankinen, had the guests forward 3-0 earlier than the recreation was half over.
The Canucks haven’t scored greater than three targets in a recreation since Jan. 27, which was 15 video games in the past. They’re additionally the solely NHL workforce with no win this season when trailing after 40 minutes (0-19-4).
However they scored twice in the third interval Tuesday to make it shut: Hronek at 4:05 and Pettersson at 11:08, each with wrist photographs from distance that Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault struggled to trace by means of site visitors.
The Canucks’ comeback effort in the end fell quick after Mike Matheson’s empty netter with 17 seconds left sealed the win for the guests.
“We pushed, but it surely was too late,” Canucks winger Dakota Joshua mentioned. “We had some attractiveness however simply not adequate at the finish of the day. We have got to discover a strategy to make it occur.
“We do not actually need comfort (prizes) at this level. We have to discover a strategy to rating. Tomorrow, it solely will get extra heated and larger video games, so we have to discover a means.”
Wednesday’s go to to Calgary could possibly be the recreation of the season for Vancouver. For now.
The Flames lead the Canucks by one level in the race for the last wild-card playoff spot in the Western Convention and have performed one much less recreation.
However the race isn’t that straightforward.
The St. Louis Blues are additionally just one level out, and Utah Hockey Membership is one other two again. So there are 4 groups chasing one playoff spot. Ultimately, this dawdle of a “race” goes to show right into a dash as the end line nears.
With a four-team discipline, somebody might be going to win 11 or 12 of their last 17 or 18 video games. Somebody goes to get to 92 and even 94 factors, which is the place the eighth playoff seed all the time appears to be.
At 29-24-11 – and 3-6-0 since the February schedule break – the Canucks are on tempo for 88 factors.
With 18 video games remaining, Vancouver must go 11-6-1 to succeed in 92 factors. And to try this, they’ll positively want Hughes, and possibly Demko, and positively should rating greater than two targets per recreation like they’ve for two months, even when they’ve to hold Pettersson.
They might want Lankinen to do one thing extraordinary, like play each halves of this week’s back-to-back and win on the street in Calgary after dealing with 26 photographs from the Canadiens and arriving in the center of the Alberta evening on the post-game constitution from Vancouver. That is Lankinen’s first season as, primarily, an NHL starter.
“My mindset is all the time put together in addition to you may, it doesn’t matter what’s subsequent,” he mentioned. “So I am simply going to do my routine, and if I get the nod, then I am able to go.”
“Yeah, fast turnaround,” Tocchet mentioned. “No excuses, though it is a back-to-back. We won’t have that excuse. I believe I rolled the 4 strains (on Tuesday); I do not suppose anyone was taxed tonight, so I believe we must be okay.”
Pettersson mentioned falling behind 3-0 was “an enormous hill to climb.”
That climb in the direction of the playoffs will quickly seem like Mount Everest if the Canucks don’t begin scoring and profitable.
“For certain, there’s perception,” Joshua mentioned. “You already know, each evening we expect we will go on the market and discover a means. That is what makes it irritating after we do not.”
“We have simply acquired to stay with our personal program,” Lankinen mentioned. “We all know each recreation’s a playoff recreation now, so to keep it up.”
As a result of the Canucks are nonetheless in it. One way or the other.
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